Got to have that Old Year's Night Cook- up?

Got to have that Old Year’s Night Cook- up?

Dec 31, 2011 News

By Leon Suseran

How preparing and enjoying a meal of cook- up rice became associated with the last night of the year may not be as important as savouring one of Guyana’s most beloved traditional foods. But the tradition of eating cook-up on Old Year’s Night has grown over the years and has become one of our cultural identifiers, something that makes us truly Guyanese.
Cook-up rice is considered a peasant dish. It was traditionally created and made to be eaten at the end of the week, by which time, rations would have depleted. So, the ends and bits of meat left over would be cooked with rice and peas or beans readily available. As with most peasant dishes, it was well seasoned with the addition of fresh herbs such as thyme, green onions, basil along with onions and tomatoes. Cooking the ingredients with coconut milk added a richness that is highly favoured. Cook-up rice is still, to this day, made to be eaten particularly on Saturdays but it is also cooked and eaten any day of the week.
But why cook- up? Why not curry and roti, or fried rice or even another popular Guyanese dish? Well nobody really knows why cook- up became the dish of choice for Guyanese on Old Year’s Night. But the lore which has been passed down from generation to generation behind having a delicious pot of cook- up rice on their fire-sides or stoves is that one would never go without food in the New Year if one’s pot had enough cook- up to last through the night.
On Old Year’s Night, this dish can be cooked using a variety of meats, including beef, chicken, pork or, as a fulfillment of the name of the meal, a combination of meats. Salted pork, salted beef, tripe, fresh pork, fresh beef, dried shrimp and chicken are all meat ingredients that can be included. Some people make a cook-up rice combo, meaning that they use a combination of meats while others prefer to make their cook-up rice with only one type of meat. For example, you can have a tripe cook-Up, beef cook-up or chicken cook-up.
Or you can choose to cook just a cook- up dish with peas. There is also a variety to choose from. The favourites are black-eye peas, split peas, red beans (not be to confused with kidney beans) and pigeon peas.
So how is this tradition carried out? When does the cooking start? When is the meal eaten? There is a debate about this since some persons prefer to eat before they attend church on the night. Others prefer to eat after they return home.
Since many persons partake in another tradition on this night, going to church and spending the last and first moments of the old and New Year respectively with their God, many churches have been putting on pots of this meal on the slow fire, cooking while the services are going on. Church members routinely check the pot to make sure all is well, preparing and adding ingredients and by the time church is over, cook- up rice is ready for all to eat.
So however you like your cook- up rice on Old Year’s Night, is entirely up to you and your family. Its richness and flavour and the fact that it brings the family together just as how turkey brings the Americans and Canadians together during Thanksgiving is proof that we too have our own special traditions.

6 thoughts on “Got to have that Old Year’s Night Cook- up?”

katwalk_lime December 31, 2011 at 3:46 am

Sorry, why can’t you cook this food on any other day? Must it be on so-called old years night? I am a very good cook, and I entertain friends many times during the year.
Know this too, that it is a PAGAN Holiday, okay, “Janus”, god of doors and many more, who had 2 faces, one looking back, and one looking ahead! Ceasar Augustus implemented this holiday? Augustus was a pagan who opposed God’s servant in the past. Do you have 2 faces? 2 personalities?
Preferable bar your doors good, for fear any silly bare footed fool visit and agonize your peace.
You can NEVER be a true Christian, for they would never celebrate it, sorry!
Susie_123 December 31, 2011 at 12:18 pm

I am here in the US and I am preparing to cook Cook-up this evening and eating with my family tonight. I am a true guyanese at heart no matter where in the world I am.
1. semore December 31, 2011 at 9:01 pm
  
  Suseie as i’m commenting on your post i’m presently eating my cook-up with the guyana red beens and linstening to my oldies. I’m also in a foreign country “true guyanese to the bone”
godzilla123 December 31, 2011 at 4:18 pm

Dear Editor,Cook-up rice is one of my favourite Guyanese dishes. ( Probably that’s why I am so strong ! ) Below with your kind permission I have posted a recipe from my grandmother’s recipe book so that one can try one’s “Hand”at cooking it.
!

Black Eyed Peas Cook-up Rice with chicken and beef brisket

1 cup black eyed peas

3 lbs chicken, cut up

1 lb corned beef brisket, cut into bite sized pieces(you can use regular beef also)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 scallion, finely chopped

about 10 sprigs thyme

1 13 oz can coconut milk

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 cups rice

3 cups water

*I included the recipe for green seasoning at the bottom of the post.

Place peas in a a bowl with enough water to cover and soak overnight. Strain the peas and set aside. Season chicken with green seasoning* and let sit for at least an hour.

Place beef brisket in pressure cooker with 3 cups water and pressure for 15 minutes. If you do not have a pressure cooker cook for about 30 mins. In a separate pot over a medium fire, add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add chicken, black eyed peas, onion, garlic and thyme. If you chose to use any type of pepper, now is the time to add it. Cook chicken for 10 minutes. Add coconut milk to chicken and cook for an additional 5 mins. Add beef and 2 cups of the liquid that the beef was cooked in to the pot with the chicken. Bring to a boil, add 2 cups rice and scallion. Stir pot thoroughly, cover pot. On a low fire, cook for 25 to 30 mins. The rice should be tender and all of the liquid should be absorbed. If rice is not tender and all of the liquid is gone, add water, a little at a time and continue to cook until rice is tender.

*Green seasoning is usually a mixture of onion, scallion, garlic, scotch bonnet pepper and salt that is finely chopped in the food processor or blender. This is used to season meat and add flavor to food. There are no exact measurements, you can use as little or as much of each ingredient according to your taste.
Lowes1 December 31, 2011 at 4:26 pm

Forty-four years later and I am just getting ready to prepare a pot of black eye cook up while my wife and grandchildren are out trying to spend all that they can of my savings.

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY GUYANESE BROTHERS AND SISTERS. Allyu be good to each other in 2012, alya hear me? If not a gon come down de and cut Ayla r……
Mark_0 December 31, 2011 at 4:33 pm

Yumm! I missed the pig-tails, my favorite. Together with, mackerel or smoked-herring. Plantains, potatoes among other ‘bush-cook’, cook-up-rice ingredients.