By Lakhram Bhagirat
While different variations of black cake can be found throughout the Caribbean, the ones in Guyana are, by far, the best simply because of the superior quality of ingredients used. In most countries, a combination of dried fruits such as raisins, dates, prunes, cherries and currants is the foundation for their cake.
But here in Guyana, the star is the preserved carambola, more simply referred to as “fruits”.
The process of preserving the carambola, or five fingers as it is commonly known, is laborious and time-consuming, but the end result is worth it, because the idea of providing the all-important ingredient for the quintessential Guyanese Christmas is one that brings much satisfaction.
For over two decades, Farina Fareed has been basking in that satisfaction and the widespread demand for her Lisa’s Preserved Carambola. However, she never envisioned the venture growing to the dizzying heights it now enjoys.
The mother of two started preserving carambola in her kitchen back in 1997 as a means to an end. She explained that her younger child was at the time diagnosed with hydrocephalus and required emergency surgery in Trinidad. At that time, it seemed impossible, because her pharmacist husband simply could not afford to pay for the surgery.
Nevertheless, they travelled to Trinidad and had the surgery done which was successful, but when they came back home, they also came back with a huge debt hanging over their heads. They owed monies to the doctor in Trinidad and they needed to find a way to pay him for the work that was already completed.
“Then I decided to do a business or something of the sort to generate some funds. With my husband’s funds and my own, we can get to pay the doctor, so that is how I started doing carambola fruits,” she recounted.
Fareed started out in her small kitchen making small batches with carambola sourced from her father’s farm in Canal Number One, West Bank Demerara (WBD). She explained that she had very little knowledge of the process when she first started out, but remembered observing one of her cousins making dried carambola preserves back when she was a child.
However, because of the necessity of her venture, Fareed did not attempt the dried version since that process was lengthy. She settled for the wet version and soon began gaining recognition for the quality of the product she was putting out.
As her product was gaining recognition, she knew that expansion was inevitable. So, she made a small work space behind her Canal Number Two, WBD home and started the process of registering her business. Once registered, she then had the challenge of getting the product into the mainstream markets and began approaching supermarkets.
The first shelves she got onto were in Bounty Supermarket and Guyana Stores. From there, she was just moving up.
Lisa’s Enterprises
The name “Lisa” is that of Fareed’s older daughter and at the time when she was registering her business, it seemed appropriate to use that. In 2000, Fareed started her factory.
Now she produces hundreds of kilos of preserved carambola on an annual basis and offers them in a variety of sizes on the market. Almost every supermarket stocks her product, which can be seen neatly packaged in bags and containers.
Her two children are also heavily involved in assisting her in the operations. She explained that Lisa became involved since she was about five years old, because, at that time, her husband had become an alcoholic.
“My eldest daughter was about five years when she used to help turn the karahee. My husband had become an alcoholic, he was a pharmacist and sometimes when I would leave to go to town and so, I would tell him to look the pot and so, and he wouldn’t, she would do it from a very young age,” she recounted.
Now Lisa’s Enterprises has grown to encompass not just preserved carambola, but also authentic Guyanese snacks such as cassava and plantain chips along with chicken foot.
Fareed mostly sources carambola from within the community along with her trusted supplier from Grove, East Bank Demerara. She explained that she used to source the fruit from the Pomeroon area, but because of the high associated costs, she decided to switch to fruit that was more affordably sourced on the coast.
The manufacturing process
When Guyana Times visited Fareed’s Belle West, WBD home, her older daughter, Ann Marie Isurdeen Samaroo, or Lisa as she is known, was there to walk us through the operations. She explained that the decision to assist her mother was never one that was foisted upon them, rather they saw the need to provide as much assistance as they could.
“When this business was started, she would not have had the income to hire an employee as it was relatively small, so hence, we ended up helping her in ways that we could have by putting them (the preserve) in plastic bags, putting in the labels, seal it. As we grew and we eventually entered into secondary school, we still shouldered some of the responsibilities, whereas I was going to St Stanislaus College, so maybe if she had orders in Georgetown, I would take them out with the bus when I am going and then she would collect them from me and she would do the delivery,” she explained.
Samaroo, who is now a school teacher, said when she was on vacation break, she would be over by her mother’s, assisting with the production of their goods. She also serves as the informal Operations Manager and would organise markets and meet with suppliers.
Walking this publication through the process, Samaroo related that when suppliers bring the carambola to the factory, it is first weighed and then washed. During washing, the skins and seeds would be removed, and the fruits cut up.
Following that, the process of preserving it comes into play. What they would now do is to stack the fruits in big barrels with a combination of sugar and “secret” ingredients and the fruits are left to preserve for months at a time.
She explained that there was no definitive amount of time the fruits are preserved for, since the carambolas would indicate when they were ready for the next step. The next step is perhaps the most tedious part of the process, since it is the cooking phase. They utilise large sawdust-powered ‘firesides’ to boil the preserved fruit for at least four hours, constantly stirring to ensure uniformity in the cooking process.
“Now we have our ratio of how much carambola we are putting with how much sugar with our other secret ingredients that we would use to make it the best ever. One batch would take about three to four hours depending on how the sawdust is lighting. So, we would have to overlook that. We would have to keep turning it. We have to make sure also that the correct proportion of sugar is added or else it might become too sweet or would not have that sweetness that you need.
“After removing it from the fire, it is placed in a bucket and left to cool. After maybe three days and, yes, it does remain hot for a long time; even after two days, it is still hot because of the sugar content. So, after about three days, we would grind it. It’s then placed into the finished product barrels in the factory and we seal that off,” she informed.
They would then store them labelled and as orders come in, the preserved fruit would be packaged and sent off. One thing that is unique about the Lisa brand is that they utilise no alcohol in the preserving process. Samaroo said that this was so because at the time her mother started out, they were a devout Christian family that consumed no alcohol. They also took into consideration the fact that in Islam, alcohol was haram and they wanted to ensure that everyone could use their product.
“We are the best and there are many reasons why we are the best. Firstly, it’s a very moist product. When you bake your cake with it, you don’t have to worry that that cake is going to dry out and you are going to have to buy some drink to carry it down. Secondly, the product is ground very fine, so when you mix it in your cake, you don’t have to worry that it’s going to have a large chunk or it is not going to incorporate properly. Next, the preservation time gives it a unique flavour that allows that black cake to have that nice black cake flavour. The secret is in what you put in to the black cake, so if you have that fruit that is preserved and you put in your spices and so on, that cake is going to come out miraculously,” Samaroo declared.
