Rosemarie Jackson makes the pandemic delicious with Cally J’s Kitchen
Published:Thursday | November 4, 2021 | 6:09 AMKrysta Anderson/Staff Reporter
Food is love, and love is food. With these ingredients, Rosemarie Jackson took the biggest leap of faith and started a small culinary business.
Cally J’s Kitchen offers a tantalising twist on flavour. From hot from the pot tuna fritters and simmering banana, oats and plantain porridge to enticing callaloo fried rice, tender and juicy stewed beef with spinners and delicious sweet potato fritters. You will be sure to taste the excitement that goes into any dish from start to finish.
According to Jackson, the secret is in both creativity and style. It helps that she incorporates versatility, challenging herself by utilising only what’s around her. The biggest lesson food has taught her is patience, timing, practice and cooking with love in the mix.
The self-taught chef comes from a line of culinary geniuses. Her aunt is a chef at a prominent hotel in Kingston, and her father knows his way around the kitchen, cooking ital food that is good for the soul. She is both happy and honoured to be following in their footsteps.
Aside from carrying on a family tradition, the pandemic slowed her usual quick pace, bringing everything to a halt. With the worry of mental woes cooking up in her mind, she prayed to God and asked him for direction. While writing down her ideas, there was this great desire to fulfil a delicious purpose.
And here’s the story behind the name. Shy about her social media début, her father gave her the moniker ‘Caliema’. Her friend developed the nickname Cally from the pseudonym, then Jackson placed the first initial of her last name and added the Kitchen.
AMAZING FEEDBACK
Since starting in May of this year, the feedback, she shared, was amazing. “When I bake a particular product and post it, I would get messages just asking please to share the recipe.” That gave way to an exploration into recipe creation and development, as well as an expansion into creating a YouTube channel.
Although the business is currently small and still in its early stages, Jackson endeavours to build a huge career surrounding her flaming passion. “My hope for my channel, food page and business [is that] they will grow in God’s timing, and people will see that you can always be creative on a low budget in the kitchen,” she said. Additionally, she will continue to host her monthly pop up kitchen and pursue her dream,which is to one day release a cookbook featuring strictly Jamaican food.
The proof is in the presentation, so try your hand at a few of her recipes and see for yourself how tasty Cally J’s Kitchen really is. Not a big fan of cooking? Well, that’s what pop up kitchens are for.
For the foodie facts trivia, Jackson listed the top five dishes she currently enjoys indulging in: shrimp fried rice, oats and cornmeal porridge, meatless stewed peas, fried fish, tuna fritters and fried dumplings.
Cally J’s Kitchen is on Instagram, @callykitchen_1.