Yes my friends, we were on the streets again. I was given a motivational push to start a side gig by my friends over at the Saturday savers club @susie-saver and @eddie-earner as well as my friend @datametrics. It has been been an eye opening , tiring yet satisfying experience thus far. As I mentioned before my friend @dmilliz has given tangible as well as intangible support. For example, he put me in touch with the person who made the logo above that many people seem to like . Big up yuhself mi boss.
What have I been cooking?
Everybody knows that I love chicken so it would be remiss of me not to cook some chicken. Jerk chicken is best done on a grill over coals or wood but I got to make do with oven for now because we are indoors - when we get an outdoor gig, you will see, smell ,taste and hear about the difference.
I have experimented with curry. I have tried it with rice and in meat loaves. Most of the people who visit this venue are Japanese and they are familiar with curry. The curried meat loaves were well received but it’s not something I will do often. It falls on the list of specials.
One of the persons who has ordered from
me over the past three weeks requested ackee and salt fish, which is Jamaica’s national dish 🇯🇲. I tried my best to accommodate the request. I was fortunate to get ackee although it is quite expensive and hard to come by. I went in search of dried cod in the market and only one lady had. I was lucky enough to get the last piece she had.
I also found things like fresh thyme and papayas.
Back to the ackee and saltfish. You can find older post from me and @dmilliz on how to cook 👨🏾🍳 it. Here is another lesson in pictures. Remember to boil the cod fish to get rid of some of the salt.
Not many Japanese people outside the reggae and dancehall circle are familiar with this dish so I took the opportunity to introduce it to them. I think they liked it especially with festivals(dumplings/hot doughnuts).
Some of the tools I use
My air fryer has been useful in the absence of a microwave- I use it to heat up the jerk chicken. In the first week I used it to do French fries as well but it took too much time so I recently purchased a small fryer for less than ¥2000. I bought a bag food carrying bag for less than ¥3000. The seller asked to me write a review and paid me ¥2000 for it. Sweet deal!
Sales haven’t been brilliant or bad. It is a learning experience and I’m just happy to be delving into my other passion. It takes a bit of time so for now I’m only doing it once a week. I still need to make time for my music which I might have to do from home but that’s to be ironed out. There is a wonderful feeling that comes from doing something for yourself and plans are on paper to launch the bellyful in other areas such as sauces to mention one. The support in terms of customers has come from people I don’t know and who are not very familiar with Jamaican food- the place is out of reach for some and might be a spiritual challenge for others. One of My friends came by last week and a few of my other friends have either shared my post, followed my page, made original post , and offered advice and products. The support has been tremendous.
I look forward to developing this service and the products. I have a YouTube channel on which I will post the cooking process -it’s also called jjsbellyful. I look forward to jamming with you in person, if not in person then keep your eyes on this page for future updates.
