As a curious child….
14 Drummond Street, Kingston 14, Jamaica West Indies is where the dream was born.
My grandmother, Goodie’s kitchen, was located outside the house (Top yard). As a single mom, she was overworked and underpaid. While cooking, she would sign and grumble. Even though Goodie had a stove, we also used a “Fyah Side Pit”. I can still remember the smell of the coal and seeing the flaming fire.
The rich culture stayed in my young impressionable mind. I would experiment and practice all the sweet foods I ate as a child (picney). In Canada, I would pressure my mom to make ackee & saltfish with fry dumplings. As a working mom, she was overworked and underpaid. While my mom was cooking, she would sigh and utter,” mi tyad of di fyah side!” Which simply means …” I’m tired of cooking!”
Based on that concept, on promoting homemade granny-style cooking from scratch in a modern-day convenience. The Jamaican culture is infused with many other cultures like African, Spanish, Indian, Chinese and British. This is why our cuisine is relatable to so many different cultures. Fyah Side believes in appealing to the taste buds.