French Guiana Essentials

🇬🇫French Guiana

Awara Soup

Awarasoep

Bouillon d'Awara — the iconic Easter ishtu of French Guiana, made from awara palm fruit paste slow-cooked 10-36 hours with smoked chicken, smoked fish, crab, shrimp, and pig tails; the signature dish of the country. Local saying: 'If you eat bouillon d'awara, you will return to Guiana.'

🇬🇫French Guiana

Guyanais Pimentade

Pimentade

Pimentade — a court-bouillon with tomato, lime, chili, and garlic, made with local fish (acoupa, atipa, machoiran); the everyday Creole fish ishtu of French Guiana; the beef version is a Sinnamary specialty.

🇬🇫French Guiana

Colombo Guyanais

Colombo guyanais — a slow-simmered ishtu with colombo spice blend (turmeric, coriander, cumin), potatoes, and vegetables; the French Guianese version of colombo, distinct from Martinique; a nationwide Creole dish.

🇬🇫French Guiana

Calalou Guyanais

Calalou guyanais — an Easter dish with smoked meat, shrimp, pig tails, and spinach (taro leaves), made with land crabs; distinct from Caribbean callaloo; a Creole tradition of French Guiana.

🇲🇶Martinique

Smoked Chicken

Poulet Boucané

Poulet boucané — chicken slowly smoked over a wood fire (boucanage); a preservation technique essential before refrigeration; often served with coconut milk or in stews; a Creole nationwide staple.

🇬🇫Amazonas, French Guiana

Couac

Couac — roasted cassava semolina; grated, pressed, dried, and roasted; eaten like bread at every meal; an Amerindian legacy; the staple carbohydrate of French Guiana; long shelf life.

🇨🇴La Ceiba, Colombia

Casabe

Cassave — flat, dry cassava flatbread cooked on a griddle; crisp and neutral; replaces bread; dipped in awara broth or eaten alone; an Amerindian staple for millennia; the bread of the forest.

🇬🇫French Guiana

Guyanais Tasso

Tasso

Tasso — dried, salted meat (beef or pork), sun-dried for 4-5 days; an indigenous Amerindian preservation technique; used in stews and sauces; the jerky of French Guiana.

🇬🇵Guadeloupe

Fish Blaff

Blaff

Blaff — a clear, very lemony court-bouillon of fish or seafood with chili, garlic, and bay rum leaves; light and aromatic; served with rice and couac; a Creole coastal specialty.

🇧🇷Brazil

Suco de Açaí

Jus de wassaï — thick purple juice from wassaï (açaí) palm berries; soaked and kneaded to extract pulp; rich in anthocyanins; the Amazonian superfruit drink of French Guiana.

🇬🇫French Guiana

Awara

Awara — the orange fruit of the Astrocaryum vulgare palm; made into paste for bouillon d'awara; harvested December to April; the defining ingredient of French Guianese cuisine.

🇸🇷Intérieur (Maroni / Oyapock / Bushinenge-Amerindian), Suriname

Kasiri

Kasiri (cachiri) — traditional low-alcohol cassava beer made by Amerindians; cassava roots grated, pressed, and fermented; a sacred communal drink; the ancient beverage of the interior peoples.