Culture of Guyana
Encyclopedia
Guyanese culture reflects the influence of Africa
n, India
n, French
, Amerindian
, Chinese
, British
, Dutch
, Portuguese
, Caribbean
, and American
and Nepalese
culture.
Guyana is one of a few mainland territories that is considered to be a part of the Caribbean region. Guyanese people share similar interests with the islands of the West Indies, such as food, festive events, music
, sports, etc.
, Jan Carew
, Denis Williams
and E. R. Braithwaite
. Braithwaite's memoir To Sir With Love details his experiences as a black high school teacher in the poor East End of London. An early Guyanese born author was Edgar Mittelholzer
, who became more well known while living in Trinidad and England. His more well known works include Corentyne Thunder and a three novel set known as the Kaywana Trilogy, the latter focusing on one family through 350 years of Guyana's history.
Although the beginning of theatre in 19th century Georgetown
was European, in the early 20th century a new African and Indian Guyanese middle-class theatre emerged. In the 1950s there was an explosion of an ethnically diverse and socially committed theatre. Despite an economic depression, there was a struggle to maintain theatre post-1980. Serious repertory theatre was highlighted by Carifesta and the Theatre Guild of Guyana. Wordsworth McAndrew
has been prominent in Guyanese theatre since the 1960s.
, calypso
, chutney
, Soca
, Bollywood film songs, local guyanese soca-chutney ), Brazil
ian and other Latin musical styles. Popular Guyanese performers include Terry Gajraj, Mark Holder, Eddy Grant
, Dave Martins & the Tradewinds, Aubrey Cummings
and Nicky Porter. Among the most successful Guyanese record producers are Rohit Jagessar, Eddy Grant, Terry Gajraj and Dave Martin.
Visual Art takes many forms in Guyana, but its dominant themes are Amerindian, the ethnic diversity of the population and the natural environment. Modern and Contemporary visual artists living in, or originally from, Guyana include Stanley Greaves
, Ronald Savory, Philip Moore, Donald Locke, Frank Bowling
, Hew Locke
, Roshini Kempadoo and Aubrey Williams
.
The story of the cinema in Guyana goes back to the 1920s when the Gaiety, probably British Guiana's first cinema, stood by the Brickdam Roman Catholic Presbytery in Georgetown, and showed Charlie Chaplin
-type silent movies. After the Gaiety burnt down around 1926, other cinemas followed, such as the Metro on Middle Street in Georgetown, which became the Empire; the London on Camp Street, which became the Plaza; and the Astor on Church and Waterloo Streets, which opened around 1940.
The Capitol on La Penitence Street in Albouystown had a rough reputation. The Metropole was on Robb and Wellington Streets; the Rialto, which became the Rio, on Vlissengen Road; the Hollywood was in Kitty; and the Strand de Luxe on Wellington Street, was considered the luxury showplace.
Cinema seating was distinctly divided. Closest to the screen, with rows of hard wooden benches, was the lowly Pit, where the effort of looking upwards at the screen for several hours gave one a permanent stiff neck. The next section, House, was separated from the Pit by a low partition wall. House usually had individual but connected wooden rows of seats that flipped up or down. Above House was the Box section, with soft, private seats and, behind Box, Balcony, a favourite place for dating couples. These divisions in the cinema roughly represented the different strata existing in colonial society.
and New Amsterdam
were built entirely of local woods.
The major sports in Guyana are cricket
(Guyana is part of the West Indies
as defined for international cricket purposes), softball cricket (beach cricket)
and football (soccer)
. Minor sports include netball
, rounders
, lawn tennis, basketball
, table tennis
, boxing
, squash
and a few others.
Guyana played host to international cricket matches as part of the 2007 Cricket World Cup
. The new 15,000-seat Providence Stadium
, also referred to as Guyana National Stadium, was built in time for the World Cup and was ready for the beginning of play on March 28. At the first international game of CWC 2007 at the stadium, Lasith Malinga
of the Sri Lankan team performed a helmet trick or double hat-trick (four wickets in four consecutive deliveries).
, roti
and Cookup Rice, the local variation on the Caribbean rice and peas. 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, it is a true reflection of the country. The food reflects the ethnic makeup of the country and its colonial history, and includes African and Creole
, East Indian
, Amerindian, Chinese
and European
(mostly British, French and Portuguese) dishes.
Dishes have been adapted to Guyanese tastes, often by the addition of spices. Unique preparations include Pepperpot
, a stew of Amerindian origin made with Cassareep (a bitter extract of the cassava
), hot pepper and seasoning. Other favourites are cassava bread, stews, and Metemgie, a thick rich soup with a ground provision coconut base and fluffy dumplings, eaten with fried fish or chicken. Homemade bread-making, an art in many villages, is a reflection of the British influence that includes pastries such as cheese roll, pine (pineapple) tart, and patties (similar to the Jamaican beef patty).
Curry is widely popular in Guyana and include most types of meat that can be curried including chicken, seafood, goat, lamb, and even duck. Guyanese style Chow Mein is another dish that is an almost everyday affair in most homes.
Fish is also a major part of Guyanese cuisine and diet; the fish that are mainly used include: gilbaka, catfish, and hassa.
Caribbean and Latin American ground provisions
(known colloquially as provisions) are part of the staple diet and include cassava, sweet potato
, edoes and others. There is an abundance of fresh fruits, vegetables and seafood on the coast.
Most individuals use fresh fruit to make their own beverages, which are called "local drink". Popular homemade drinks are lime water(like lemonade), mauby
, made from the bark of a tree; sorrel
drink, made from a leafy vegetable used in salads; ginger beer
(made from ginger root) and peanut punch
.
Fresh fish and seafood are an integral part of the Guyanese diet especially in the rural areas and small villages along the coast. Popular fish types include Gilbaka, Tilipia, Catfish, and Hassa. The crab soups and soups with okra
from the Berbice
coastal region resemble the Louisiana creole soups like gumbo
.
Guyanese style Chinese food and Fried Chicken are the most popular restaurant and take out items, and are found in the bigger towns. Popular Chinese dishes include include Lo Mein, chow mein
, and Chicken in the ruff (fried rice with Chinese-style fried chicken).
, Hinduism
and Islam
.
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n, French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Amerindian
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Nepalese
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
culture.
Guyana is one of a few mainland territories that is considered to be a part of the Caribbean region. Guyanese people share similar interests with the islands of the West Indies, such as food, festive events, music
Music of Guyana
The music of Guyana is a mix of Indian, African, European and Amerindian elements. Important American, Caribbean, Brazilian and other Latin musical styles are popular. Popular Guyanese performers include Terry Gajraj, Mark Holder, Eddy Grant, Dave Martins & the Tradewinds, Aubrey Cummings and...
, sports, etc.
Cultural events
- MashramaniMashramaniMashramani, often abbreviated to "Mash", is an annual festival that celebrates Guyana becoming a Republic in 1970. The festival, usually held on 23 February – Guyanese Republic Day – includes a parade, music, games and cooking and is intended to commemorate the "Birth of the...
- Phagwah
- Deepavali (Diwali)
- EasterEasterEaster is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
- ChristmasChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
Literature and theatre
Popular Guyanese authors include Wilson HarrisWilson Harris
Sir Theodore Wilson Harris is a Guyanese writer. He initially wrote poetry, but has since become a well-known novelist and essayist. His writing style is often said to be abstract and densely metaphorical, and his subject matter wide-ranging.Wilson Harris was born in New Amsterdam in what was then...
, Jan Carew
Jan Carew
Jan Rynveld Carew is a novelist, playwright, poet and educator. His works, diverse in their forms and multifaceted, makes of Jan Carew an important intellectual of the Caribbean world...
, Denis Williams
Denis Williams
Denis Williams was a Guyanese painter, author and archaeologist.Williams' early promise as a painter won him a two-year British Council Scholarship to the Camberwell School of Art in London in 1946. He lived in London for the next ten years, during which he taught fine art and held several one-man...
and E. R. Braithwaite
E. R. Braithwaite
Edward Ricardo Braithwaite is a Guyanese novelist, writer, teacher, and diplomat, best known for his stories of social conditions and racial discrimination against black people...
. Braithwaite's memoir To Sir With Love details his experiences as a black high school teacher in the poor East End of London. An early Guyanese born author was Edgar Mittelholzer
Edgar Mittelholzer
Edgar Mittelholzer was a Guyanese novelist. Born in New Amsterdam, the country's second largest town, he was the son of William Austin Mittelholzer and his wife Rosamond Mabel, née Leblanc...
, who became more well known while living in Trinidad and England. His more well known works include Corentyne Thunder and a three novel set known as the Kaywana Trilogy, the latter focusing on one family through 350 years of Guyana's history.
Although the beginning of theatre in 19th century Georgetown
Georgetown, Guyana
Georgetown, estimated population 239,227 , is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean.' Georgetown is located at . The city serves...
was European, in the early 20th century a new African and Indian Guyanese middle-class theatre emerged. In the 1950s there was an explosion of an ethnically diverse and socially committed theatre. Despite an economic depression, there was a struggle to maintain theatre post-1980. Serious repertory theatre was highlighted by Carifesta and the Theatre Guild of Guyana. Wordsworth McAndrew
Wordsworth McAndrew
Wordsworth McAndrew was a leading Guyana folklorist, poet, and creative artist.He was born in 1936 in Georgetown, British Guiana, to Winslow Alexander McAndrew and Ivy McAndrew. His father was a schoolteacher, musician, and catechist, who taught in rural Anglican schools...
has been prominent in Guyanese theatre since the 1960s.
Music and visual arts
Guyana's musical tradition is a mix of Indian, African, European, and native elements. Pop music includes American, Caribbean (reggaeReggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
, chutney
Chutney music
Chutney music is a form indigenous to the southern Caribbean, originating in Trinidad. It derives elements from traditional Indian music and popular Trinidadian Soca music.-History:...
, Soca
Soca music
Soca is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago. Soca is a musical development of traditional Trinidadian calypso, through loans from the 1960s onwards from predominantly black popular music....
, Bollywood film songs, local guyanese soca-chutney ), Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian and other Latin musical styles. Popular Guyanese performers include Terry Gajraj, Mark Holder, Eddy Grant
Eddy Grant
Edmond Montague "Eddy" Grant is a musician, born in Plaisance, Guyana.- Life and career :When he was still a young boy, his parents emigrated to London, UK, where he settled. He lived in Kentish Town and went to school at the Acland Burghley Secondary Modern at Tufnell Park...
, Dave Martins & the Tradewinds, Aubrey Cummings
Aubrey Cummings
Aubrey Cummings was a renowned Guyanese musician. He was born in 1947 and grew up in the Alberttown/Queenstown neighborhoods of Georgetown...
and Nicky Porter. Among the most successful Guyanese record producers are Rohit Jagessar, Eddy Grant, Terry Gajraj and Dave Martin.
Visual Art takes many forms in Guyana, but its dominant themes are Amerindian, the ethnic diversity of the population and the natural environment. Modern and Contemporary visual artists living in, or originally from, Guyana include Stanley Greaves
Stanley Greaves
Stanley Greaves is a painter and writer who was born in a "tenement yard" on Carmichael Street, Georgetown, Guyana. He studied Art in Guyana with Edward Burrowes in the Working Peoples' Art Class, 1948-61. Attended University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the UK 1963-68 did painting, majoring in...
, Ronald Savory, Philip Moore, Donald Locke, Frank Bowling
Frank Bowling
Richard Sheridan Franklin Bowling [Frank Bowling] OBE is a Guyana born British artist and is widely considered to be one of the most distinguished artists to emerge from post-war British art schools...
, Hew Locke
Hew Locke
Hew Donald Joseph Locke is a sculptor and contemporary British visual artist based in London.-Background:...
, Roshini Kempadoo and Aubrey Williams
Aubrey Williams
Aubrey Williams was a prominent artist and art lecturer in the United Kingdom.Williams was educated and worked in the Civil Service...
.
Film
Guiana 1838, a film by Guyanese-born director Rohit Jagessar that depicts the arrival of indentured Indian servants to the Caribbean in 1838 following the 1834 abolition of slavery in the British Empire, was released in 2004.The story of the cinema in Guyana goes back to the 1920s when the Gaiety, probably British Guiana's first cinema, stood by the Brickdam Roman Catholic Presbytery in Georgetown, and showed Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
-type silent movies. After the Gaiety burnt down around 1926, other cinemas followed, such as the Metro on Middle Street in Georgetown, which became the Empire; the London on Camp Street, which became the Plaza; and the Astor on Church and Waterloo Streets, which opened around 1940.
The Capitol on La Penitence Street in Albouystown had a rough reputation. The Metropole was on Robb and Wellington Streets; the Rialto, which became the Rio, on Vlissengen Road; the Hollywood was in Kitty; and the Strand de Luxe on Wellington Street, was considered the luxury showplace.
Cinema seating was distinctly divided. Closest to the screen, with rows of hard wooden benches, was the lowly Pit, where the effort of looking upwards at the screen for several hours gave one a permanent stiff neck. The next section, House, was separated from the Pit by a low partition wall. House usually had individual but connected wooden rows of seats that flipped up or down. Above House was the Box section, with soft, private seats and, behind Box, Balcony, a favourite place for dating couples. These divisions in the cinema roughly represented the different strata existing in colonial society.
Architecture
Much historic architecture reflects the country's British colonial past. Many of these buildings in GeorgetownGeorgetown, Guyana
Georgetown, estimated population 239,227 , is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean.' Georgetown is located at . The city serves...
and New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam, Guyana
New Amsterdam , located in the East Berbice-Corentyne Region, 62 miles from the capital, Georgetown, is one of the largest towns in Guyana. It is located four miles upriver from the Atlantic Ocean mouth of the Berbice River, on its eastern bank, immediately south of the Canje River...
were built entirely of local woods.
Sports
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
(Guyana is part of the West Indies
West Indian cricket team
The West Indian cricket team, also known colloquially as the West Indies or the Windies, is a multi-national cricket team representing a sporting confederation of 15 mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries, British dependencies and non-British dependencies.From the mid 1970s to the early 1990s,...
as defined for international cricket purposes), softball cricket (beach cricket)
Beach cricket
Backyard cricket, street cricket, beach cricket, gully cricket, corridor cricket, deef or garden cricket is an informal ad hoc variant of the game of cricket, played by people of both sexes and all ages in gardens, back yards, on the street, in parks, carparks, beaches or any deef arena not...
and football (soccer)
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
. Minor sports include netball
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...
, rounders
Rounders
Rounders is a game played between two teams of either gender. The game originated in England where it was played in Tudor times. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a round wooden, plastic or metal bat. The players score by...
, lawn tennis, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
, boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
and a few others.
Guyana played host to international cricket matches as part of the 2007 Cricket World Cup
2007 Cricket World Cup
The 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup tournament that took place in the West Indies from 13 March to 28 April 2007, using the sport's One Day International format...
. The new 15,000-seat Providence Stadium
Providence Stadium
The Providence Stadium is a sports stadium in Guyana, replacing Bourda as the national stadium. The stadium was built specifically to host Super Eight matches in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, held in March and April 2007...
, also referred to as Guyana National Stadium, was built in time for the World Cup and was ready for the beginning of play on March 28. At the first international game of CWC 2007 at the stadium, Lasith Malinga
Lasith Malinga
Separamadu Lasith Malinga is a Sri Lankan cricketer. He is a fast bowler with a rare round-arm action, sometimes referred to as a sling action, which leads to his nickname, "Slinga Malinga"...
of the Sri Lankan team performed a helmet trick or double hat-trick (four wickets in four consecutive deliveries).
Cuisine
Guyanese cuisine is very similar to the rest of the Caribbean. The food is diverse and includes dishes such as curryCurry
Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...
, roti
Roti
Roti is generally a South Asian bread made from stoneground wholemeal flour, traditionally known as atta flour, that originated and is consumed in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. It is also consumed in parts of the Southern Caribbean, particularly in Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and...
and Cookup Rice, the local variation on the Caribbean rice and peas. 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, it is a true reflection of the country. The food reflects the ethnic makeup of the country and its colonial history, and includes African and Creole
Creole
- Languages :A Creole language is a stable, full-fledged language that originated from a pidgin or combination of other languages.Creole languages subgroups may include:* Arabic-based creole languages* Dutch-based creole languages...
, East Indian
Indian people
Indian people or Indisians constitute the Asian nation and pan-ethnic group native to India, which forms the south of Asia, containing 17.31% of the world's population. The Indian nationality is in essence made up of regional nationalities, reflecting the rich and complex history of India...
, Amerindian, Chinese
Chinese cuisine
Chinese cuisine is any of several styles originating in the regions of China, some of which have become highly popular in other parts of the world – from Asia to the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and Southern Africa...
and European
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
(mostly British, French and Portuguese) dishes.
Dishes have been adapted to Guyanese tastes, often by the addition of spices. Unique preparations include Pepperpot
Guyana Pepperpot
Not to be confused with the Jamaican name for Callaloo, a soup or stew made with dark greens.Guyanese Pepperpot is an Amerindian derived dish popular in Guyana...
, a stew of Amerindian origin made with Cassareep (a bitter extract of the cassava
Cassava
Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...
), hot pepper and seasoning. Other favourites are cassava bread, stews, and Metemgie, a thick rich soup with a ground provision coconut base and fluffy dumplings, eaten with fried fish or chicken. Homemade bread-making, an art in many villages, is a reflection of the British influence that includes pastries such as cheese roll, pine (pineapple) tart, and patties (similar to the Jamaican beef patty).
Curry is widely popular in Guyana and include most types of meat that can be curried including chicken, seafood, goat, lamb, and even duck. Guyanese style Chow Mein is another dish that is an almost everyday affair in most homes.
Fish is also a major part of Guyanese cuisine and diet; the fish that are mainly used include: gilbaka, catfish, and hassa.
Caribbean and Latin American ground provisions
Ground provisions
Ground provisions is the term used in West Indian nations to describe a number of traditional vegetable and fruit staples that are planted in the ground, such as yams and cassava. They are often cooked and served as a side dish in local cuisine. Caribbean recipes will often simply call for ground...
(known colloquially as provisions) are part of the staple diet and include cassava, sweet potato
Sweet potato
The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...
, edoes and others. There is an abundance of fresh fruits, vegetables and seafood on the coast.
Most individuals use fresh fruit to make their own beverages, which are called "local drink". Popular homemade drinks are lime water(like lemonade), mauby
Mauby
Mauby and Dutch Caribbean islands of St. Eustatius, St. Maarten and Saba, is a tree bark-based beverage grown, and widely consumed, in the Caribbean...
, made from the bark of a tree; sorrel
Sorrel
Common sorrel or garden sorrel , often simply called sorrel, is a perennial herb that is cultivated as a garden herb or leaf vegetable...
drink, made from a leafy vegetable used in salads; ginger beer
Ginger beer
Ginger beer is a carbonated drink that is flavored primarily with ginger and sweetened with sugar or artificial sweeteners.-History:Brewed ginger beer originated in England in the mid-18th century and became popular in Britain, the United States, and Canada, reaching a peak of popularity in the...
(made from ginger root) and peanut punch
Peanut punch
Peanut punch is a beverage popular in the Caribbean and it is made with peanut butter, milk, sugar and sometimes spices. It is also available commercially in supermarkets and grocery stores as well to cater those markets. In Trinidad and Tobago, peanut punch is a popular drink that is often sold...
.
Fresh fish and seafood are an integral part of the Guyanese diet especially in the rural areas and small villages along the coast. Popular fish types include Gilbaka, Tilipia, Catfish, and Hassa. The crab soups and soups with okra
Okra
Okra is a flowering plant in the mallow family. It is valued for its edible green seed pods. The geographical origin of okra is disputed, with supporters of South Asian, Ethiopian and West African origins...
from the Berbice
Berbice
Berbice is a region along the Berbice River in Guyana, which was between 1627 and 1815 a colony of the Netherlands. After having been ceded to the United Kingdom in the latter year, it was merged with Essequibo and Demerara to form the colony of British Guiana in 1831...
coastal region resemble the Louisiana creole soups like gumbo
Gumbo
Gumbo is a stew or soup that originated in southern Louisiana during the 18th century. It consists primarily of a strongly-flavored stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and the vegetable holy trinity of celery, bell peppers, and onions...
.
Guyanese style Chinese food and Fried Chicken are the most popular restaurant and take out items, and are found in the bigger towns. Popular Chinese dishes include include Lo Mein, chow mein
Chow mein
Chow mein is a Chinese term for a dish of stir-fried noodles, of which there are many varieties.-Etymology:...
, and Chicken in the ruff (fried rice with Chinese-style fried chicken).
Folklore
The Guyanese folklore is similar to the Caribbean folklores, mixed with afro-american and indian beliefs.Religion
Many religions are practised in Guyana, the predominant ones being ChristianityChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
.