Jenneh Kaikai Transcript
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Hi everyone. You're listening to The Future of Food Is You, a production of The Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. I'm your host, Abena Anim-Somuah. Each week I'll be talking to emerging talents in the food world. We'll hear about their dreams, aspirations, and predictions for what's ahead. As for me, I'm the founder of The Eden Place, a community that's all about gathering people intentionally around food. I love this new generation of chefs, bakers, and creatives making their way in the worlds of food, drink, media and tech.
Today's guest is the incredible Jenneh Kaikai. She's the founder and cake designer behind Pelah Kitchen, a custom bakery based in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Her cakes are stunning and decadent, truly some of the best I've ever had. Jenneh also just started a new gig at Hot Bread Kitchen, a nonprofit organization that we'll learn more about in just a minute. And she recently returned from a trip to Ghana and Sierra Leone to explore both her roots and some entrepreneurial opportunities. I also just got back from a trip to Ghana, so I'm really excited to have this conversation with Jenneh.
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Now, let's check in with today's guest. Jenneh, so excited to have you on the podcast.
Jenneh Kaikai:
I am so excited to be here.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I feel like we have so much to talk about, but let's start off with the good news. You just started a new job. Congratulations. Can you tell us a little bit about it?
Jenneh Kaikai:
Yeah, sure. I started at Hot Bread Kitchen. I am now Director of HBK Incubates, Hot Bread Kitchen Incubates, which is their small business incubator program.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's really exciting. How did you come to discover Hot Bread Kitchen?
Jenneh Kaikai:
It's actually like an amazing full circle story. Last fall, I participated in their PROOF Pitch Program, which was basically an eight-week small business incubator program, and at the end there was this big showcase where I got the Most Innovative Award.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's super exciting.
Jenneh Kaikai:
So great, and I really got more familiar with the program through my own participation in that showcase. But just from living in New York, I've heard a lot about Hot Bread Kitchen. They used to run a kitchen space, actually, up in Harlem, and just always heard about them as a major player in the non-profit world, especially non-profit supporting women and immigrant women.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
What are two or three lessons that you learned from your time within that incubator that you're hoping to bring into the job?
Jenneh Kaikai:
I learned the importance of being in your peers, as mentors, because it was a cohort based program and there was so much that I learned just from the other women who were running businesses. I think, also, I learned that not everyone, I get so nervous about some of the ins and outs of running a business, but I realized that so many people, even people who are running businesses that have been successful for 10 years, are still figuring so much of it out. And so, I think it taught me to go a little easier on myself, and that it's a process. And then I think the third part was just that people are really excited about what I'm doing, and it gave me a lot of motivation. I think that enthusiasm that I felt, not just from the staff and other folks that were invested in the program, but just the process in general, gave me a big push to keep going.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Let's throw it a little back to the beginning of Jenneh Kaikai The Great. You are from Lowell, which is in the Boston area.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Yeah.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Can you tell us a little bit about how food showed up in your childhood?
Jenneh Kaikai:
Oh my God, I love talking about Lowell because I think a lot of people who are from smaller towns outside of major cities, they're like, "Oh, I'm just from Boston." And I was born in Boston, but I was raised in Lowell. Lowell was just, truly, the most diverse place I've ever been frankly. I mean, in high school, after school, we would go get Colombian empanadas, or we would get in the morning, there's a really huge Cambodian population in Lowell, and so I grew up eating a lot of mango and hot pepper, or ka tee, which is a kind of soup, almost like a pho, ramen, that family. I also grew up around a lot of Brazilians, a lot of Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, and so, I was exposed to so much, in terms of food. And it's just a really exciting place to be, in terms of the food scene, especially if you are interested in foods from different cultures.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Are there two or three spots that, if you were to go home this weekend, that's the first stop off the Amtrak or the plane?
Jenneh Kaikai:
Actually, so timely, because I'm going home this weekend.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Perfect.
Jenneh Kaikai:
I will most likely first stop at Simply Khmer, which is a Cambodian restaurant that has everything, from the squid, they have this really delicious fish that's in a coconut curry.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh my gosh.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Fish in a banana leaf. Also, there's a really small, I think it's called Sophie's, which is a Greek market cafe, and so I'll go there and get yogurt, and just other goodies.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Provisions.
Jenneh Kaikai:
There's so much. There's a Vietnamese spot called Hong Cuc. I typically will go there for bánh mì, or egg rolls, or bubble tea. I truly go home and I eat.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's amazing. I feel like in New York we're so blessed and you think you'll never find that kind of concentration of diversity, but it sounds like you have that too, especially in the Northeast. That's really impressive, and now I want to take a field trip to Lowell.
Jenneh Kaikai:
I highly recommend it.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
I mean, I don't know what else you're going to do outside of the food, but.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's fine. That's all I need to do, honestly. You grew up in Lowell, but you didn't come to food directly. You ended up actually having a career, I would say, in the opposite direction, working in government and public policy. Can you tell us a little bit about that experience?
Jenneh Kaikai:
Oh, yes. I actually moved to New York for a fellowship in government, and so I basically spent the first seven years of living here jumping around through different government agencies, specifically focused on urban planning and real estate. So different than food.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
But interestingly enough, my last position, I was a policy advisor in the previous mayor's administration, and I had an economic development portfolio where I worked a lot with the Department of Small Business Services. I worked a lot on the policy for outdoor dining here in New York, and just did a lot of work with hospitality folks. I really, really, really was inspired by restaurants and the hospitality industry, especially during that early part of COVID. The resilience and the, is ingenuity the word I'm looking for? It's people's livelihood, so people really were creative thinking about ways to keep their businesses running. You saw it, you'd go into a restaurant, and there'd be like, it was a mini grocery store, or just thinking about the outdoor dining structures. It obviously was a very dark time in our city, but it also was a really inspiring time just to see, even just walking here this morning and seeing some of the outdoor dining sheds and things and just looking over at it and being like, wow.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
New York is back.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Yeah.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. Let's get away from the old job stuff.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Please.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Because while you were in the old job stuff though, you started your cake business, Pelah Kitchen. What inspired you to start off Pelah Kitchen as a hobby, just making cakes?
Jenneh Kaikai:
So the story is, it's truly an accidental story. I live in Bed-Stuy, and there was a market, kind of started right at the top of the pandemic, Building Black Bed-Stuy. And that was based on an organization that was raising money to support businesses in Bed-Stuy. And so I would go on the weekends and buy things from the makers and vendors, and in talking to them, a lot of people were like, I started this two months ago, I started this six months ago, all within the pandemic.
And I just felt, I don't know, I just felt, like I've always had this idea of doing something in food, and then it was literally interacting with those vendors at that marketplace where I was like, you know what? I'm just going to email the Building Black Bed-Stuy Gmail address.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I love that.
Jenneh Kaikai:
And very quickly they responded, and they were super excited, but they were like, "All right, so what's your business website and your business name?" I didn't even have any of those set up, and so I made those things up on the fly, and then vended at a marketplace maybe two weeks after that, and I sold out, and continued to do marketplaces. That's kind of how it started.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's amazing. And I really love the meaning of the name Pelah. What does Pelah mean?
Jenneh Kaikai:
When they asked me for my business name, and I was really thinking of something super literal, I was like going to do Kitchen 270, because of where I lived at the time.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's such a common theme in New York.
Jenneh Kaikai:
So corny though. And my mom, I was telling her about it, and I was like, "I want to do something that touches on Sierra Leone or..." So we're going back and forth, and I was like, "Oh, pelah, pelah means home." So pelah means home in my language, Mende.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Mende.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Which I don't really speak, but people, especially family, would ask me, in jest, because they knew I couldn't speak the language, oh, where's your dad? Or where's your mom? And then I would be like, "Oh, ta pelah," which means at home.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Because that's the few words that I knew, and so, it just stuck.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's awesome.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Pelah Kitchen.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I like Pelah. Pelah Kitchen. So then, Pelah Kitchen is official. Why did you decide on cake?
Jenneh Kaikai:
I really love cake. It's the best. I'm the person who, when I used to work in the financial district, I would walk over to Billy's Bakery, in SoHo, or if I was taking the Amtrak home, I would go to Magnolia Bakery and get cake. I love cake. I love a good slice of cake. It was something that I feel like I started years ago. When I was younger, I used to bake box cakes, using the frosting in the jar.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, good old Betty Crocker.
Jenneh Kaikai:
You know it. And so, it's just always something that I've been drawn to, cake. Years ago, I bought a very basic Wilton decorating set and tried to... One of my best friends was graduating from Tulane, and I remember I actually tried to make her a cake with the Tulane emblem on it, using my little Wilton piping.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I love that.
Jenneh Kaikai:
And it was so ugly, but.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You've got to start somewhere.
Jenneh Kaikai:
That's where it started, honestly. I've always been a Food Network, just really interested in every cooking show, like OG [original], Top Chef fan.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. Watching Barefoot Contessa when everyone else is watching Disney Channel.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Exactly. The Pioneer Woman was my girl.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. Ree Drummond, shout out Ree.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Yeah. It's just been something that's always been an interest of mine, and cake was just the medium that I chose first. But yeah, I just love sweets.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. I was so blessed you ended up making a cake for my birthday party/Cherry Bombe Future Food Of You [The Future Of Food Is You] party launch, and it was truly one of the best. I think I had it like two weeks after, my partner was like, "Where did you get this?" And I was like, "Dude, this is insanely good." What I've really admired about you is that you are self-taught. Who were the people that you were learning from or taking in as you were developing your cake practice?
Jenneh Kaikai:
Cake practice, I love that. Let's just go back to that night, your birthday slash-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yes.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Celebration, because there were a couple of other bakers, and I really admire them. And so immediately the imposter syndrome set in. Everyone's going to have my cake and just be like, "Who let her in the lineup?"
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. Every cake there was a winner in its own right.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Yeah. And that community, I think, is where I pulled a lot of inspiration from. I tell people, sometimes, there's a whole side of social media that's like cakes, but just in terms of flavors, and aesthetic, it was truly social media driven. And again, a lot of people I look up to are people that you all work with. I love From Lucie’s cakes.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh, she's the best, yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
I love, I don't know, By Pensa, and I'm saying their Instagram names and stuff.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
No, that's great. I feel like Instagram is a new directory, so yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
It really is. And then there's just people from all over, I follow some cake accounts in Australia, or I mean people in Brazil. I mean, it's truly its own world.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
How has the cake community supported you? And how has social media helped you in spurring the growth of Pelah Kitchen?
Jenneh Kaikai:
I don't know where I would be without social media because...
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, that's beautiful.
Jenneh Kaikai:
I truly, truly have a community. People are so nice, especially the baking community. I mean, the amount of times that I've seen someone post a cake, and I've just sent them a DM. What size cake pans did you use for that tiered cake? Or, I'm trying to play with different types of buttercream and things, and because I am self-taught, some of the science-y parts, when you're making a Swiss meringue buttercream, you can't add liquid. Or if you can, it's just not going to infuse the flavor. And I learned that from Bayou Saint Cake because I think I put something on Instagram and she responded to that. The community, number one, I just get a lot of support in terms of messages, and likes, and re-shares, but also just educationally, there's a lot of support there too.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
I remember I had my first wedding cake, and I was so nervous about transporting it because it was for a friend, and her wedding was a couple hours away, in upstate New York. I was so nervous about, how do we get it there? And Lani [Halliday], from formerly Brutus Bakeshop, I had gone to a pop-up of hers, and she was giving me different tips about, put a towel on the seat so that it doesn't slip, slide, or freeze it the night before.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You've been doing this for almost three years now? Two years and some change.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Yeah.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I know you've talked a lot about the imposter syndrome, and the anxiety that comes with running such a challenging business. What have been some of the toughest parts of running the business? And how have you overcome them in building stuff?
Jenneh Kaikai:
Well, number one, the imposter syndrome.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Very real.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Just feeling like, I didn't go to school for this, I'm not trained, I don't have the years of working in a kitchen or running a kitchen, or even just in terms of purchasing ingredients at bulk. All of that is so new to me. Continuing to keep going when you don't know how to do something, it can be very easy to be paralyzed by that, and just trying to keep going. Because I think, for me, the biggest challenge has been almost believing this is my real life. I'm really doing this. To come into this studio today, I was looking through some old notes trying to find previous wisdom, and I was going through notes that were going back three, four years ago, five years ago. And I was talking about this stuff, I mean, it wasn't Pelah, and it wasn't cake, but it was food and different ideas and things. So, imposter syndrome has been a challenge, but I think I go to myself sometimes for that inspiration to see where I've come from.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's beautiful.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Like, oh, whoa, you wrote this thing down, and now look.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Now you're living it.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Other challenges are more, I think, practical. Things are so expensive. Everyone's talking about eggs right now, but for those of us in the baking community, butter has been expensive even before everyone else started talking about it. So figuring out pricing and trying to be fair, but while also trying to make money.
When I first started, I was pricing my cakes at $50 a cake, which when I hit $55, which, when I think about that now, I'm like, God, that doesn't make any sense, because that's just ingredients.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You've got to start somewhere.
Jenneh Kaikai:
You've got to start somewhere, and I think at the time, it was very much just a hobby. So I was like, oh, I don't know, no one's taking this seriously. I'm just going to make sure that I just get back whatever I paid on ingredients for the cakes. And so to price my cakes in a way that I believe is worth the value, at a place that I feel like is fair to me, based on the work that I've done. But also, I look at my cakes as art, and so I think, how much would you pay for a beautiful piece of art? And then you can eat it, so it's even better.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
And I also think, in the last year, I think especially with the pandemic, a lot of people are more considerate of the price. If a cake's $180 or $200, you're understanding the breakdown much more than I think five or six years ago, when there wasn't that much of an appreciation for food. So for instance, if I need to go to an expensive dinner or something, I guess part of working in the industry is you understand the justification of the cost, but, I think you should always double your worth as much as you can, if anything.
But I'm sure you've also had some pinch me moments starting the business. You've been featured in Vanity Fair, you've done some work for Cherry Bombe. Can you tell us a bit about the feeling or the experience when you did that Vanity Fair shoot?
Jenneh Kaikai:
Oh my gosh, so whenever something really exciting comes into my inbox, I think it's a scam. So, immediately, now realizing that how these shoots and things work, it's oftentimes some production company, you're like an intern, reaching out to you. And I was like, "Vanity Fair. Yeah, right." And so literally, I think it was until I got to the actual shot at the Beekman Hotel, it wasn't until I actually got there and saw the setup, and I was like, "Oh, wait." It was with Ziwe, it was a shoot with Ziwe, and saw her, and I was like, "Oh, wait, this is real.”
Abena Anim-Somuah:
So for those of you in the audience who don't know who Ziwe [Fumudoh] is, she's a Black comedian who has an incredible Showtime show, but has also become a bit of a New York fashion icon.
Jenneh Kaikai:
So that was, 100%, a pinch me moment. They had asked me to make cakes for a tea party spread, and then they were doing a million things on the set. So they were like, "All right, we need to style it," with, come to find out, the China that was used on the table was so expensive, and so I was left by myself, and so I took it upon myself to just style the table. And the photographer came down, Kennedy Carter, who shot Beyonce, Beyonce's photo cover.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Wow, a major slay.
Jenneh Kaikai:
And she was like, "You have such a great eye." And I was like, "Me?" So that was a pinch me moment. I think I was featured for just a few seconds. And Google had an International Women's Day campaign, and I came right after Tracy Ellis Ross’ little spiel about her hair care line, and that was definitely a pinch me moment. For that opportunity, I also thought it was some random bot.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, you're like, Google, never heard of her.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Some random bot messaging me, asking, I don't know. But, every moment is a pinch me moment because I didn't think I would be doing this.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
As you think of Pelah Kitchen expanding and growing, are there two or three clients that you would love to make cakes for in the future?
Jenneh Kaikai:
Number one, I actually had the opportunity, and I'm an extreme fan, Sana [Javeri Kadri], the founder of Diaspora Co. If you follow me on Instagram, I am always raving about their spices, and I did a cake, actually, for Cherry Bombe, and it was the day that she was doing her cover shoot.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
So exciting.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Right?
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
So imagine the look on my face, to see her in there, but also I have a cake in my hand that has Diaspora Co cardamom and ginger. Making a cake for her was really great, and she sent me a message after and just said how amazing it was, and that really, really resonated with me. If I'm being totally honest, I think sometimes it's hard because now, in the age of the food person as the celebrity and influencer, I sometimes struggle because I'm like, oh, I want this particular person to have my cake. I made a cake for an event, for the Woman King Premiere in New York.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Whoa, that's huge.
Jenneh Kaikai:
But wait.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
But wait, there's more.
Jenneh Kaikai:
It was at a restaurant, and they sent the run of show, and I was convinced Viola Davis was going to have my cake, and Viola Davis is not there. It just made me realize that, almost like this idea of a particular celebrity or someone with a certain status having my cake, that's great, but I really appreciate people in the food community, people that appreciate good food, good desserts. There aren't these people that I really want to have my cakes, but people who know food, and find value in what I'm doing, that means the most to me.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's very profound, too, because I think everyone has aspirations for their dream celebrities and the people that they're inspired to be in conversation with them. I think about the day that I got lunch with Ina Garten at least once a day, but just to keep me going, but also it's like, I've had just as impactful, even more nurturing conversations with people who are impactful, may not be as famous. So, I really like that answer.
Let's take a quick break and we'll be right back.
Kerry Diamond:
Hi everybody, it's Kerry Diamond here. I'm the founder of Cherry Bombe, and the host of Radio Cherry Bombe, and I have a special event to tell you about. The Cherry Bombe Jubilee Conference is taking place Saturday, April 15th, at Center415 in Manhattan. Jubilee is the largest gathering of women in and around the world of food and drink, and this will be our 10th in-person Jubilee. It's also Cherry Bombe's 10th birthday. Jubilee Day is filled with great talks, networking, beautiful things to eat and drink, and lots of opportunities for connection, conversation, and community. Jubilee tickets are on sale now, so visit cherrybombe.com for more, or click on the link in our show notes. We'd love to see you there.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
We've had really awesome conversations about Pelah, not just being about cake, but also about other things, and we both actually recently had a fun, exciting trip. We were both in Ghana at the same time, and you actually had a Kickstarter to fund your trip to Ghana, and you exceeded your goal by raising almost $8,000. That's incredibly impressive. So the first phase of your trip was in Ghana, can you tell us a little bit about why you were there, and also what it was like? Because Ghana has such a vibe, personally speaking.
Jenneh Kaikai:
My family is from Sierra Leone, and a goal of mine, even when I was heavy into the real estate and planning work, I've always wanted to do something in West Africa. I ended up going to Ghana for the first time last year, and just fell in love, literally and figuratively. I've gone back a few times, but I really wanted to do something there because I'm so inspired by the food community there, and I knew that I would also be going to Sierra Leone. I knew there would be two very different trips, and so it was almost like I wanted to just test out the waters and see what it would be like. Because after going to Ghana a couple of times, and people would follow me on Instagram and see what I was doing here, there was a lot of interest. And so I was like, you know what? I'm going to try to bring Pelah to West Africa.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Bring Pelah home.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Let's see what it's like.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
And it was so hard. So raising the money was, I mean, let's just talk about that for a second. If anyone listening has ever done any sort of Kickstarter fundraising, it was so vulnerable. I literally have had an idea of doing some sort of crowdfunding for years, but I think I had a lot of reluctance because I wanted to have a fully baked plan before I asked people for their money. Especially at a time like this, I'm not naive to what many of us are going through financially. But what was so incredible was, I had set a goal for $7,000. I raised almost $8,000 in three weeks, and no one was asking me, "Give me a rundown of your itinerary for every day." People just believed in me.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
There's a woman who runs, she has her own jam company, and I met her one time. I was using some of her jams for my cakes, and she gave me a thousand dollars towards my campaign.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's amazing.
Jenneh Kaikai:
And she was just like, "I believe in you."
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
And so, I kind of went in with that energy. I have all of these people supporting me back home. I had really, really high expectations. And then there's the reality. And you can attest to this, cooking and baking, and the climate is very challenging, just in terms of the ovens even. A lot of places don't have gas or electric ovens inside the home. A lot of restaurants and spaces like that, they're cooking in very... Even if the decor of the actual restaurant looks a certain way, when you go to the kitchen, it's old school. I don't know what the technical name for these ovens are, but there's not a temperature setting, but it's like, two flames, three flames, and so, I wasn't expecting that. I also, the cost of ingredients, I was floored.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I remember your Instagram stories. I was like, $10 for butter?
Jenneh Kaikai:
Expensive butter, cream. I will talk over and over again about the price of cream, a liter of cream, being like 17, 18 dollars, because it's all imported. And so, thinking about that made me just almost take a step back with, okay, so it's not just like you pack your bags and you start making beautiful cakes here. There's so much, even down to my aesthetic with the flowers, flowers are not... It's super hot, and flowers don't necessarily do well in hot climates. I did do an event where I made some display cakes, and very shortly in, the flowers were super wilted on the cake.
There was a lot to learn. I did an event with Every Stylish Girl, which is an amazing Instagram account, but also their entire brand is to support Black women small business owners, and so they had an event where they had some really great panels talking about social media and entrepreneurship, and so I got to have my cakes there.
I got to, like I said, what started out as a beautiful display, it was still beautiful, but the flowers were struggling a little bit, and got to just meet a lot of really great people. The interesting thing with that event was that a lot of folks were from New York, and Philly, and the States, because a lot of folks are visiting Ghana during that time from the diaspora. Additionally, when I was there, I did an event with Ghana Food Movement.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yes.
Jenneh Kaikai:
They curated a private lunch, and I got to make a couple cakes for the dessert, and just talk to them about my involvement in Ghana Food Movement, a little bit about myself, and it was wonderful, it was intimate. There was a woman who came up to me after and said, "What you're doing is so beautiful." She said that my hands were really blessed.
And so that was great, because that came a couple days after the previous event, and I really needed that boost, because one thing that I felt that was challenging for me was just around people finding the value in what I'm doing, or feeling like people may not see the value in it. It's just like she makes cakes, cool. But the artistry, and some of the other elements, I don't necessarily know that people got it. So to be, again, in this space with food centered folks, it's just different. If people are at an intimate lunch hoping to taste like local Ghanaian food, curated by a group like Ghana Food Movement, they really appreciate what I was doing, versus a different setting that's just maybe not, it's like, okay, cake taste good, cool.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. What I was really excited to talk to you about was I think in the last three to four years, Ghana has been put on the map. I think, partly, a lot to do with the year of return, but now it's like, I just read an article the other day, Ghana being dubbed as the Gateway to Africa. It's a small country of 30 million people. So I'm really curious, how are you hoping to use Pelah Kitchen to start building the community there? And also create a connection between the diaspora that exists here in North America and the diaspora that exists in Africa?
Jenneh Kaikai:
Just in terms of the community I've built in Ghana, I think it's really important for me to talk about the Ghana Food Movement.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
They are a group of folks who come together to support Ghanaian agriculture, restaurants, food. It's the kind of space I feel that I wish we had in Sierra Leone. And so I met those folks because they had a meeting, and I saw that it was happening on Instagram, one of my first trips to Ghana, and I messaged them and I went to their builders meeting, and was just so inspired. One of the things that I think really inspired me was the collective of chefs that they work to support. Because one thing, and I'm sure you noticed this too, there's a growing food scene, but the idea of the chef is a cook, it's a profession.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, it's not revered like it is here.
Jenneh Kaikai:
No, no. But I believe, I really, really appreciated that the Ghana Food Movement is creating a space for these chefs to not just only shine, but to connect them to other opportunities. They brought a couple of chefs to the Netherlands for-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, I saw that.
Jenneh Kaikai:
... an event or an exchange for a week or so. They have these events called Dine and Dance, where the dinner is focused on a particular indigenous ingredient. They had one on fonio, which Chef Pierre Thiam is always talking about with wiley, and millet, and tiger nuts, like, I had this amazing tiger nut burger.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh wow. I got the tiger nut juice on the roadside. But yeah, tiger nuts, they're making a comeback. The next it nut.
Jenneh Kaikai:
And so, number one, my hope is that from people seeing what I'm doing, that they can also feel inspired to build community across continents.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Across continents.
Jenneh Kaikai:
If you will. I had really big dreams of hosting my own event there, need a little bit more planning for that, but it's something that I do hope to do. In general, though, I think, what I'm most interested in right now is actually figuring that question that you asked, how can I have my business that's here in New York in Brooklyn, and really tie it tangibly to the continent? And so far that's looked like, there's certain ingredients that I've been adding to my cakes. I keep talking, I keep raving about Calabash nutmeg or African nutmeg.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh, yes.
Jenneh Kaikai:
And funny enough, when I've met other folks, they are like, "Well, you use that in stew. You wouldn't put that in something sweet." But it's so fragrant and pungent that it's actually great in some of the more spice forward desserts that I make.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
I've talked also about this other company, a husband and wife owned company called GoldCoast Cocoa. And I met them, again, I just sent a cold email, and they actually have an oven in their home, and so we built a relationship. This past trip, I baked in their home with two of their kids.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's so adorable.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Yeah.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
So, shout out to Susu and Sebastian. And so, like I was saying, I'm really hoping that people can be inspired by what I'm doing in terms of the relationships that I'm building. I know someone coming to New York soon, and I reached out to a chef to see if he could get me some honey, because I went on a trip recently and I brought back some local honey that was incredible. It was almost caramel-y and just so dark, and so rich, and so I'll be having some honey coming from the northern region of Ghana soon.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
So I'm just looking to figure out how to scale that, quite frankly, because I don't know how bringing back a couple of bottles in your suitcase, or a couple of Ziploc bags full of nutmeg. It's okay for now, but I would love to do something bigger, and the Ghana Food Movement, to plug them again, I love that they highlight Ghanaian brands. So when I was there, there was actually a week that they had a campaign called Buy Ghana Build Ghana, where they challenged people to just eat, whether it was cooking or restaurants, Ghanaian produced, just local foods.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Which I'm sure was difficult, because my dad works in agriculture in Ghana, and I always hear stories. I think Ghana imports a large percentage of their food, despite being incredibly arable, despite the youth population. Here in North America, we're so good at farmer's markets, supporting local businesses, but a lot of Africans now are still having to break the stigma of what it is to enjoy indigenous culture. So I'm really excited that you are taking that as part of your journey, not just to make cakes, but also to create this relationship where people can feel comfortable, especially Black people can feel comfortable owning the narrative of what it means to enjoy your local dishes and your local cuisine in this exciting and enriching way.
Jenneh Kaikai:
I want to just talk about that a little bit, what I found really fascinating was that volume of things that are imported, and how expensive the local products are. But then when you're talking about that in the context of a developing nation, it's almost like, it'd be great if everyone could just buy from Ghanaian brands, but it's so expensive.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
That's, I think, something very nuanced. When I participated in that challenge, I made two desserts. I made a chocolate cake, using GoldCoast cocoa and coconut oil. I used coconut milk. That was actually, again, a friend in the Ghana Food Movement had some fresh coconut milk. And it was tasty, it was good, but it was hard to source all of the different local ingredients. I made almost like a little play on a key lime pie, it's a little tart with the local, I don't know the name, but the really small lime.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yes, I know what you're talking about.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Which are a pain to zest.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, because they're so hard. Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
They're so hard.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
They're oranges aren't squishy like ours, yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Or even just lemons, when they say lemon, it's green. And so I'm like, "But this is a lime." And they're like, "No, this is a lemon." So there's just so many interesting little pieces that that made it really, really fun. But I don't know, if I was running a business, it'd be really challenging.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Let's talk a little bit more about your Sierra Leone trip, because I think that one was more about planting seeds for the future of Pelah Kitchen. You've talked a lot about coffee and cocoa. Would love to hear how you're hoping to incorporate that within the Pelah Kitchen universe.
Jenneh Kaikai:
So Sierra Leone was, and I've said this on my social media multiple times, I'm still trying to figure out how to even, I haven't fully processed everything. I wasn't someone who grew up going to Sierra Leone. I went for the first time in 2018, and so I'm just trying to give you this perspective on how new a lot of this is to me. And so, when I first talked to my family about wanting to Pelah, but expanding to do something, there was a lot of hesitation, frankly. But I think what really motivated me, I saw a really short BBC video about a particular species of coffee that was indigenous to Sierra Leone, and I kind of came across that in the early parts of the pandemic. And then I started doing research, and I was like, oh, we used to grow coffee? And then it was like, oh, and cocoa? And we had these thriving agricultural, I guess, not just opportunities, but exports and things like that.
And I'm like, well, what happened? We had war, we had Ebola. They're just all of these different things that have made the agricultural sector, I wouldn't say obsolete, but there isn't a big investment in agriculture. And so, I initially just had the plan of going in, just to learn. Come to find out, talking to some family, I realized my mom's side, they have a farm. So my grandmother's brother has a farm where he grows cocoa and coffee. And so I was like, okay, well, let me just go and check it out. Also, before I left New York on this trip, I connected with some folks who are already doing coffee production and sales in Sierra Leone. So I want to be clear that I'm not the only person doing coffee. People are doing that at a smaller scale, but there's an interest and an enthusiasm growing.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's so exciting.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Yeah, and so I connected with them, but I also wanted to see what was going on with this farm with my family. And so, I planned a trip to go to the village where my family is from, and I saw something that you posted on your Instagram showing, I think, the house that your dad grew up in.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
And I mean, I can't even wrap my mind around it. All my life, I heard, my dad was born in the village, and the village, air quotes, what does the village actually mean? And I went and I was like, oh, to risk sounding very just out of touch, first generation person.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You and the village, no more, yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
I was just shocked. Everything from just the conditions.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah. What indoor plumbing?
Jenneh Kaikai:
What indoor plumbing? There's so many children. A lot of the children, their teeth were rotting in their mouth, really torn clothing, and I just couldn't help. Wow, my dad was one of these kids at one point. Or even just walking through the village, and just seeing people sitting out, just sitting out in front of their, I'm going to say huts, right?
Abena Anim-Somuah:
You're not wrong.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Right, and it's challenging for me because I feel like I was at a loss for words, honestly.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
So then you have that dynamic, this is where you're from. Then we're actually on this beautiful, I mean, there was coffee everywhere, and the coffee cherries, they haven't ripened yet, they haven't been harvested, but just seeing them in abundance. And they were bringing me cocoa, the cocoa pods.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The pods. Oh, yeah. I love doing that.
Jenneh Kaikai:
And I was like, whoa. And so it was this thing for me where I realized, I guess, where it was, there's a lot of obvious poverty, right?
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Absolutely.
Jenneh Kaikai:
But then there's this richness, and I felt that richness and lushness, the agriculture. And so, I guess, just to go back to your initial question, I would love to have my own line of coffee that I am-
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I'm excited. I will brew a cup right now.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Yeah. I'm importing the beans directly from the farmers that are working on what they call my grandfather's farm. I would love to learn about cocoa processing. And also, I just want to say one more thing about, especially that Sierra Leone trip. I think, more than anything, what I came back with is everything has a process. And I think sometimes, especially coming from the West, we think, you have your network or you have this knowhow or whatever, and it's going to be so easy to come in, beans and roast them. No. On that first trip, first I had to have someone go to the village before, to let them know that we were coming.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Oh, yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Then, it was Friday, so it's prayers, Jum'ah, my family is Muslim.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Okay.
Jenneh Kaikai:
And so, then we had to wait for them to come back from the mosque. Then after they came back from the mosque, they wanted to feed us, variously. The chief of the village had, maybe, several wives, and so each of the wives wanted to prepare something for us to eat.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Then after that, it's like, okay, now you have to give some sort of monetary, whether it's oil or rice or something, to everyone in the village. And then, let's talk about coffee. I've come back here with so much more of an appreciation for cultural practices that you have to be respectful of when you want to do business in another country.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah.
Jenneh Kaikai:
And it's not, like I said, it's not just coming in and having a business meeting and talking about how many tons of coffee. No, it's like, you're going to eat this food from the chief's wife.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, it's a dance.
Jenneh Kaikai:
You're going to wait for us to come back from praying, and then we can talk about business. And so, I'm learning that.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, yeah. And I think it's so beautiful that you are being respectful of that, because I think that's important too. I think a lot about, even learning local languages, I'm the only one of my siblings who speaks the local language. And I'm thinking, are my kids going to know the local language? There's no Duolingo for tree or anything like that, so I think holding, and I think especially African cultures are very oral, they're very oratory. So being able to hold onto the culture, while being able to preserve the culture, while being able to educate another generation of a culture, I wouldn't be surprised if your first coffee doesn't come out for the next seven years because you're spending so many years developing a brand.
Jenneh Kaikai:
And that was another kind of, almost worry I had with the fundraising that people were going to be, all right, where's the coffee?
Abena Anim-Somuah:
It's coming.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Where's the coffee? And so I'm trying to be really thoughtful and not have that pressure impact what I'm doing. I hired a local videographer there to come on the journey with me, and we're taking it slow. Before I put anything out there, I want to take my time. I'm working with a producer that's in Ghana to actually help with the voiceover.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I love that.
Jenneh Kaikai:
All of that, and so I'm being really thoughtful about those things and I hope, thankfully, the people that support me, like no one's like, "Hey, I give you $50. Where's my coffee?" It's not that at all. And I think, again, it just speaks to the importance of having a community of people who are really invested in you and what you're doing in your journey. I think people are, if anything, just curious to know what I've been up to, more so than putting any pressure on me to deliver on any sort of promise that I may have made.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Yeah, for sure. We're going to do my favorite part of the show, the Future Flash Five, the future of grocery stores?
Jenneh Kaikai:
I want to see grocery stores where local and organic is the norm.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of cookbooks?
Jenneh Kaikai:
Cookbooks. I'm thinking about online recipes and people actually taking the time to really enjoy and savor the forwards and the writing.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Love it. The future of food travel?
Jenneh Kaikai:
Where food travel isn't just going to some far away land, but it's getting on the Amtrak and going to Lowell.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I love it. The future of social media?
Jenneh Kaikai:
I want to say it's obsolete, but that's probably not true, but I don't know. I think it's obsolete and replaced with in-person community.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
The future of cake?
Jenneh Kaikai:
I want to see it go back to being simple. No more fig leaves, just simple, simple cakes.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
I love it. Jenneh, thank you so much for this conversation. I learned so much. How can people continue to support you and keep up with your exciting journeys to come?
Jenneh Kaikai:
You can follow me on Instagram @pelahkitchen. You can go on my website. There will eventually be a link to follow up with my newsletter where I will show some of those behind the scenes from my trip and that video that I'm talking about, so that will be coming soon, but you can follow my Instagram to stay posted on when that's live.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's exciting. Again, thank you so much. You are the future of food and we're excited to keep following your future.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Thank you. This was so great.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
Before we go, Jenneh is going to leave a voicemail at The Future Of Food mailbox, just talking to herself 10 years from now.
Jenneh Kaikai:
Hey, girl, how are you? Seriously, how are you? It's been 10 years, and I hope you've slowed things all the way down. Right now it feels like I'm being pulled in a million different directions, and I hope that you're living a life that proves you don't have to choose. Whether you're a world renowned cake designer, boutique hotel and cafe owner, that your coffee is all over shelves in America and filling cups in West Africa, I hope you're in a loving and fulfilling partnership with children that are as smart and hilarious as you were at their age. More than anything, I hope you're happy. I hope that over the last decade, you've learned to prioritize your own wellbeing, and that you've let go of control and having all the answers. I hope you finally believe in yourself because with every step you've taken towards your future, God and your people have been there to give you a nudge forward and support you as you've stumbled. I hope you're happy because you deserve it. I hope you're proud of yourself because you did it. I'm really proud of you.
Abena Anim-Somuah:
That's it for today's show. Do you know someone who you think is the future of food? Tell us about them. Nominate them at the link in our show notes. I can't wait to read more about them. Thanks to Kerrygold for sponsoring the show. Visit kerrygoldusa.com for more. The Future Of Food Is You is a production at the Cherry Bombe Podcast Network. Thanks to the team at CityVox Studios, executive producers Kerry Diamond and Catherine Baker, and associate producer Jenna Sadhu. Catch you on the future flip.