Cooking up a Jamaican success story in T&T

At 11, she began cooking on a coal stove. Not fully understanding how it worked, she suffered severe burns to her feet that left her hospitalised, but that did not stop her.

At 20, she came to Trinidad for the first time in her life, having never travelled outside Jamaica.

At 42, Kenisha Bradshaw is an established entrepreneur operating a unique food container, TJ Jamaican Jerk, at Cafe Cravings on Coffee Street, San Fernando.

Her journey in food has become a crowd-pleaser for food lovers who visit her container.

Trinidad and Tobago was Bradshaw’s first trip to any country outside her birthplace, and her journey to establish a business in Trinidad has been eventful.

Bridging Jamaican cuisine with the cultural tastes of locals, her phone rings off the hook with orders, even before walk-in customers can place theirs.

Bradshaw said she was unsure what to expect when she came to Trinidad. She adores Tobago for its festivals and the well-kept communities of the sister isle.

Although she has had some unpleasant encounters in Trinidad, these have been outweighed by the positive experiences. She said she was able to rise above the negative encounters and focus on the good ones.

Bradshaw said she came to Trinidad on a mission and followed the correct procedures to achieve her goals. She continues to thrive in food preparation.

She believes that if more people adopted a similarly steady mindset, their lives would be much better, particularly during these challenging economic times.

Bradshaw’s menu staples are a given, but the gourmet-inspired experience is her Rasta Pasta. It combines red, green and yellow sweet peppers with a generous blend of herbs and spices. It is served with a meat topping of your choice, including fish, oxtail, shrimp, pork, curry goat or butter-fried chicken.

Another fast-moving item on her menu is a side dish she calls Festival. At first glance, it may resemble what Trinidadians refer to as fried bake, but the texture and taste are different.

To prepare Festival, she takes the usual fried-bake ingredients, leaves out the baking powder and adds cornmeal and milk. The result is a customer favourite, often enjoyed alongside rice and peas and pasta dishes.

A mother of three, Bradshaw said her children lived with her in Trinidad for a while but eventually decided they preferred to return to Jamaica. She said she never regretted making the move, which came after a girlfriend recommended that she operate a business in Trinidad and her mother encouraged her to pursue the opportunity.

She now operates two businesses, including an outlet in Siparia that focuses on punches, alongside TJ Jamaican Jerk. The Siparia outlet caters to customers looking for refreshing drinks.

Among her offerings is a signature punch called Bedroom Bully, made with raw peanuts, oats, ochro and Guinness.

Bradshaw said that when she first arrived in Trinidad, she spent eight years working, saving and becoming familiar with the country’s culture and the expectations of its people. She knew that establishing herself in Trinidad would involve taking a significant risk, as, in her words, “in life it is all about risk”.

Bradshaw said: “Cooking is my passion; when I got the opportunity to open my own, I took it. I had a hard life; I started from scratch. From the small things they gave me to do at home, it would come out good.”

However, her journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur was not an easy one. Bradshaw said she struggled while working for South Restaurants, but remained tolerant and patient because she knew the direction in which she wanted her life to go and what it would take to get there.

She arrived with some knowledge of business and food preparation, but turned to YouTube to learn the rest.

Bradshaw said everything she knows is self-taught, from portioning and food combinations to creating her special blend of spices. She was not always successful, and many of her ideas came through trial and error.

She said: “I enjoy what I do; as long as the customers enjoy my combinations, I am happy. It is not all about making the money. However, my dream one day is to own my restaurant to see people sit and eat. At the moment, the economy is so bad, I had to put a third outlet on hold. But I am waiting to see what next year brings.”

Bradshaw said business was nothing new to her or her 37 siblings.

Her parents owned a supermarket in Jamaica, and several of her siblings have since established businesses in clothing and hairdressing, construction and tyre retail.

She also plans to open a food business in the United States with one of her sisters.

Comparing the cooking styles of Trinidad and Tobago with those of Jamaica, Bradshaw said T&T cuisine relies more heavily on soups and stews. Her favourite local dish, she revealed, is buss up shut with pumpkin and goat.