Café Mariposa Cocoa on the menu

The Guerrero family of seven sisters and one brother bring their passion for the hospitality industry to life and receive a special joy from their family-run business.

A village rich in history, with a population of approximately 1,400 residents and a reportedly low incidence of crime, eldest sister Brenda explains how many people arrived in Lopinot: “The Government was building a dam in Caura at the time and relocated all of the villagers. That’s how our grandmother’s family settled here.” The café is situated obliquely opposite La Veronica RC Primary School on the main road. Brenda and their dad taught at the school which was built in 1946.

On arrival, I was greeted by two of the Guerrero sisters – Marcia and Brenda who shared their journey. “Our siblings Arthur and Bianca were the brainchildren behind the official launch of the café in 2001. We made the collective decision to rebrand in 2011 and include cocoa in our menu items, gradually catering for events, retreats, workshops, dinners, lunches, overnight guests and more,” Marcia says.

“We cook with 70 per cent chocolate, pure cocoa mass, ground granules and pulp used in salad dressings and beverages.

There is a growing awareness for the appreciation of our local cocoa.

However, more locals need to take up the mantle. Though you may not get recognised for it as an individual, it’s all about service to our country,” Marcia states.

Café Mariposa creates cuisine made with ingredients primarily from their own backyard or purchased from neighbouring farmers, so as to reduce the food miles. According to Foodmiles.

com, the concept attempts to measure the distance food has travelled before it reaches the consumer and is an indicator of the environmental impact of foods and their ingredients.

As I peered over Brenda’s shoulder, past the feeding hummingbirds, I spotted the banana, mango, grapefruit and orange trees she spoke of in the distance.

As part of the first Lopinot cluster training with the Ministry of Agriculture, as well as UWI’s Cocoa Research Centre and their personal research, the siblings do all things cocoa: processing, innovation and cocoa dancing. They have won numerous awards for their creations, including Marcia’s Batido de cacao (chocolate drink).

She re-appears with freshly made mango and carambola [five-finger] juice with a hint of cocoa and continues, “Our parents facilitated us by allowing us to build on their property and by being good parents. We learnt how to support each other and everyone has their distinctive role in the business.” The sisters recalled happy memories of how the café [unofficially] began. “In the early days we sang for free to visitors.

Our father Benedict Guerrero, fondly remembered as Teacher Ben would say, ‘Girls, come, come, we have visitors, let’s sing!’ We would serve guests pone, ice-cream, sweetbread and the works!” Gone but not forgotten, the senior Guerrero left precious memories and values etched in their hearts and minds.

In 1984, they won the Cynthia Alfred Championship Cup at Music Festival in the Family Class for a Spanish composition written by their brother Arthur, whose family subsequently took home this prize. As Brenda serves some tasty, specially prepared fried ripe plantain “amarillas” with a flavour-filled pommecythere chutney sauce, topped with 70 per cent grated dark chocolate she continues with her entertaining stories from yore.

“We always felt that Lopinot needed a place to relax with family.

Apart from the historical site and bars, we wanted to create a family atmosphere.” Next came the beef and pork tortillas made from cassava and sweet potato flour and even after skipping breakfast, I quickly became filled. The café caters to diabetics, vegans, lactose and gluten- intolerant guests. “If you don’t eat flour, you have the option of tortillas made with corn, cassava, sweet potato or dasheen flour purchased from a vendor in Tobago.

For breakfast we also offer fresh jams made with mammy apples, five-fingers or guava which can be used to sweeten your porridge made from freshly-grated cassava or sweet potato,” Brenda says.

You may be asking just where did these women learn to cook? “By the time we were nineyears- old, our mother placed a stool by the stove and told us we had to learn to cook,” says Brenda.

“We all also have fond memories of our grandmother cooking fireside. She had a sweet hand and everyone came to our house for her bakes. In those days she lived in a modest tapia house with this basket hanging in the middle of the kitchen. She made comfrey tea from pommecythere, sour cherries and spices that would turn a shade of red. We especially savoured the whole pommecythere seed and when granny gave you this tea with a piece of bake with guava, wow!” Brenda beams.

“They never taught us Spanish, but we learnt it at school and the older folks would switch between Spanish and patois to keep us kids in the dark.” She recalls that the storytelling was the best part about growing up in the village.

“We did not receive electricity until 1967, but we had the privilege of famous parranderos like Sotero Gomez and Papa Guhn visit our home which kept us going and boy did they know how to tell stories! “ An educator for 34 years who retired as a principal, Brenda admits that she always liked teaching, but loves being her own boss.

“When I transitioned to the café, there’s no better feeling than seeing guests enjoy a meal prepared with your hands.” While Marcia, a former banker and missionary who lived abroad, shares similar sentiments: “I believe this is the best job to be able to touch lives!” They ended by singing a Spanish song a perfect afternoon. “We can’t take the music out of the business – that’s how we began and it brings a special feeling to our guests. We want our offspring to realise the value of our history and continue the legacy we wish to leave in honour of our parents. We would like our guests to remember ‘Mi casa es su casa’ and we care about what we include in our food. ” For more info: cafemariposa58@ gmail.com