'It has helped me become more connected to my own culture'
In the cramped kitchen of a home in Queens, Tiana Webb slowly flipped empanadas in a pot of hot oil as they turned crispy and brown — just like her Jamaican-Puerto Rican family taught her. Nearly 1,800 miles away in Hutto, Texas, Davila Dion pounded plantains into a chewy bread the way her mother taught her in Ivory Coast. "When you use a blender, it doesn't give the taste that you want," Mrs. Dion said, opting for a mortar and pestle to mash the fruit into dough for a dish called fufu. Ms. Webb's business, T's Kitchen, and Mrs. Dion's business, WAfrica Taste, have dozens of loyal customers. But neither of them have storefronts, employees or commercial kitchens. Instead, like thousands of other unlicensed restaurateurs across the country, Ms. Webb and Mrs. Dion have found success selling their home cooking through an unexpected platform: Facebook Marketplace. Yes, that Facebook Marketplace. The internet's garage sale. Best known for offering sweet deals on used furniture and electronics. Thanks to the rising cost of eating out, the coronavirus pandemic and changes to state laws, Marketplace and other social media sites have become a popular place to buy and sell freshly made meals. On Meta's plainly designed, free platform for listing just about anything, thousands of people — many of them immigrants or the children of immigrants — are working side gigs. These home cooks operate in a sort of legal gray area, with some states expanding cottage food laws and broadening opportunities for home food businesses. Unlike street food vendors and food truck owners, who apply for permits that are often highly difficult to obtain, home restaurant businesses have fewer hoops to jump through and rules are not often enforced. Many only sell a few meals a day or week. "When you're sitting down with a plate of her food, it's not like food that you got out at a restaurant," Brittani Bacchus, a friend and one of Ms. Webb's customers, said of her cooking. "Somebody's mom made that food or somebody's grandmother made that food." Everything Ms. Webb, 28, and Mrs. Dion, 33, know about cooking they learned from their families. Ms. Webb's grandparents were from Jamaica and Puerto Rico and her food is inspired by both cuisines. "It has helped me become more connected to my own culture," Ms. Webb said of her cooking. Mrs. Dion moved to New Jersey from Ivory Coast when she was 25, and settled in Hutto in March. It's hard to find great fufu in Texas, she said. "They have African restaurants, but they have more Ethiopian, Nigerian." said Mrs. Dion, a stay-at-home mother. Ms. Webb started looking for a side gig after feeling the pressure of pandemic-era inflation, and Mrs. Dion was looking for ways to make money at home. Both were skilled cooks, but opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant was prohibitively expensive and neither could pick up work that took them away from their children. Mrs. Dion began advertising the food she cooks at home — a tropical smattering of flavorful rice, juicy chicken thighs, stewed meat and caramelized plantains — to Marketplace in June. Now she has 30 loyal customers who buy her fufu, okra stew, peanut butter soup and whole fried tilapia. She charges $15 a plate for pickup and an additional fee for delivery. Often served in aluminum catering trays or Styrofoam clamshell plates, Marketplace meals have no-frills packaging but are packed with flavor. In a plate from Ms. Webb, her pernil — slow-cooked pork shoulder — falls into singular strands of flesh at the touch of a fork. Her mac and cheese has a crispy Cheddar crust and a gooey core. But the scene stealer is arroz con gandules, or rice with pigeon peas. The rice is impeccably seasoned and provides the perfect bed for the pernil juices. Looking for a way to make a little money on the side, Ms. Webb, who works in marketing, began selling food on social media in December 2023. She now gets thousands of hits to the Instagram and Marketplace pages for T's Kitchen each month, she said. "I didn't even expect the response to be so crazy," Ms. Webb said. "In the past year, it's grown so much."
Invite your friends.
|
Friday, October 25, 2024
Race/Related: Want tamales, arroz con gandules and fufu? Go to Facebook Marketplace.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Page List
Blog Archive
- October 2024 (2307)
- September 2024 (2667)
- August 2024 (3156)
- July 2024 (3241)
- June 2024 (3107)
- May 2024 (3196)
- April 2024 (3104)
- March 2024 (3192)
- February 2024 (3006)
- January 2024 (3261)
- December 2023 (3176)
- November 2023 (3188)
- October 2023 (3191)
- September 2023 (2961)
- August 2023 (3120)
- July 2023 (3024)
- June 2023 (3042)
- May 2023 (3205)
- April 2023 (3030)
- March 2023 (2986)
- February 2023 (2584)
- January 2023 (2694)
- December 2022 (2745)
- November 2022 (2899)
- October 2022 (2916)
- September 2022 (2970)
- August 2022 (2981)
- July 2022 (2814)
- June 2022 (2759)
- May 2022 (2768)
- April 2022 (2692)
- March 2022 (2851)
- February 2022 (2550)
- January 2022 (2715)
- December 2021 (2641)
- November 2021 (2745)
- October 2021 (2836)
- September 2021 (2847)
- August 2021 (2756)
- July 2021 (2572)
- June 2021 (2738)
- May 2021 (2579)
- April 2021 (2698)
- March 2021 (2789)
- February 2021 (2532)
- January 2021 (2617)
- December 2020 (2664)
- November 2020 (2637)
- October 2020 (2824)
- September 2020 (2745)
- August 2020 (2704)
- July 2020 (2749)
- June 2020 (2669)
- May 2020 (2199)
- April 2020 (4060)
- March 2020 (5898)
- February 2020 (6963)
- January 2020 (7455)
- December 2019 (10)
Search This Blog
U.S. Department of Justice Attorney Vacancies Update
You are subscribed to Attorney Vacancies for U.S. Department of Justice. This information has recently been up...
-
View Images Library Photos and Pictures. Как сделать усилитель сигнала сотовой связи своими руками Усилитель 3G сигнала своими руками Антен...
-
Download Images Library Photos and Pictures. 3 Graduation Invitation Letter Sample Invitation Letter Sample Invitation Letter To Friend For...
No comments:
Post a Comment