Guyana (pronounced , occasionally Anglicized as ) is a country on the northern coast of South America, just north of the Equator and a part of the western part of the wider region of Guiana. The country is bordered to the east by Suriname, to the south and west by Brazil, to the west by Venezuela and to the north by the Atlantic Ocean. It is the third smallest country in South America and approximately the size of Great Britain or Idaho. It is also the only South American country whose official language is English.

The official name is the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. Guyana is an Amerindian word meaning Land of Many Waters. The country is mostly characterized by vast unspoiled rain forests dissected by numerous rivers, creeks and beautiful waterfalls, notably Kaieteur Falls on the Potaro River, at 741ft high, is considered one of the highest single drop waterfalls in the world. Guyana's tepuis are famous for being the inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel The Lost World. The country enjoys a friendly multicultural society, high floral and faunal biodiversity, prize-winning rum, wooden architecture, and Demerara sugar.

Though physically part of South America, culturally, Guyana is more Caribbean than Latin American—demonstrated by the fact that English is the main language — and it is often considered part of the West Indies. Other languages include Creolese, Wai-Wai, Arawak and Macushi.

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L.A. Times - Food & Dining

Cookbook politics: Democrats, Republicans in the kitchen
Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Out on the fringes of the campaign trail, the partisan cookbook is a perennial candidate. Want a cookie? "NOT ONLY do I eat, I also am a Democrat," wrote Frank Sinatra in an intro to 1960's "Many Happy Returns: The Democrats' Cook Book, or How to Cook a G.O.P. Goose" (the sales of which helped buy TV air time for candidates). "Not only should every Democrat own a copy of this book, but he should load up all his or her friends, and even smuggle some copies into Pasadena and other points where the enemy is strong and square."
Ripe time for Southern California's pick-your-own farms
Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Grab your kids and some baskets and head out to the nearest U-pick farm for the freshest fruits and vegetables. ON A recent Sunday, a friend and I watched as our kids pulled a wooden wagon through a Ventura County field, pausing to gather black-eyed peas and sun-ripened heirloom tomatoes. They ran down rows of raspberry bushes, filling their hats with the ripe fruit. The air rustled the leaves of a row of peach trees; bees hummed on the periphery. Two hours later, the contents of our wagon (weighed out and paid for at the market stand) held enough produce for dinner, for dinners all week. The kids, faces browned by dirt and sunlight, were eating tomatoes as if they were apples; they didn't want to leave.
Review: Gordon Ramsay restaurant at the London hotel, West Hollywood
Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
The 'Hell's Kitchen' chef offers sophisticated fare in a glamorous setting. Everything you've learned about British superstar chef Gordon Ramsay on television is a crock. On his hit television shows, "Hell's Kitchen" and especially "Kitchen Nightmares," the three-star Michelin chef hams it up, cajoling and bullying some of the most exasperating cooks and restaurateurs on the planet into doing better work. The histrionics make for riveting television, but give the wrong impression about Ramsay's own cooking.

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