I am not going to lie, for the 29 years I lived in Guyana, I can count on one hand the number of times I ate cassava bread. It wasn’t something bought and consumed at home. And I never sought it as a food to eat. On the occasions I had cassava bread, I was either dining out at someone’s home or at some event where it was served. I remember several years ago there was a coconut expo in Guyana, and I happened to be in the country at the same time. I brought home to Barbados coconut cassareep as well as coconut-cassava bread. They were these pretty disks of white, pink and yellow bread. Back then, I ate them toasted, topped with scrambled eggs. It was nice, different, but not something I felt I’d go out of my way to have again, the cassava bread that is. Well, all of that changed last week.
One of my friends had returned from Guyana and brought me… guess what? A mixed Chinese Fried rice!
It was 5.45 pm and I had just finished teaching a Communication class. I saw that there were 2 missed calls and a voicemail that came in over an hour before. Cellphones for teachers and students are turned off or set to silent during class. Floyd (my friend) had called on his way from the airport to say he was passing by to drop off something for me. I got excited. I knew immediately that he had brought me Chinese food! Dinner! I drove 17 miles avoiding roads that would be backed up with drive-time traffic to get that fried rice. Listen, I know that many of you know the cravings those of us living outside of Guyana have for Guyanese Chinese food.
Floyd and his wife, Mischelle live in what we would call the country. When I left their home that evening, I had the fried rice, a bottle of Banks Malta Supreme – Coconut & Ginseng (new to me and yet to try), half of a freshly made coconut sweet bread and 3 x 7-inch round cassava bread. The cassava bread had that lovely zinc/galvanised sheet ripple effect. I remarked as I left, “It’s always special going in the country; they pack you up with stuff to take home.” It’s true, isn’t it?
Fast forward a couple of days later and I was feeling peckish. I did not want a meal. I wanted something savoury, light, and crunchy. My homemade plantain chips bottle was empty. I looked around and saw the bag with the cassava bread and figured that I should use it. I was not enthusiastic about the idea. In the past, I had heard people saying how nice cassava bread was toasted with butter. I thought I’d give it a try. I am not clear on how other people apply the butter to the bread. My idea (and this is what I did) was to toast the bread and brush it with melted butter.
I popped one of the bread into the toaster oven and took it out just as it started to get some colour. Dipping a pastry brush into a bowl of pure golden liquid, I brushed the bread and watched it quickly absorb the butter, giving it a different hue of colour. I broke the bread into large shards and bit into a piece. It was crispy, crunchy, toasty and absolutely delicious with the flavour of the salted butter (please note that I mean butter and not margarine). My eyes opened wide. I could not believe how good this thing tasted. I quickly took out another of the cassava bread, toasted and buttered it, broke it up and went to put my feet up on the patio as I munched away. I felt a little sad when it was all gone. I still had one bread left back; something to look forward to the next day. Like clockwork, around the same time the following day, I had my toasted and buttered cassava bread. As I finished eating it, I wondered, ‘Where am I going to be able to buy cassava bread in Barbados?’ Now that I have discovered it this way, I want to ensure that I have ready access whenever I am in need.
Cassava bread is not only tasty, it is also an excellent source of fibre; it is satisfying and filling.
I have a Bajan friend who is genuinely allergic to gluten so I am excited to introduce her to cassava bread.
I asked my friend Floyd where and if I can get the bread to buy here (he tends to know where you can get certain Guyanese things), and he has told me of a place to check in one of the malls in Bridgetown. Apparently a lady has them brought in from Guyana. I am going to check her out this weekend.
It’s always a joy to discover and rediscover a taste of home.
Cynthia
cynthia@tasteslikehome.org
