May 20, 2024
James Whitfield
Co-Founder
In September 2023 I had an idea to make Indian food in Miami. I knew what I didn't want to do: no fried food (no samosas, sorry), nothing shipped overseas or even over 50 miles, no chicken tikka masala (sorry). There's enough of that in Miami. I wanted to feed myself, my friends, and anyone else who claimed they loved Indian food. We hosted 8 people, I made 10 courses, printed a menu with space for feedback, and we tasted the recipes. And so we launched our first Tasting Club! I committed to doing 9, 1 a month, in hopes to birth a fully formed idea at the end of the gestation. It's 7 months in and I'm overwhelmed how much it's grown.
In November 2023 I started volunteering at Paradise Farms to learn more about Florida's local produce. I was shocked by so many things. Firstly, the produce itself, delicious, huge, and all food I grew up eating in South India?! Curry leaves everywhere, coconut palms everywhere, eggplants, tamarind, lentils, tomatoes! Inspiration everywhere! I realized I had to honor these ingredients and the tropical climate and cook south Indian, specifically Keralan food. So I tested more recipes at the November and December Tasting Clubs, and they did well! I wanted to test my assumptions with more people, I wondered if maybe I could just show up at Legion Park one day and try it out? Nope. Art at Urban Oasis is running a tight ship and he wanted to make sure we were taking this seriously.
In January 2024 we launched our LLC, Related Recipes, a kitchen with an
idea to make South Indian food with only south Florida produce.
We got insurance, tents, tables, printed a sign, and now show up every Sunday at Vizcaya Farmers Market with a new menu, showcasing what's growing that week in South Florida. I think Miami likes South Indian food!
Building Community Through Food
In January all my friends were farmers and I felt welcomed into the community of growers. In February 2024 I had the opportunity to share my food at FOG's first farm event at Regener8. This event was a window into how I can merge my passion and mission. I met leaders who shared their mission to bring more of South Florida's delicious, healthy, and clean produce to school cafeterias, hospital gardens, homes, and more restaurants. Heart eyes!!!!! Also so many women!!!! The connections (now friends) I made at Regener8 have inspired me and given me a platform to voice what I care about: contributing to the rich, healthy, and delicious farm to fork movement South Florida deserves to improve our health and satisfaction.
In November 2023 I started volunteering at Paradise Farms to learn more about Florida's local produce. I was shocked by so many things. Firstly, the produce itself, delicious, huge, and all food I grew up eating in South India?! Curry leaves everywhere, coconut palms everywhere, eggplants, tamarind, lentils, tomatoes! Inspiration everywhere! I realized I had to honor these ingredients and the tropical climate and cook south Indian, specifically Keralan food. So I tested more recipes at the November and December Tasting Clubs, and they did well! I wanted to test my assumptions with more people, I wondered if maybe I could just show up at Legion Park one day and try it out? Nope. Art at Urban Oasis is running a tight ship and he wanted to make sure we were taking this seriously.
The Power of Collaboration and Shared Purpose
Chefs have some power and influence to educate and feed at the same time. But Chef is an intimidating qualification. It really comes down to people who care about flavor, health, planet, land, diversity, fun, all at one time to be like ooh i can eat this! how? ooh you try! you like? I want to inspire a community of curious eaters. I want to close the loop on the hard work the farmers are doing by producing and sharing this food in tasty and healthy ways. South Indian food is a natural fit for South Florida, but so is Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Laotian, Filipino. It would be wonderful to see more of these foods made with local ingredients.
It takes organizations like FOG to bring people with passion together to exchange ideas, collaborate, and compound our impact. There are lots of people working on issues of food insecurity, food waste, food accessibility, but it feels fragmented.
