Newly learned skills come in handy |28 December 2020

By Marie-Anne Lepathy

She has always wanted to improve her cake making and decorating, to develop her pastry skills as well as learn to make a variety of snacks. So, when the opportunity presented itself she seized it and today she stands proud as she looks back on her achievements.

She is Tahiri Laurencine and she has all the reasons to smile because her family no longer buys bread and snacks from the supermarket but prefer her homemade brand.

She is also doubly happy and proud as more people are showing appreciation and a preference for her homemade goodies and she has even got a few orders for cakes and snacks for the festive season.

How it all started

Ms Laurencine recalled hearing the advert from Women in Action and Solidarity Organisation (Waso) calling for participants to enroll on the pastry course and she seized the opportunity.

“I just wanted to improve on what I know and also learn some new skills like cake decorations,” said Ms Laurencine.

Before she enrolled on the training Ms Laurencine said she learned to bake on her own and from tips found on the internet.

She has been baking mostly birthday cakes every now and then for family members and close friends only.

She said the training, which was conducted every Wednesday for a period of around nine months under the guidance of Neige Madeleine, has been very fruitful.

“Other than baking and cake decorating, we also learned to make bread in different shapes, a lot of different pastries as well as snacks like samoosas, pies, sausage rolls, Swiss rolls, meatballs, burgers, pizzas…to name but a few. We also learned to make different pasta dishes as well as biryani,” Ms Laurencine explained.

She said often when we see and buy different cakes and snacks in the shops we tend to believe they are special and very difficult to make when in fact they are all very simple and easy to prepare and can be made tastier if more spices, ingredients and flavours are added.

“Now that we know the secret behind these things we wonder why we have to pay so much for simple pastries and snacks that we can easily make at home,” said Ms Laurencine.

Ms Laurencine said she will forever remain grateful to Ms Madeleine for imparting her skills to the group.

A passion for baking

Admitting that she has always loved to bake, Ms Laurencine said with her new found skills she has developed a passion for baking and this is benefitting her whole family.

‘’I can now make an assortment of bread and my children no longer eat bread from the supermarkets because they prefer the freshly baked ones that I make,” she said.

She added that recently she received an order to provide snacks for 100 persons.

“It was my biggest challenge so far and I made it on time with the help of family members and I passed the test. I am really happy,” said Ms Laurencine who admitted that though interesting, making different snacks is really time consuming and you have to be on your feet very early to prepare the different dough, ingredients and spices.

Not in formal employment since June this year, Ms Laurencine said she is using all the time on her hand at present to continue to improve her baking skills as she continues to get more orders especially for this festive season.

Boosting her gardening skills

Aside from baking, Ms Laurencine also grows her own spices and vegetables.

“It is very much better to have everything you need close at hand and fresh,” said Ms Laurencine whose parents were farmers and she has taken after them.

“As I have ample space at home I said why not make the most of it. I grow a variety of spices and vegetables and the excess I give to my sister to sell at Victoria Market,” she said.

A mother of five, Ms Laurencine said she is also grateful for the help of mostly her 14-year-old daughter who is very keen about both baking and gardening and is always very excited to help her mother in all her initiatives.

“She is always encouraging me and she surfs the internet and comes up with new tips to help me noting that it is always good and much healthier to prepare everything you need at home as well as grow your own vegetables which is much healthier,” Ms Laurencine pointed out.

So far Ms Laurencine says the popularity of her baking is increasing through word of mouth and her whatsapp group.

Plans for the future

Ms Laurencine said so far she is enjoying her baking and gardening as her two much loved hobbies. Asked if she plans to embark on her own small bakery business she said for the time being this is not on her mind as she is happy with the way things are for her.

“I believe we all wanted to improve our skills in our hobbies even though I know a number of people who have moved on to develop their own small business enterprises,” said Ms Laurencine.

Having benefitted from the training Ms Laurencine is encouraging other women especially those who are unemployed to seize the opportunity when the training resumes next year to learn new skills which could help them to develop a small enterprise.

The accompanying photos show Tahiri in action as well as some of her creations.