Cook-up Rice – A Guyanese Traditional Dish

A fresh, hot and mouthwatering pot of cook-up rice is always enjoyed by the people of Guyana. The delicious meat, the milky taste, the fresh herbs and the variety of legumes that are cooked along with the rice enriches the dish ever more giving it that moreish reputation. Cook-up rice is a famous dish in Guyana; it is cooked and eaten in a number of ways but first where did cook-up originate?

Nothing beats a cook-up with a Bank Beer!

Origin of Cook-up Rice

Cook-up rice is really a peasant dish. When the Africans were brought as slaves to Guyana they introduced this lovely dish. While under slavery, they created delicious and nutritious food from such usually unwanted animal parts as pigtails, tripe, trotters, cow face, and even the intestines which were used to make black pudding and white pudding. In other words, they introduced cook-up to the culture of Guyanese.

Cook-up rice is a traditional Guyanese recipe that’s very versatile. It was traditionally created and made to be eaten at the end of the week, by which time, rations would have depleted. They prepared a meal of whatever was left at this time;  this was usually leftover meat and peas which would be cooked with readily available rice and beans.

Main Ingredients of Cook-up Rice

• Meat: The meat in the cook-up rice varies from one kind to the other like chicken, chicken foot, beef, tripe, salted fish, salted beef, salted pork, pork, pigtail and dried shrimp. You can choose to have one meat in your cook-up or you can have a combination of some. For example, you can have a beef cook-up or you can have a combination of beef, chicken and tripe cook-up. Whichever you prefer or whatever satisfies your taste buds, you are free to play around with it and see which type you desire best.
• Legumes: Various legumes can be used such as black-eyed peas, red peas, kidney beans, pigeon peas, chickpeas or split peas. Unlike the cook-up rice that can be made with a combination of meats, it is generally not made with a combination of peas, rather, it is made with one set of peas. So you will hear people say that they have made black-eyed peas cook-up, split peas cook-up or pigeon peas cook-up. However, black-eyed peas and red beans can be combined in the cook-up rice; certain legumes can be combined.

Tip: If you’re not a lover of peas or beans you can opt not to use peas and use callaloo or spinach in place of the peas.

• Rice: Cook-up can be made with various types of rice but the one well suited for this type of preparation is the parboiled rice, it stands up well to the long cooking. You can wash and soak the rice for an hour before adding it to the pot. Soaking improves the texture and helps the rice to swell more. Soaked rice requires less liquid to cook.
• Coconut Milk: It is best to use freshly grated and strained coconut milk. This is essential for the creamy, milky taste that holds the flavours of the cook-up together. If it’s not possible to grate a coconut, then you can use a packet coconut milk (powdered) diluted with water or you can use the canned coconut milk (liquid).

Did You Know? When using the canned coconut milk, it is advised to dilute it using a 1:1 ratio. For every cup of canned coconut milk, dilute with 1 cup of hot water.

• Seasoning: The seasonings are many; they include onions, fresh thyme, celery, basil leaves, scallion, garlic, scotch bonnet pepper, black pepper and salt. This is used to season the meat and add flavor to the food. There are no exact measurements, you can use as little or as much of each ingredient according to your taste.

How To Cook Cook-up Rice

Ingredients:

• chicken, cut
• 2 cups rice
• 1 can black eye peas
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can channa (chickpeas)
• 1-2 cups coconut milk (made by squeezing coconut or 1 tin coconut milk)
• 3 stems celery, chopped
• 2 wiri wiri peppers
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 stems married man pork, chopped
• 6 stems scallions
• 2 leaves of broad thyme, chopped
• cook-up seasoning
• black pepper,
• 4-6 ochros
• 6-8 calaloo leaves
• some fine thyme, chopped
• cassava cassareep
• salt to taste

Method:

1. Soak peas, channa and beans overnight or pressure for 20 minutes.
2. Wash and season chicken with black pepper, salt, some onions fine and broad leaf thyme
3. In a skilllet, heat oil and cook chicken.
4. Wash rice and add it to a large pot, with chicken, peas and beans.
5. Add the remaining ingredients.
6. Allow to cook until rice is firm.
7. Add ochroes and calaloo.
8. Cook for about 10 minutes more.
9. Remove from heat and serve piping hot!

Watch This

Cook-up Rice In Guyana

Listening to pressure pots whistle as the legumes cook and smelling the aroma of a fresh pot of cook-up rice being boiled is a joy and excitement for many in Guyana. They enjoy this dish, they relish it and savour every bite of it. Whether it is cooked with or without meat or whichever legume is chosen; when cook-up rice is cooked in Guyana the dish is always tasty and highly palatable.

Article References:

• https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/features/in-the-diaspora/08/20/whats-really-cooking-in-guyana/
• https://www.thespruceeats.com/cook-up-rice-2138131
• https://www.stabroeknews.com/2017/the-scene/tastes-like-home/12/30/whats-cooking-old-years-cook-up-rice/
• https://www.realniceguyana.com/recipes/cook-up-rice/

Last Updated: 2020-07-23