BY: MARVIN CATO | HGP NIGHTLY NEWS|
Author, attorney, and culinary enthusiast Selicia Avehart says her journey to Guyana—specifically to experience the Amerindian museums and the cultural richness of the Essequibo River—helped shape the foundation of her newly released cookbook.
Avehart, who has strong Caribbean roots, explained that her work pays homage to the African, Indian, and Indigenous traditions that define the region’s cuisine.
“One of my favourite stories is that when I graduated from law school in 2009, during the recession, I tried to get my waitress job back. They told me I was overqualified,” she recalled. “But I’m a farm girl.”
Her upbringing on a 67-acre farm, raising livestock alongside her parents—both medical practitioners who also ran their own clinics—instilled in her a deep sense of humility, discipline, and appreciation for agriculture.
“We came home from school and worked the farm. That was life,” she said.
Avehart describes her publication as not just a cookbook, but a food history book—a blend of her background in agriculture, her legal expertise, and her deep cultural curiosity.
“What I’ve done is pair my agricultural roots with agricultural law and connect all of that to a cookbook,” she noted.
She hopes the book will be embraced widely, particularly because it explores history, environmental awareness, and sustainability. Her mission, she said, is to inspire and educate.
“I really hope people read the text. It’s important to our environmental and sustainability goals. We want this to be a tool that can be used in schools, universities, and professional settings.”
With education being her most profound passion, Avehart said she hopes the cookbook contributes meaningfully to cultural learning across the Caribbean and beyond.
