Culinary arts professional wins Guyana’s inaugural pizza-making competition, capping a journey that began in her mother’s home bakery

LISA Hamilton did not set out to work in the culinary arts, but says she was pushed there by necessity, faith, and a wood-fired oven her mother used at home to keep her family afloat. Decades before she became the kitchen manager at Herdmanston Lodge, she was a teenager who walked and sold her mother’s bread and buns, having left school too early to finish what she started. At 41, she went back, enrolling at the Carnegie School of Home Economics and graduating with distinction as one of its oldest students. Most recently, Hamilton broke new barriers during Guyana’s inaugural pizza-making competition in June, where she outstretched, out-folded and out-baked the competition to take the win. Sitting with the Pepperpot Magazine earlier this week, Hamilton shared that her story and journey began long before she knew how to make a pizza, long before she took her first steps into a kitchen and long before she knew just how good a chef she was.

Hamilton was born and raised in central Georgetown and the community of Sophia. Speaking about her upbringing, which she described as filled with highs and lows, the now 48-year-old shared that she dropped out of school due to financial constraints her family faced. She added that while she was still young, she left school to help her mother after her father left the family. Reminiscing on the challenges that forced her to leave school, Hamilton added, “At that time, I was in Form 3. I wanted to be a journalist, and so I worked towards the arts and my dream. I got arts, but then I had to leave school because it was too tedious for me as a young teenager at that time. I had to walk miles to get to school. So I dropped out, and I started selling for my mom,” she said.

Hamilton became pregnant with her first child at 17. She added that even at that time, she did not see herself venturing into the culinary arts and described herself as a “tom-boy” growing up, adding, “I became pregnant at age 17, and I used to walk the weekend streets and sell the goods that my mom would bake,” she added. “Ironically, if anybody had told me as a young teenager, or young girl coming up, that I was going to be like you, I would have laughed because I was a dunce. I did not even know where the salt was in the kitchen.”

However, life’s uncertainties had different plans. After getting married at 22 and becoming a mother of seven, Hamilton sought to create financial stability for her family. As she shared, “I had difficult seasons. Every time I became pregnant, I was faced with financial uncertainty, but instead of giving up, I trusted God. I built a wood oven and started a bakery,” she said.

While her bakery gained support and grew, Hamilton knew she wanted to achieve more and that she had to gain further qualifications to do so. As she shared during her interview, Hamilton began attending the Carnegie School of Home Economics and, at 41, was among the oldest students at the school. As she recounted, “After I supplied these small businesses and so forth with food items, I said, ‘God, this world, everything is about qualifications.’ So I said, ‘Faith without works is dead.’ I was 41 years old when I enrolled at the Carnegie School of Home Economics. I graduated with distinction,” she added. “Some thought I was too old. I was one of the oldest people at Carnegie at that time, in 2019. I knew that God wasn’t finished writing my story.”

The skill, talent and excellence she displayed at Carnegie landed Hamilton a work attachment at Herdmanston Lodge, one of Guyana’s leading hospitality agencies. There, Hamilton climbed the ranks, becoming a prep cook and the assistant events coordinator. Hamilton worked to become the acting kitchen supervisor and is now the kitchen manager. She continued to educate herself, most recently graduating from a GOAL scholarship with merit in Tourism and Hospitality Management. Her persistent rise through the ranks, backed by exceptional hard work, is what made Hamilton stand out among ten contestants.

As she explained to Pepperpot Magazine, contestants had to make two pizzas after two days of master classes on the Neapolitan method, using imported Italian flour. The second category, a fusion pizza, allowed contestants to combine Italian and Guyanese or Caribbean ingredients, though Lisa stuck with the Italian dough, reasoning that local flour would simply burn in an oven reaching up to 500 degrees Celsius.

For her fusion pizza, Hamilton paired Italian basil and speciality Parmesan with five Guyanese and Caribbean ingredients. Each pizza had to be made and presented within five minutes, and contestants had to explain the name and ingredient choices of their fusion pizzas to the judges. They were also judged on the technique taught in the master class, as well as punctuality and texture, with judges lifting each pizza to check the underside of the dough for signs of proper kneading. After heading into the competition confident and overcoming a number of hurdles, Hamilton walked away as the winner of the Guyanese Gourmet category and the Overall Champion of the Guyana Cup Pizza-Making Competition.

Speaking on the challenges she encountered during the competition, Hamilton noted that her biggest challenge was working the dough. Although Hamilton is no stranger to baking in its many forms, she noted that the unique process of dealing with the flour was new and unfamiliar, adding, “The only real problem I had with the competition was the dough. The pizza was basically a Neapolitan pizza, not the normal pizza we are accustomed to,” she added. “The hardest part was stretching the dough to form the circle. You put your hands down, and they said, ‘Do not stretch the dough, press the dough, and it’s going to stretch out.’ That was a bit challenging for me because my instinct was to stretch. When you’re kneading the dough, it has to be left for 24 hours,” she added. “Then it is time to shape the actual pizza to form the circle. You do not stretch the dough; you press the dough, put your palm down, and keep doing that, keep doing that,” she said.

Moving forward, Hamilton aims to open a business in the pizza-making industry. Looking ahead, Hamilton says she will continue to master her craft and inspire others with her story. As she shared, “That is an art I’m still to master. I’m intending to go into business in that area, so I’ve got to get it right every time,” adding, “My journey is one of [development and] because of different highs and lows, I did not become this person overnight. You see or hear the kitchen manager, the cup champion, they see a destination, but I remember a beginning. My story started in my mom’s bakery at home.”