THE Guyana Festival Cook Off saw our ‘chefs’ showcasing their skills in preparing various Indian, African and Amerindian dishes. With Golden Brook cooking oil, produced by Pomeroon Oil Mills, being used as the official oil of the festival, and with the trusted GuyGas cooking gas being the official gas used, numerous groups put their ‘best cook forward’.

Speaking to the Guyana Chronicle, Mr. Looknauth Persaud, head of the Festival Cookout Committee and owner of Kings Jewellery World, related that he saw this activity as an opportunity for Guyanese to come out and showcase their skills, as well as to have patrons taste what our cultural food are, since persons might never have had an Amerindian dish or even some of the African and /or Indian dishes.

Persaud indicated that the Cook-off was not a competition, but was about groups coming together to entertain our Guyanese.

The Guyana Chronicle reporters, as well as other media operatives, were given opportunity to sample some of the scrumptious dishes, and the unanimous opinion was that our Guyanese people are great chefs.

Speaking with a few patrons who had sampled some wild meat cooked by the Pakaraima Mountain Group, this writer was told that the preparation was beyond their wildest expectations.
Patrons were given opportunity to taste different curries: duck, mutton, deer, wild cow and pork. Also, there was cassava bread with pepper pot, cook up rice, metemgee and conkie cooked on a coal pot set up. Many persons stood in the hot sun to have a glimpse of what was taking place, and even cheered on the cooks as the event swung into full blast mode.

The group at Seeram’s Bar related that two reasons why they jumped at the opportunity to participate in the cook-off was because it was not a competition, and because they saw it as a way for them to give back to their country. They cooked traditional curries such as mutton and duck, and had samples of polourie.

Tessa’s Creation Group cooked all African dishes on a decades-old coalpot set-up. They have, over the years, mastered the art, and are today able to display their talent at the festival. This group had cook-up rice, metemgee, conkie, and fried-fish with ground provisions.

Some of the participating groups were Ramlakhan & Sons Rice Mills; GK Inc (official distributor of the Guyana Amazon Warriors energy drink); Pakaraima Mountain Group; Kings’ General; Seeram’s Bar; Bunnys Home Cooked Meals; Mangrove Reserve Producers; Tessa’s Creations; and the Indigenous Group.
Written By Rebecca Ganesh-Ally