Last Saturday, while the rest of Kingston endured a gloomy afternoon of intermittent showers, a small group at 71 Lady Musgrave Road enjoyed the warmth of Saleema Barclay’s gratitude. Barclay, a pastry chef who studied in France, invited an assortment of her friends, family and well-wishers to witness the opening of Le Macaron Pastries and Desserts, her first physical patisserie.
Just over a year ago, Barclay spoke to Food, sharing her passion for desserts and her desire to use Caribbean flavours from locally sourced produce to enhance the French delicacies that she had spent the past few years mastering.
“People travel to taste a country. I want the Jamaican flavours to be in my food. I want whatever is in season to translate into what I’m preparing. That’s where the creativity comes in for me,” she had said.
Though opening a storefront had always been at the back of her mind, Barclay described the move as serendipitous. She went on to explain, “The thing about working from home or baking from home is the fact that you really are always pushing customers to come to you. At the same time, it really is limiting in how you get to express yourself or how I want to express myself, at least.”
She continued, “When the opportunity came for me to actually get the store front, I felt like I couldn’t let it pass me by because this was now my way of being able to express myself, but this time around, I [knew] people would come because its word of mouth that got me here.”
Those words included well-wishes from past co-workers who still raved about her creations, contemporary colleagues and even glowing praise from the French ambassador to Jamaica, Olivier Guyonvarch.
Guyonvarch explained, “I’m very happy because the French, we are open to the world, and I am very happy to share the best of what we have. So we can share education, we can share with our Jamaican friends, our many French companies here in Jamaica, doing very well. But sharing pastry is also very nice and beautiful because it makes you happy. So as the French ambassador, I am very happy to see that Saleema is making all Jamaicans happy with French pastries.”
Moments before cutting the ribbon, ushering in a new age for her business, Barclay stood on the dais, moved to tears at the show of support she was receiving.
“I cried. I really cried because, at the end of the day, you don’t really feel like you’re making an impact at all. You just feel like you’re doing something for a wedding or a baby shower or graduation, but at the same time, you start to realise that people actually invite you into their home and into their life, and that’s what today represents.
“These are all the persons that invited me into their [lives] and it’s an amazing feeling. I can’t even tell anybody how that feels because it’s what gives life purpose. It’s not about the show of it, but it’s just the people who came and supported and made me realise that this is my purpose in this life. This is what I am meant to do,” she said.
Though still holding tight to her mission of providing vegan, gluten-free and some sugar-free desserts, Barclay says another facet of this storefront is that it will branch into savoury meals with Sally’s Gourmet.
“I want to give Jamaicans truly, truly good dessert and good food. Food that is made with the real deal. That’s really what my desire is. And trust me, there is another part of me that is yet to be seen because, as much as I am doing this, I really am conscious about using my local resources.
“And I understand the importance of really having food, not just being seen as something to eat, but something to nourish us. I really want nourishing desserts but also nourishing food, and that’s where Sally’s Gourmet comes in.
“That is the brand I want to capitalise on from here to have persons know that they can have Jamaica coconut oil, Jamaican jams or Jamaican sauces and know that it’s made from what we grow here,” said Barclay.
shanel.lemmie@gleanerjm.com