{"id":5519,"date":"2018-07-13T09:00:27","date_gmt":"2018-07-13T15:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/villasentieri.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=5519"},"modified":"2026-09-02T10:58:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:58:42","slug":"guyanese-cook-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/villasentieri.com\/index.php\/2018\/07\/13\/guyanese-cook-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Guyanese “Cook Up” (Rice and Black Eyed Peas Cooked in Coconut Milk)"},"content":{"rendered":"

July 13, 2018<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The combination of rice and legumes (peas, beans, lentils) is common throughout much of the world.\u00a0 Sometimes the beans and rice are cooked together like Cajun Red Beans and Rice, Ecuadorian Gallo Pinto or Italian Risi e Bisi.\u00a0 Sometimes the beans and rice are cooked separately but served together as with Cuban Black Beans and Rice.\u00a0 The combination of black beans and rice, mixed into a single dish, is traditionally called Moros y Cristianos, a not very politically correct term that translates as Moors and Christians.<\/p>\n

Jamaican Rice and Peas is probably the most well-known version of the combination from the West Indies, a term that is typically applied to the English-speaking parts of the Caribbean.\u00a0 As I\u2019ve mentioned before, although Guyana is on the South American mainland, it was administered as part of the British West Indies and most definitely has a West Indian culture.<\/p>\n

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Jamaican Rice and Peas is typically meatless.\u00a0 It is most often made with red kidney beans.\u00a0 Part of the cooking liquid is coconut milk.<\/p>\n

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The house where Ray Hugh, my college roommate, grew up and where I stayed on several occasions, Georgetown, Guyana<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cook Up, the Guyanese version of rice and peas, is most definitely not meatless.\u00a0 In my experience, it is rare to have fewer than two types of meat in Cook Up.\u00a0 Coconut milk also figures prominently.<\/p>\n

I made four trips to Guyana starting just prior to my junior year in college and ending just prior to starting my internship after finishing medical school.\u00a0 During the first three trips, I stayed with Ray Hugh, my college roommate, at his father\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

During the last trip, I was working as a physician at the public hospital in Georgetown, Guyana.\u00a0 I rented a room in a private house.\u00a0 That visit was scheduled to last for five months with a brief return to the States for my medical school graduation after about three and a half months.\u00a0 As graduation approached, and the prospect of working long hours as an intern became more real, I decided that when I flew home for graduation I would stay put and relax for a bit before starting internship.<\/p>\n

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I enjoy going to food markets whenever I travel, be they local convenience stores, supermarkets, open-air markets, or any other variant!\u00a0 Stabroek Market in Georgetown is a roofed-over open-sided market housed in a sprawling Nineteenth Century building.\u00a0 Vendors sell food and almost\u00a0 any other necessity.<\/p>\n

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Stabroek Market in Georgetown, Guyana (photo: Google, stabroeknews.com)<\/span><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although the house where I stayed had a cook, she only cooked lunch, a very substantial lunch I might add!\u00a0 I sometimes cooked dinner.\u00a0 Stabroek Market was where I did my shopping.<\/p>\n

Thyme figures prominently in Guyanese cooking.\u00a0 There are three different herbs<\/a> that are referred to as thyme in Guyana.\u00a0 The first is what we think of as \u201cregular\u201d thyme, sometimes called French thyme.\u00a0 The second is referred to as fine-leaf thyme or Guyanese thyme.\u00a0 The third is called thick-leaf thyme or broad-leaf thyme.<\/p>\n

Although there are many varieties of thyme, thick-leaf thyme<\/a> is not really thyme but a semi-succulent perennial plant that has wide distribution.\u00a0 Guyanese thyme, which is quite difficult to obtain in the United States may actually be a variety of oregano.\u00a0 Thyme, oregano, and marjoram are all closely related.<\/p>\n

Rather than sweat trying to find different varieties of thyme, I use \u201cregular\u201d (French) thyme and a little oregano and\/or marjoram to round out the flavors.\u00a0 Since no two cooks use the same herbs in the same quantities, and since many Guyanese cooks would just use French thyme, I think the addition of a little oregano and\/or marjoram to mimic fine-leaf thyme produces a traditional taste.\u00a0 However you do it, thyme\u00a0 should be the predominant flavor.\u00a0 Since thyme can taste medicinal in large quantities, use it sparingly at first if it\u2019s not an herb you\u2019re accustomed to cooking with.

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Guyanese \"Cook Up\" (Rice and Peas with Coconut Milk and Meats)<\/h2>\n
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There are more variations of Cook Up than there are Guyanese cooks. Consider this recipe a starting point. You can use more kinds or different meat, such as diced corned beef or pickled pork (essentially made the same was as corned beef but with pork). Typically, in Guyana, the meats and black-eyed peas would be cooked in the same pot, being added when appropriate to finish cooking at the same time. Liquid would be adjusted by sight and the rice and other ingredients added and the cooking finished. When I made this frequently, I had all the timing down and got quite good at estimating the volume of liquid in the pot. These days, I cook the different ingredients in steps, and actually measure the liquid, as described below.<\/div>\n
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Prep Time <\/span>15 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Cook Time <\/span>3 hours<\/span><\/span> hrs<\/span><\/span><\/div>
Total Time <\/span>4 hours<\/span><\/span> hrs<\/span> 15 minutes<\/span><\/span> mins<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n
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Servings: <\/span>8<\/span> people<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ingredients
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