Race/Related: Want tamales, arroz con gandules and fufu? Go to Facebook Marketplace.

Meta's platform is an increasingly popular place to buy and sell home-cooked meals.

View in browser|nytimes.com October 25, 2024 Davila Dion holds a tray of attiéké poisson grille, a traditional dish in Ivory Coast. She has found success selling her home cooking through an unexpected platform: Facebook Marketplace. Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times 'It has helped me become more connected to my own culture' By Hank Sanders 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." Facebook Read more about the people selling home-cooked meals. → EDITORS' PICKS We publish many articles that touch on race. Here are several you shouldn't miss. 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