Bhowanie age 48

I learned at a very young age, at 10 or 11, how to cook. I just learned for myself, gradually, a little bit. And then I started working out, in people's houses, cooking and cleaning and everything, and so I learned how. Everything in the house, I know about doing.

You know, did you ever think of it as art? Cooking is an art, sewing is an art, smocking is an art. So I can cook, I can smock, and I can sew!

I've only been here 3 months, from Guyana. My husband's here, my daughter, my son-in-law. They have to put in for me to be permanent, but it takes a while and you have to see how it comes out. At first I didn't want to stay here. I don't know if later I'll like it. I miss home very much. I miss everything, everything: the kind of environment we were living in, and you know, like the cooking, the fresh things you can get in the market. Here, you have to go and buy everything frozen, and all this stuff. There, you buy it in the market and everything's fresh. All of it, it's really different from here. And you know, during the day, when you're at home, you could just go out in the street and next door to your neighbor and chat. Here, you won't see anybody to stop to talk with; everybody goin' to work, everybody at home, you inside all day, and things like that. Those are the kind of things I miss.

I cooked last year, for the jury contest, and I won. Not here in New York, but in Guyana. I have 5 trophies. I got first for best presentation and the most innovative "fireside". Fireside is when you make something out of mud, to cook on, and you put wood inside and light it; it's like a stove. I made it out of mud, in the shape of a duck. I like competing!