{"id":5096,"date":"2018-06-06T09:00:51","date_gmt":"2018-06-06T15:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/villasentieri.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=5096"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:58:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:58:43","slug":"guyanese-barbecue-sauce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/06\/guyanese-barbecue-sauce\/","title":{"rendered":"Guyanese Barbecue Sauce"},"content":{"rendered":"

June 6, 2018<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a prior blog post, I talked about Jamaican New Sugar<\/a>, also known as Wet Sugar.\u00a0 New Sugar is difficult to obtain outside of Jamaica and even in Jamaica it is becoming harder to get.<\/p>\n

Just as New Sugar relates to Jamaica, Demerara Brown sugar relates to Guyana.\u00a0 Demerara Brown sugar is much easier to find, however.<\/p>\n

The typical brown sugars available in the United States are made from refined white sugar with the addition of molasses.<\/p>\n

New sugar, Demerara Brown sugar, and Turbinado sugar all represent stages in sugar refining.\u00a0 Rather than adding molasses back into white sugar, it hasn\u2019t been completely refined out of any of these sugars.<\/p>\n

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Of all of these, the one that I\u2019ve used the most is Demerara Brown.\u00a0 Even within this very distinct category, there are differences in refinement and moisture content.\u00a0 Some Demerara Brown sugars are darker than others, though I\u2019ve never seen a \u201cgrade\u201d attached to these differences.\u00a0 The Demerara Brown sugar that I used to buy in Guyana always seemed to have more moisture in it than that which is available in American markets.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve found several sugars that are good substitutes for Demerara Brown sugar.\u00a0 One came from Ecuador and, admittedly, isn\u2019t much easier to source than Demerara Brown sugar.<\/p>\n

The other is a brown sugar made for the Korean market that I found in an Asian grocery store.<\/p>\n

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Korean and Ecuadorean brown sugars are good substitutes for Demerara Brown Sugar<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I prefer both of them over Turbinado sugar as substitutes for Demerara Brown sugar as they are both less refined than Turbinado and have more of the flavor of true Demerara Brown.\u00a0 For this barbecue sauce, however, since sugar is not a big component (as it might be in baked goods, for example) the ordinary American style brown sugar from the supermarket would work just fine.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve been making this barbecue sauce since I was in college when I purchased a cookbook on a trip to Guyana.\u00a0 (I might have mentioned this before, but I have thousands upon thousands of cookbooks.\u00a0 I\u2019ve actually run out of shelf space for them and have them stacked in boxes which is far from ideal. \u00a0I\u2019m trying to figure out where to install additional library shelving so I can get the books out of the boxes and make them accessible.)<\/p>\n

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Turbinado sugar, which is lighter in color than Demerara Brown sugar, is not a good substitute for the flavor<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What\u2019s Cooking in Guyana<\/em> is representative of a style of cookbook published decades ago in countries around the world, well at least in Anglophone countries with which I am most familiar!\u00a0 It is based on recipes from Home Economics professionals and contains traditional recipes, some (modified) international recipes as well as a quantity of what I call \u201cmade up\u201d recipes.\u00a0 That is, recipes with no particular cultural history to them that were developed by professional cooks.\u00a0 Admittedly, some of these recipes enter the cannon of locally prepared dishes and, if they survive long enough, can become \u201ctraditional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Never once in all my time in Guyana was I served anything that contained barbecue sauce.\u00a0 Barbecue, and anything resembling barbecue, just wasn\u2019t part of the country\u2019s culinary heritage.\u00a0 So, the presence of barbecue sauce in this Guyanese cookbook is curious.\u00a0 If you look at the ingredients, you\u2019ll notice a resemblance to the ketchup-based barbecue sauces of the United States but a closer look at the ingredients will demonstrate the use of a number of specifically West Indian ingredients.<\/p>\n

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The first Guyanese cookbook I ever purchased<\/strong><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I classify this recipe as a \u201cmade up\u201d one.\u00a0 And a very good one at that!\u00a0 It is my go-to barbecue sauce (when I\u2019m not being lazy and reaching for a bottle of the purchased stuff, which, admittedly, I do from time to time.)\u00a0 Many years ago, I\u00a0 changed the proportions of ingredients in this barbecue sauce to suit my taste.\u00a0 I feel that it is now truly mine.<\/p>\n

In the coming weeks, I\u2019m going to post my recipe for barbecue rub<\/a> and then after that my recipe for smoked chicken thighs that makes use of both the rub and the barbecue sauce.\u00a0 Stay tuned!

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Guyanese Barbecue Sauce<\/h2>\n
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Wiri wiri peppers are nearly impossible to obtain outside of Guyana. Habanero or Scotch Bonnet peppers can be substituted. Demerara brown sugar can be difficult to find. Any coarse grained brown sugar can be used, such as Turbinado. Regular American-style brown sugar would work too. Lea and Perrins Steak Sauce can be substituted for the Pickapeppa Sauce. This recipe is modified from \u201cwhat\u2019s cooking in Guyana\u201d published in 1973 by the Guyanese Ministry of National Development & Agriculture and the Carnegie School of Home Economics.<\/div>\n
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Prep Time <\/span>15 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Cook Time <\/span>15 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Total Time <\/span>30 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n
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Servings: <\/span>1.5<\/span> cups<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ingredients
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