Hollis Barclay’s cookbook makes the case for elevated Guyanese cuisine
The Guyanese chef and entrepreneur launched “From Coal Pot to Corporate CEO”, a Diamond Jubilee edition marking Guyana’s 60th independence anniversary, at a Brooklyn tasting on June 25.
NEW YORK, United States. Hollis Barclay, an award-winning entrepreneur and culinary arts coach, has launched her first book, “From Coal Pot to Corporate CEO, a cooking memoir: Diamond Jubilee Edition”, with a tasting reception for 10 guests at the first-floor café of Medgar Evers College on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn on June 25.
The Guyanese national began her business career with a day spa in Bedford Stuyvesant before running Bleu Fin Seafood Restaurant and Grill, also in Brooklyn. She spoke of the Guyanese dishes she grew up eating in her mother’s kitchen.
Barclay said the soft launch, which honoured Guyana’s 60th independence anniversary, showed that Guyanese cuisine could be elevated to grace any international dinner table. “[Elevated] Guyanese cuisine belongs at any dinner table,” she said.
A four-course tasting
Guests were welcomed with a sorrel and ginger spritzer. A cassava crisp with smoked herring mousse honoured Guyana’s Indigenous heritage, while a pepperpot croquette with tamarind glaze, a modern take on the national dish, drew strong praise.
The tasting ended with black cake served with El Dorado Rum Cream, made with one of Guyana’s global brands.
Barclay is also the creator of Caribbean CEO Kitchen, a platform dedicated to elevating Caribbean cuisine through luxury dining, cultural preservation and narrative-driven food experiences.
From coal pot to boardroom
She described the coal pot, once widely used in Guyanese homes, as an effective cooking tool and something more. “It was a boardroom,” Barclay said. “Women who ran those kitchens were the first CEOs Guyana ever had. They just weren’t given the title.”
She said the book “traces the arc from the coal pot kitchens of Guyana’s working communities to the executive boardrooms its children now occupy, at home and across a global diaspora.”
“It features recipes drawn from all six of Guyana’s ethnic traditions, each accompanied by heritage liner notes connecting the dish to its historical and communal origins,” she added.
