It's hard to put into words what's going on in this country when every day we wake up to "sky is falling" news. I've never been blindly hated based on my race and despite being in the most diverse state in the U.S, I grew up in a town that the vast majority (88.5%) identify as "White." So why am I writing about this now, on a day where almost all of my peers are posting a black tile on their social media accounts? Well, I think it's important to use the platforms you have to express your thoughts, and the goal when I started this very small, hobby food blog was to bring people together through food. While I appreciate and respect everyone for following the social media #trends, I'm going to spend my time today highlighting a Black-owned business in my area, Norah's Irie. Norah grew up one of thirteen children on a farm in White Hall, Jamaica, where at a young age, she developed a passion for cooking. She left Jamaica as a teenager, where she earned a degree in social work and became a school teacher. As years passed, Norah missed cooking and serving the food of her childhood so she opened up Norah's Irie in Long Branch, NJ. I ordered food from Norah's and was greeted with a sign above the kitchen that read "All Are Welcome," and a friendly voice behind it asking how I was doing. We chatted for a few minutes and I left the restaurant with more than just my bag of food. I left with a hope that we can get through these fucked up times. Hope that we can all come out of this more united. And hope that the sky is not in fact falling (yet). So this weekend, I'm giving you all a challenge. Go out to a town or part of town that you don't normally go to, and try something new. Instead of "unfriending" everyone who didn't follow a social media trend or talking down to a friend; embrace a new experience with them and guide them through it. "Food may not be the answer to world peace, but it's a start."
I ordered the jerk chicken that came with rice and beans, cabbage, and fried plantains (I will be going back for the oxtail next week and that's a promise). The chicken basically fell off the bone, and the jerk seasoning was magnificent. If you've never had jerk chicken, I highly recommend it. I remember the first time, I ever had it (a Jamaican food truck in Philly outside the Penn Relays) and being completely blown away by it. Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica, in which meat is dry-rubbed with hot spice and cooked over a pit fire. It was originally developed by Maroons, African slaves who escaped into the forests and mountains of Jamaica when the British captured the island from Spain in 1655. Helped by the Tainos, who were native to the island, the two groups introduced each other to new styles of cooking (the Tainos used scotch bonnet chili peppers native to the island in their seasoning, while the Maroons introduced the cooking pits and slow cooking techniques), to create what we call today jerk style cooking. Jerk chicken continues to be the most popular of all Jamaican cuisine worldwide and for good reason.
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