Don’t ask for Hot Dogs, ask for Sausage

A more remote purpose of this blog is to share our observations and epiphanies of another culinary culture. One happened just recently. On one of our first days here in Guyana, right off the plane, we were staying at a nice place off one of the few highways that cuts through this country. Being new and it being morning, we asked what was for breakfast. One of the cooks, smiled and in her thick creolese responded, “ Oh, sausage, bai.” We were ecstatic, we had no idea one could get sausage. Of course, we’re thinking Farmer Johns, or another brand of the little links of love that decorate our breakfast plates in the States. However, as we stepped in line, the “sausages” were mini Vienna hot dogs. From a can. This was one of our first epiphanies.

It’s been 8 months now and time erodes memories as new experiences take place and, really, we never were big hot dog fans anyway, so we only got them when they’re catered to us. But recently, we had a hankering for one of our home cooked comfort favorites: cooked turkey patties, mashed potatoes, and veggies. Unfortunately, we were not too sure where to get ground turkey here, so we looked for alternatives. Chicken Dogs, perfect! It all fell into place and we asked around at our shop across the way for hot dogs. We were told that they didn’t have any but that the Bakewell truck (bakewell being a brand of bread here) just dropped off some at the bread shop around the corner.

Hmmm, we thought, a bakery truck has hot dogs. Sure why not, this is Guyana, its new, exciting, different, so yeah maybe the truck would have some. So we went to the bread shop and asked for hot dogs. They placed a packet of Hot Dog Buns before us. We stared in stunned silence. Was there a miscommunication? Did we not speak clearly enough? Oh, wait. As memories do at the most inopportune times, it all came flooding back and hit us, feeling like an “A ha! Moment” in a short story: they’re not called hot dogs here, but sausages.

So moral of the story: When in Guyana ask for “sausages” when you want some hot dogs.

Below is an image of a common breakfast food here: Hot Dogs…well sausages. They are on wheat bread slathered in ketchup and mustard (and if we were real Guyanese, they’d be covered in grated carrots and cabbage, with a splash of pepper sauce and mayonnaise.)