I was introduced to this group of men who have descended from their origins in Guyana into Mumbai and guess what they are doing?..... They are helping construct one of the marvels of India as claimed by Anand Mahindra in his tweets..... The T2 ..... (T2 is our new airport in Mumbai. A world marvel)
So first it's my duty to give you unpuds (from Mumbai / India) an insight into this amazing place called Guyana and it's culture and cuisine, or else each of you reading this will be .... What the hell is wrong with val... Now she is hallucinating about Biharis from South America... Has she lost it.... Well not really so.....
Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America. Although Guyana is part of the Anglophone Caribbean, it is one of the few Caribbean countries that is not an island. About 84% of the East Indian immigrants were Hindus, and their dominant sect was the vaishnavite Hinduism of Bihar and North India .... Yeah baby you read right! So they did migrate to other parts of the world apart from invade mumbai taxis and they turned out pretty well and cultured too.
So some parts of their cuisine is very similar to Indians. They love spice too and have a lot of curries and roti. They also cook rice with beans and peas like we do. The one pot meal while not the national dish is one of the most cooked dishes. With its various versions, according to
what type of meat, peas and other ingredients available, is a true reflection of the country.
This weekend one of these, for a change cultured, Bihari men, who has successfully managed to get my oh so stubborn friend to fall head over heels for him invited me over for something called Pepperpot. A speciality dish cooked around celebration time especially christmas.
The sound of lamb slow cooked overnight and cooked some more in the morning with a variety of spices and a bitter extract of cassava left me salivating that I had this big drool stain on my pillow when I woke up that morning. (Don't go eekes...most of you have it even without a pepperpot dish lure)
The other guyanese guy made paella, and a Greek salad! Not bad though... Actually very nice! What's amazing is that these Bihari men from Guyana can cook! And they cook so fine!
When I arrived The pepperpot was cooking away with little pieces of lamb floating in this dark brown gravy with a glitter on the top making u want to stop cooking it right there and just slurp it all in. But hell I had to wait for at least two hours before it was served with bread. That's how it is eaten with a cassava bread or roti. This place - Guyana has a strong British influence and hence most homes bake their own bread. Here in India, we had it with our very own pav but it was just as good.
I was asked to not mix all the dishes together will serving yourself (like we usually do in India, sab le lo like greedy gluts), but to take one dish at a time and savour the flavours. First came the pepperpot with bread. As I swirled the bread into the stew I could already taste it just with the aroma of the dish. The lamb was soft and well cooked and melted in your mouth while the flavour of the spices - cinnamon, clove etc lingered on. "Yum!" Is what everyone said while they hurriedly rushed to take the next morsel in and swipe off the plate in complete silence. They say when u eat and there is complete silence on the table the food is really awesome. And it was one of those days as the bunch of people I was with can be extremely noisey. Noisey is also an understatement.
The next was paella which was a mix of veggies and chicken, chorizo and prawns. Boy what taste. So simple yet so yumm. The Greek salad filled us up and enthralled the palate with that sprinkle of lemon juice, olive oil and garlic. The flavours were subtle and the fresh veggies were refreshing.
Other favourites of Guyanese cuisine are stews, and Metemgie, a thick rich soup with ground provision, coconut milk and large dumplings, eaten with fried fish or chicken. They also bake a lot and enjoy favourite pastries such as cheese rolls, pine (pineapple) tarts, to name a few.
It all ended with the ever so famous Val's chocolate mousse ;-) and I hope it matched up to the Guyanese Bihari fair.
So cheers to them and their tribe in Guyana, they set an great example to all back home in India!
Surprise surprise .... Guess what I found? Well cultured, classy and totally awesome fun loving Biharis from Guyana. Yes guys bite your tongue hard this is for real!
