Hemp for health, not a high

By Zahra Gordon
Source: guardian.co.tt (Trinidad and Tobago)


Nneka Daniel Braveboy, head chef and owner of bakery and 
restaurant Nick & 2Js puts bread into her dirt oven at the 
restaurant’s opening on November 16. PHOTOS: KEARRA GOPEE

So what’s in your oven? If your name is Nneka Daniel Braveboy, owner and executive chef at the newly opened restaurant and bakery Nick & 2Js then on any given day your oven could have chocolate bread flavoured with coconut or mango cranberry walnut bread or hops dinner rolls—all made with hemp. 

 

And the word hemp is no typo. In an  at the opening of Nick & 2Js last Friday that she is T&T’s only licenced importer and distributor of hemp—the non-psychoactive variant of the cannabis plant. Almost every item on the Nick & 2Js menu has a touch of hemp seeds, flour or oil. 

 

Braveboy began using hemp while managing her catering business Food Supporters Plus for more than a decade. Opening a restaurant has been a dream of hers for more than 20 years, however. 

She’s been in the business of cooking and selling food since she was nine. Braveboy uses her knowledge of food chemistry, human ecology and creativity to enhance her culinary skills. 

 

Braveboy says hemp has many health benefits. Many of her catering clients had health or allergy concerns and hemp became one way to address them. “The protein in hemp is very similar to the protein in our blood and hemp is more digestible than soy,” she said. As a caterer, Braveboy garnered rave reviews and she opened a small space for Nick & 2Js’ at the Crobar Club on Ariapita Avenue where she was open only for about six months. When she was finally able to open a space of her own, Braveboy moved to closer to her native St Augustine and branched out to include a bakery. 

 

The taste of her hemp-drizzled dishes are enhanced by the use a food theatre located outside the restaurant. The main attraction in the theatre is the dirt oven which Braveboy built herself along with the help of Cristo Adonis. The theatre also includes a fireside, roasting box and Doubles stand (Doubles at Nick & 2Js come with a delicious coconut chutney). 

 

According to Braveboy, the slow process used to bake bread and cakes and cook food magnifies the flavour. And when Braveboy says slow process she means it; wood in the dirt oven has to be burnt for three hours before any items can be put in. 

 

Some of the complicated items are made using a conventional stove, however, like the honey ginger chili crab served with chive buns, the lobster corn soup or the hempouries (pholourie made using hemp flour). When it’s time to serve the tamarind lamb grazed with cilantro on the other hand, the roasting box is fired up. 

 

The food theatre, Braveboy said, was an expression of patriotism. “I developed it (food theatre) for many reasons. One, is absolute personal boredom and a combination of pride in our culture and I’ve always enjoyed showing people that they can look at food in a different light.” 

 

Sidebar: 

 

All hemp products are THC (tetrahydrocannabinol)-free and therefore do not alter the mind. In addition to containing nine essential amino acids, hemp has three times the Vitamin E and twice the iron and magnesium. Whole hemp seeds contain 25 per cent protein, 31 per cent fat and 34 per cent carbohydrates. 

 

Nick & 2Js is located on the corner of Agostini Street and Eastern Main Road. Business hours: Wednesday through Saturday 6am - 6pm (bread baked from 3pm), Sunday 6am - 1pm (bread baked from 6am). You can also visit them on Facebook (Nick & 2J’s) or contact them via phone at 221-2102.