By Ala Solomon
“When we were at Sophia at the heritage celebrations last week, a group of men was checking out the stalls and calling out and asking for me because they said they heard I have the best “fly” and that they wanted to see if it is true.”
That is according to Helen Thomas, fondly known as “Aunty Helen”, who is famously known in Moruca, Region One (Barima Waini), as well as in Georgetown, for making one of the tastiest “fly” beverages, an Indigenous drink made from black and purple potatoes.
Thomas lives in Kumaka, Santa Rosa, in the Moruca sub-district of Region One, and has been participating in annual heritage activities since 2010.
Born and raised in Acquero, North West District (NWD), Thomas stated that she learned to make various Indigenous delicacies and beverages from her parents. In her early 40s, she started to showcase her skills at various events in her village.
Thomas would participate in the annual heritage activities in Santa Rosa. “There is a big celebration for all the satellite areas at month end in September and we would have a grand time, we would showcase our talent, our foods and we compete also but it is one big celebration,” Thomas said.
A hit in the city
Thomas said she would normally plant the black potatoes to make her drink, but noted that floodwaters severely damaged her crops in 2022 and earlier this year.
While she managed to cultivate some this year, most of her stocks were sourced from other villages in Moruca.
She explained that she would normally make a barrel of the famous drink to sell at the annual heritage celebrations at the Sophia Exhibition Complex but there were occasions when she would fetch her five-gallon bottles of the drink to the city for the event.
“One time I met some friends from Moraikobai and they wanted to know how I make the drink because they noticed that I get a lot of customers and people always come looking for me at Sophia.”
She said it all lies in the preparation. She said she would wash the potatoes until they are “very clean.” Then she would scrub the skin of the potatoes until they become “thin”, and she would later slice them into pieces before boiling them.
“I would take out the first set of juice and leave it to cool overnight. Then I would boil another set and this boiling process happens four times,” she said.
She added that five pounds of potatoes would give her 10 gallons of the drink and this quantity requires close to 10 pounds of sugar to sweeten.
Sold out
Thomas recalled that at the recent heritage celebrations in Sophia, her entire stock was sold out even before the celebrations reached the final night. In fact, some of her customers went in search of her on multiple occasions.
A group of men were sampling the drink from different stalls, Thomas recalled and according to her, “I heard them saying they came to find me,” she said with a smile on her face.
She said the men told her they wanted to see how potent the drink was “and they said my drink cannot make them high.”
Thomas couldn’t say if the drink indeed made the men intoxicated. Her drink was also bought to be taken overseas.
“One customer bought four bottles of the drink to take back overseas…He called me after when I was already back in Moruca and asked me if I had more but by then all my fly was sold out,” she posited while adding that he seemed disappointed as he ended the call.
Thomas related that on September 17, 2023, Santa Rosa would have its heritage celebrations and she is preparing her last supplies of potatoes for the event.
Her children – who are grown-up – have all followed her footsteps as they have already mastered the art of making “fly” as well as other Indigenous beverages and food.
Thomas said she is proud that one of her daughters-in-law, who hails from the Rupununi, has also mastered the art of making the famous drink.
“I told her that she is even making it better than me,” Thomas said as she continued to prepare for heritage celebrations at Moruca.
