The Storied Recipe

In this episode, I’m joined by Neil Hudson, Co-founder of Scotch Boyz, a brand that’s brought authentic Jamaican flavors to the mainstream American market - and far beyond, as well. 

I initially liked this story of 4 childhood friends coming together to build an international business, all while pouring back into the communities that raised them and Jamaican farms that produce their ingredients. I mean, what’s not to love about that story!?

But just a little ways into our conversation, I grew to like and respect Neil for his own thoughtful insights into business and working with friends, his obvious interest in others, and his understated sense of humor.

We begin by discussing, Curry Goat, a dish not only ubiquitous across Jamaica but also the signature dish made at The Hummingbird, a restaurant owned and operated by Neil’s father. I’m very grateful to Neil and his father for sharing this famous recipe with us, as well as to Neil for the many tips and history lessons he provided about other famous Jamaican dishes, like Jerk and White Rum. 

As the interview goes on, Neil opens up about their branding strategy, the innovative and thoughtful business strategies they’ve used to create strong partnerships with Jamaican farms and buy-in from employees, and finally he shares the fun and exciting story of the HUGE win that allowed their small business to “escape gravity” and skyrocket into the global brand they are now.

Highlights

• “Nine night” a send-off party after a funeral, where you must have White Rum, Goat Soup, Curry Goat, and White Rice
• The story of jerk - runaway slaves who made a treaty with the British…
• Pimento = Allspice; a discussion
• Best sources for goat in the U.S.
• Tips for making the best jerk around (hint: includes an air fryer!)
• The story of the 4 founders of Scotch Boyz - and what each brings to the company
• How the Scotch Bonnet Pepper got its name!
• The branding, strategy, and positioning to get Jamaican products into the mainstream aisle next to household condiment brands
• How the Jamaican community benefits from the growth of Scotch Boyz
• Neil’s profit-sharing approach to Scotch Boyz and how he arrived at that approach. 
• The farms and farmers who source the Scotch Boyz ingredients
• Winning the Next Black Millionaire Award and how Scotch Boyz “escaped gravity” with the 100,000 award
• Maintaining friendship in a business

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Today’s guests came to my very favorite way - they were recommended by a listener! 

Megan responded to one of my weekly newsletters, writing, 

There is a couple at my church, Jah and Frances, from Liberia, who are an inspiration.  They are so hospitable and care well for their family...their house always is full of people..  Additionally, their house is a revolving door...they care for elderly relatives, young relatives and basically anyone who needs help.  Once a year they sell food to raise money for a school in Liberia. When they cook for the fundraiser, Jah mans his smoker through the night. Frances has a "famous" potato salad.  

In today’s episode, Frances and Jah shared their love story with us, a great deal about the history of Liberia, including a civil war 30 years ago, that decimated the country, and they hope they find in supporting the Betty Memorial Institute, a boarding school in one of the poorest regions of the country. Here’s what they have to say about the school: 

Currently BMI has more than 200 students and is served by 17 staff members who work tirelessly to provide an education, food and housing in one of the poorest counties in Liberia.

The Betty Memorial Institute (BMI) is the only grade school in Western Liberia that provides both Academic and Vocational Education between the ninth and 12th grades. 

You’ll hear the inspiring story of how this school was started and what it’s accomplished, as well as details about the 3 day cook-a-thon Frances and Jah commit to every December to raise money for the school. And, of course, you’ll hear details about Frances’s famous potato salad. And while many claim to the best, and I’ve tried a LOT of potato salad recipes, this one was unanimously voted by all 6 members of my family to be the best they’ve ever had. 

Welcome again to Frances and Jah. Thank you to Megan for recommending them! If YOU’D like to recommend anyone for the podcast, I’d love to hear from you at becky @ thestoriedrecipe.com. And finally, thank you for being here to hear Frances and Jah’s wholesome, uplifting story!!!!

Highlights

• Their 46 year love story
• Childhood in Rabblesport, Liberia
• Liberia: A history lesson
• The Military Coup in 1981 and civil war 10 years later: Why it happend and what it did
• Jah’s school experience and why it made him passionate about supporting 
• The incredible story of the family who started a boarding school in Liberia
• The Scholarship in Frances’s mother’s name
• A car accident that changed Frances’ life
• The 3 day cook-a-thon to raise money for this boarding school
• 50 chickens, 50 racks of ribs, 200 servings of potato salad, and so much more. How they do it, what they’ve learned to outsource
• Frances’s Famous potato salad! The jobs and the keys to flavor!!
• Success stories from the school

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"The waves will keep coming, but you learn to play with them."

Today's guests, Anna and Marco, learned adaptability through their mutual passion: surfing.

This adaptability has allowed them to transition from a carefree surfing lifestyle, marked by ease and minimalism, to a bustling life of parenting two small children and running a thriving surf camp.

Mellowmove Surf Camp is a haven where people can learn to surf and relax. Thanks to Anna and Marco’s hard work and meticulous attention to detail, their guests get to experience a lifestyle of freedom and the rhythm of the tides.

Guests also come, of course, to EAT. Anna's delicious, home-cooked, seasonal, locally-sourced, plant-forward dishes are a highlight. Today, Anna shares a recipe for Kaiserschmarrn with us, an ultra-rich and fluffy torn pancake covered with powdered sugar and served with the homemade applesauce and stewed plums she remembers from her grandmother's pantry. 

Anna has inherited her grandmother’s culinary talent, organizational skills, and values of never wasting food, creating delicious dishes for her guests. As if running a kitchen for 40 isn’t enough, Anna also shares her best dishes, beautifully photographed, on her cooking blog, The Mellow Kitchen. After today’s episode, you’ll want to learn more, so find links to The Mellow Kitchen and Mellowmove Surf Camp in the show notes.

Highlights

• How and when Marco and Anna each learned to surf
• Why surfing is more difficult than other sports - and why snowboarding didn’t necessarily prepa
• The surfing lifestyle is about being content with what you have.
• As a real surfer, you are not really living with the clock, you are living with the tides of the ocean.
• I remember saying to my friends and colleagues, “I just fell in love.”
• I chose this recipe because it shows where my cooking comes from. I have a lot ore Anna for surfing
• The feeling Anna and Marco chased on the board - total focus and freedom from other thoughts and the connection to nature
• Marco’s experience seeing the ocean for the first time
• How Marco and Anna recreate the “surfing lifestyle” for their guests.
• Kaiserschmarrn!! The flavor, look, and texture of this classic Austrian dessert (or main dish!)
• Anna’s grandmother, Kaiserschmarrn, seasonal cooking, and how to make 
• How Anna managed to cook a seasonal menu for 40 people a day at the surf camp while carrying on her grandmother’s value of zero waste.
• Local ingredients in Portugal and favorite dishes of the surf camp guests
• The beaches and surfing experience at Mellowmove Surf Camp - a remote uncrowded beach on a World Surfing Reserve

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Today’s guest, Geraldine DeRuitter won the James Beard Award for Journalism in 2019 for a post she typed out in about 45 minutes. Before that, her blog The Everywhereist, had already topped Time magazine’s choice of best blogs in America. 

Geraldine’s latest book is titled, If You Can’t Take the Heat: Tales of Feminism, Food, and Fury and having read it in just a few sittings, I’ll add that they are also tales of deep vulnerability which provoked strong responses from me, in the form of scribbled notes in the margins and a list of questions about 4x longer than we were able to discuss. 

Geraldine is on par with the funniest writers I’ve ever read. However, rather than just saying that Geraldine is funny, I really want to say she’s a humorist (if that's a word). While many people are born funny, I'm hoping that calling Geraldine a humorist will give you a sense of just how finely Geraldine has tuned her talent, how sharply she's honed her craft. Not only did I laugh out loud throughout the book, but the angrier parts were sharper, the sad parts were sadder, and the (rare) sentimental parts touched me even more deeply because of Geraldine’s wit and humor. 

In addition to all of this, Geraldine gave me, hands down, the hardest recipe I’ve ever made (and if you’ve been following this podcast for a while, you know I’m not afraid of a challenge)! Although we had to discuss the recipe in a later call, I’m beginning the interview with our discussion of Nesselrode Pie, which I’m happy to share was a total success, technically and taste-wise. Friends arrived for dinner just as I finished photographing the pie. They all enjoyed a piece before dinner (since, obviously, dinner was running late, and there were plates full of pie in front of them.) The fact that they also gratefully accepted another piece after dinner tells you all you need to know about this creamy, boozy, vintage cherry pie!

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This is the story of a Holocaust survivor. It is a complicated story, with layers of historical and political realities I had no idea of before this interview, reminding us story is different than a simple narrative - and that we can never assume someone’s story without actually listening to them. 

And Regina’s story is actually two stories of two families - both Greek, one Jewish and one not. It is a story of survival, yes, and it is also a story about of sacrifice, love, and gratitude. 

After you listen - tell me - do not these things not leave a legacy that is greater and more enduring than acts of hate and destruction? 

And as for Regina’s recipe - Greek Koulourakia are an orange cookie right on the crumbly line between a cookie and a pastry. Regina’s family never had a home without a jar of these cookies - even when her uncle was in the hospital long-term. You’ll definitely want to hear all of Regina’s tips and tricks for making these and look in the show notes for a link to the recipe on The Storied Recipe website.

Thank you, so very much, Regina, for sharing your story today - and thank you, listeners, for being here. 

Highlights

• The situation in Greece in 1942 when Regina was born
• How Regina’s family found out the Nazi’s occupation was imminent.
• The family who sheltered Regina’s family and what they sacrificed to do so.
• Why 2 of Regina’s uncles were executed
• A count of all the people alive now because of the goodness and sacrifice of one family
• Regina’s precious grandmother and all the times they spent healing together
• The trauma responses in Regina’s family
• The long history of Jews in Greece + Being Jewish in Greece before and after the war
• Koulourakia!!!! Famous and DELICIOUS Greek cookies - 
• Regina’s thoughts on the Israel-Hamas war in light of her experience - and her response to what’s happening in America

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