Nyam & Trod Podcast: Drink & A Natter with JuicyChef

Jacqui sits down with her sister friend and fellow British Jamaican, Odessa Chambers, lifestyle doyenne and daughter of reggae legend, Jimmy Cliff.  Despite her father's fame, Odessa is a personality in her own right and has been involved in modern Jamaican pop culture from being involved in Jamaica's first cable tv channel and a pioneer in the podcast space, she lives and breathes lifestyle as a "music baby". Odessa has worked with Nick Cannon, 50 Cent, Beenie Man and numerous other celebrities as well as being a local producer for overseas crews of networks, shows and documentaries including VICE, the BBC, HGTV and America's Next Top Model. Odessa is pro Africa and an advocate for more collaborative links between that continent and the Caribbean. She shares why we should all add Ghana to our bucket lists, eat fish and chips in England and encourages visits to Negril and Kingston while staying in Jamaica. 

Editor's Note: Better late than never! There were technical challenges and the much delayed season finale is here. Host, JuicyChef also apologises in advance for the amount of "you know's" she drops in the introduction, she had a good laugh about it in post production with her sound engineer Roel. Now that explanation is out of the way, enjoy the season finale. Look forward to connecting with you for Season 4. One Love!

Follow Odessa on Instagram @oaccessJamaica @oblessa and JuicyChef @nyamandtrod. Also check out the Nyam & Trod YouTube channel and website www.nyamandtrod.com for food and cocktail inspiration. Drink of the episode: Licor 43 and lemon.

JuicyChef returns under the gazebo with her friend, top Jamaican film and music producer, Carleene Samuels of The Creative Source. Jamaica is the land of multiple stories, brilliant creatives and stunning landscapes, but why is it so hard to attract the big blockbusters? Carleene breaks it down from budget constraints and tax incentives, but despite it all, international talent are attracted to Jamaica. She has worked with major celebrities and global brands locally and internationally from music videos to documentaries and feature films as well as major concerts worldwide.  According to Carleene, "production brings the world together". In this episode, Carleene shares her story of how she became a producer and dissects the role of a producer and how they differ from directors. She showcases the varying careers available in the production world from script writing to composing music scores, set design and make up. Carleene also stresses why it's important for talent to sign up with an agency for better representation in both theatre and film. As always, food trods are a core discussion point in all episodes. The ladies discuss Carleene's food memories in Sri Lanka and Bali plus special moments around the table on the island. 

Follow Carleene on Instagram @goddessrockstar @linkcreativesource and JuicyChef @nyamandtrod. Also check out the the Nyam & Trod YouTube channel and website www.nyamandtrod.com for food and cocktail inspiration. Drink of the episode: JuicyChef's Nonalcoholic Cherry Soda.

In this extra special podcast episode, on the eve of Jamaica's 60th anniversary of independence, JuicyChef sits down with popular Jamaican academic, author, cultural studies and music scholar, Dr. Sonjah Stanley Niaah, aka "The Culture Doctor". A cultural activist, Dr. Stanley Niaah was the first to study the ecology of Jamaican dancehall music and penned the book "Dancehall: From Slaveship to Ghetto." The ladies discuss the intersectionality of music, dance and spirituality. Rituals, magic and secrecy. The mysticism and soul level awareness that pervades the Jamaican landscape. Dr. Stanley Niaah believes that Jamaica has a way of showing you to yourself. She explains the background of how coined the term "performance geography" and why music evokes ancestral memory at a cellular level. A wanderer, Dr. Stanley Niaah has travelled to over 40 countries and explains why Japan, Australia and Mauritius in particular moved her soul and offers tips on which country per continent a novice traveller should experience first. Follow the ladies on Instagram @culturedoctor and @nyamandtrod. Drink of the episode: Pineapple Daiquiri.

Subscribe to Nyam and Trod www.nyamandtrod.com and receive free recipes in the monthly newsletter. Nyam and Trod is also on YouTube.

In this episode dedicated to travel, JuicyChef hosts two of her favourite Jamaican travel bloggers, Heidi Hanna of Where Next Heidi?, who is an adventurous spirit and conscientious globetrotter alongside Jhunelle Jureidini of Simply Local Life, a patriotic Jamaica specialist whose enthusiasm makes you want to explore the island's hidden secrets. The ladies share their travel tips for exploring nooks and crannies around Jamaica in parishes that are outside the normal tourism corridor and the importance of community tourism. Heidi who has 30 countries under her belt, dispenses advice for family travel with children or as a couple. Jhunelle wants overseas visitors to venture outside of the typical tourist locales and seek opportunities for unfiltered local culture in non tourist areas. The women debate the rise of "posing for the gram" travel that can be intimidating for new travellers versus the realistic norms of ordinary nomads out of sight from the peer pressure and glare of social media. They also expound on the merits of repeat travel to countries that connect with your soul and the virtues of exploring them more deeply. We hope this travel episode inspires your next trip whether it be a staycation or lands thousands of miles away. Follow the ladies on Instagram @wherenextheidi @simplylocallife and @nyamandtrod. Drink of the episode: JuicyChef's Sparkling Caribbean Nonalcoholic Cocktail

Subscribe to Nyam and Trod www.nyamandtrod.com and receive free recipes in the monthly newsletter

Welcome back to the Nyam & Trod podcast, Drink & A Natter with JuicyChef! It's only fitting that our 10th episode is the first for Season 3. Our founder and host, Jacqui Sinclair, aka JuicyChef is back in her garden under the gazebo with her dogs and the birds in the background conversing with guests over delicious drinks. 

The season opener focuses on tea culture. Jacqui is 'potty" about tea, pun fully much intended. Our guests, Patrique Goodall of Likkle Tea, the island's first tea sommelier and Eileen Dunkley Shim of Netty's Farm, are involved with tea and kombucha, beverages not normally associated with the Caribbean. These mavericks are carving a niche for themselves in the ancient arts of tea and kombucha making while injecting intentional and distinctly sophisticated Jamaican twists in the range of flavours they carry.

While sampling Eileen's new range of delightful "in season" flavoured kombucha's and sipping on Patrique's addictive dessert inspired "coconut pone" oolong tea, the ladies discuss how their businesses survive the pandemic in an age of supply chain issues and inflationary costs. Other topics covered include how temperatures, brewing and seeping alter flavour, bush teas, low technology fermentation - SCOBY, Jamaica's unique botany being a source of inspiration for recipe development and educating the public on the health benefits of their products.

Follow us and our guests on Instagram @nyamandtrod @likkletea and @nettysfarm where you will be able to view the drinks of the episode. Subscribe on www.nyamandtrod.com for monthly food and drink recipes. Watch past podcast episodes on our Nyam & Trod YouTube channel. 

Drinks of the episode: JuicyChef's Skankin' Gin & Tonic featuring Likkle Tea's Rock Steady tea + JuicyChef's Kombucha Collins featuring Netty's Farm Strawberry, Apple & Beet kombucha. 

The season two finale of "Drink & A Natter with JuicyChef" and friends is quite a lively and inebriated one as they discuss climate change from a Caribbean point of view. Plant Jamaica founded by Andrew Bruce is a nonprofit organisation planting food gardens around the island in the inner cities, schools, wealthy suburbs and beyond. Trouble's Brewing is the brainchild of Christian Sale, it is Jamaica's first micro brewing company which produces a premium line of beers, ales, lagers and stouts. Live ECCO is an environmental conservation organisation led by it's founder, Shelly Ann Dunkley, which teaches the public how to "go green" and the instigators behind Caribbean Environment Week. Jacqui, Andrew, Christian and Shelly-Ann discuss the challenges of living on an island and mitigating climate change from individual to corporate responsibility, navigating red tape and funding challenges, choosing sustainable crops and growing vegetables in an urban versus rural environment. A part two conversation is planned for Season Three. 

Drinks of the episode: A flight of Troubles Brewing Beer (watch on the Nyam & Trod YouTube channel) plus honey bourbon and ginger ale.

JuicyChef sits down with two famous Jamaican personalities and arbiters of good taste. There are not enough words to describe maverick Master Chef Colin Hylton, multifaceted lifestyle impresario, bon vivant, and avid traveler and Angelie Spencer, former Miss Jamaica Universe 1994, founder of ASH (Ashley Spencer Home), interior and furniture designer and the brain behind Shop Local Jamaica, an initiative to support the island's small business sector. Their lively conversation covers a lot of ground from etiquette, being role models, old fashioned values, beauty and body image, trends which demonise or fetishise food, customer service, restoration of old things and living respectfully and harmoniously. Obviously, travel stories are in the mix from Colin's street food jaunts in Asia and Angelie's Michelin fine dining experiences in Europe. Drink of the Episode: JuicyChef's Caribbean Spritz. 

Editor's Note: Our guest and dear friend Colin Hylton suddenly passed away on April 6, 2020 sending shockwaves in Jamaica. The fact that this would have been one of his last interviews is especially poignant for us and it breaks our hearts he will never get to tune in or watch the vodcast version on our YouTube channel. Nyam & Trod extends our sincerest condolences to his family, friends and all of those his life touched in his special and inimitable way. May his soul rest in peace and legacy continue to thrive with the island's next generation of chefs. 

JuicyChef sits down with Jamaica's first knife maker, Jabulani Johnson of Karma Knives. Jabulani's story began a few years ago after a frustrating search to purchase a decent quality chef knife. He decided to learn how to create his own designed knives. With no classes being offered on the island, he started researching the prized skill to expand his knowledge through literature, YouTube videos and interacting with other knife makers abroad including a stint on Cape Cod. Inspired by Japanese Samurai history which informs his design aesthetic and functionality, paired with his Caribbean sensibilities, Karma Knives has become a cult hit with the island's top chefs, food influencers and home cooks. Jabulani shares his process with Jacqui, the intimate connection he feels towards his knives, the keen focus on ergonomics and longevity plus the intentionality that each knife becomes a legacy item for his clientele. Jabulani also raises his dream to pass on his skill set to others including unemployed youth. Drink of the episode: 8 year old rum with white cranberry juice.

Jacqui sits down to natter with her two friends Lee Ann Haslam of Lee Creates, an artist specialising in glass art and organic beauty care and Shikisha Cowan, progeny of a popular musical Jamaican family and an advertising and marketing professional. Both were resident in Japan for several years and were part of the small but vibrant Jamaican community who reside in the archipelago. Coincidentally, Lee Ann and Shikisha initially worked within the JET program in education before pursuing other career paths. The ladies share their respective perspectives on Japanese life and culture, the differences between rural and city life, learning Japanese rhythm, precision and discipline through archery and soba noodle making, being accepted as foreigners and participating in activities normally banned for outsiders. They further discuss the novelty factor of being neither American or European, the delicate balance of being vocal without being offensive and what they miss most about living in the "Land of the Rising Sun". Drink of the episode: JuicyChef's Jasmine Sake Toddy.

Jacqui welcomes her first guest of the second season, the dynamic Marianna Farag, a French expat of Egyptian and Syrian heritage who has planted roots in Jamaica. Marianna shares with Jacqui why she transitioned to a vegan lifestyle after living in the US. Her restaurant, "Marianna's Kitchen", located at the Marketplace in Kingston, is an intimate space characterised by the soothing sounds of world music and an eclectic constantly evolving plant based menu. Marianna's Kitchen is also an underground hub of social community activism supporting local farmers, artisans and various local causes. Marianna tells Jacqui how she ended up on the island, and the social projects she initiated such as "Paint Jamaica" influenced by the urban street culture she encountered on her travels. During the pandemic, Marianna has had to adapt several times to stay afloat and at one point, turned her restaurant into a temporary mini market to support struggling farmers. She also discusses the challenges navigating the fluctuating prices and availability of vegetables affected by the island's unpredictable weather events. Drink of the episode: Classic Mexican Margaritas.

Jacqui turns the table around on her show's producer and dear friend, Diana O'Gilvie of Urban Sass Digital Solutions and puts her in the guest seat to discuss her career in production plus food & travel writing. Jamaican born, New York raised Diana shares tales of daily life on the magical island of Bali and it's fame as a spiritual retreat, a life threatening situation on Krakatoa and how a Chinese family "adopted" her on the ferry between Hong Kong and Taipei. They rave about their love for Scandinavia, praise Finnish style, sauna culture, and Diana's encounters with the indigenous Sami people of Lapland. They delve into their travel styles, the merits of long vacations, staycations and mini breaks. Diana shares the shifts she has observed as a writer in the travel space over the years, her upcoming TV productions, dream of sharing more visual narratives from Caribbean women and forging future links with West Africa. This is the final episode of Season 1, Season 2 drops in March 2021. Drink of the episode: JuicyChef's Sorrel Lemonade

JuicyChef converses with dear friend, Debra Taylor, known as the "Wine Lady Debra", one of Jamaica's top wine experts. Debra shares why people should not be intimidated by wine, the popularity of sparkling wines and exploring a range of wines to discover what your palate enjoys. Both are enthusiastic about the inclusion and expanding of wine vernacular to describe flavour profiles to entice new palates via familiar cultural language. They ponder if tourism or overseas travel has influenced the shift to wine drinking in the Caribbean region and whether local palates prefer old versus new world wine. Concerns are raised about climate change's influence on viticulture from harvest to production and less familiar wine regions. The ladies also joke about their proclivities for pairing posh wines with unexpected humble Jamaican dishes such as "bully beef and rice". Drink of the Episode: Pear & Rosemary Spritzer.

JuicyChef sits down at her home office desk with her friend, graphic designer Sarah Jackson who is celebrating the 10th anniversary of her boutique design firm simply JIM-DANDY and has recently launched her passion project LadyBoss, an initiative to champion a woman's journey of being a boss, a LadyBoss...it is hers, to own and to celebrate. They break down graphic design versus graphic art, design solutions for clients in the age of Covid, finding inspiration in the "every day", future travel plans and making a great cup of coffee! Drink of the Episode: A rum based Manhattan.

JuicyChef and Lisa discuss Stush in the Bush's new line of South African inspired products from food to quilts, why Lisa no longer uses the word "picnic", how racial dialogues differ in the US and the Caribbean and why planting food soothes the soul. Drink of the episode features gin and Jamaican blackberry liqueur.