Adijatu Jalloh

C-CAP New York Alumni Adijatu Jalloh is a chef at Nobu and entrepreneur –– her catering A.M.J Fusion’s mission to introduce African ingredients and flavors to New York City (and beyond!). This month, we chatted with her about her culinary history and dream to open a restaurant. Read the full interview below and make sure and tickets to her upcoming fundraising gala on August 5 –– all funds raised will go towards building her restaurant.

Don’t miss her Whisked Episode from July on our YouTube channel where she taught a quintessential West African dish called Dibi Lamb.

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

What inspired you to pursue a career in food– your childhood? A mentor growing up? Your parents?

What inspired me to pursue a career in food was learning about different cultures and seeing the many different ways food can be made. My grandfather was a baker in Africa and although I never really understood much of what he did until I came here to this country. I was always fascinated by the photos of different cakes he would show me. I feel that I always shared a special connection with food.

Did your involvement in C-CAP impact your journey as you ventured into the world of food?

My involvement with C-CAP definitely helped me understand how big the culinary industry is. It gives me the opportunity to network and meet a lot of different people. C-Cap helped me stay on the right path.

The mission of your catering business is to “To break down cultural barriers by incorporating African seasoning mixture and spices into French traditional cooking while providing guests with a satisfying dining experience.” Can you tell us about the catalyst for launching — what were the combining forces that led you to ultimately kick-off your weekly menu?

Our entire mission is to bring people together through food. We want people to learn about different cultures and understand the importance of different foods and how different ingredients can be used. What led me to kick off my weekly menu was the support from all my friends and family. All of my friends who had different cultural backgrounds seemed to always connect through food and I wanted to make that bigger.

You have an upcoming Gala in August! Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the gala, what kind of food you hope to introduce to your community, and how our readers can access tickets?

The food Gala that we have coming up in august is to help bring more awareness to African cuisine and to also launch my team’s new brand A.M.J Fusion. Our goal is to have a food Gala every year and all of the money that we earn during these events will be saved and used towards our future Restaurant that we hope to open in five years. Not only will people be giving a one of a kind experience but they will also be supporting the dreams of a young chef. We will introduce guests to different ingredients and spices from Africa. Tickets can be purchased on eventbrite. Both links are also on our Instagram bio. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/amj-fusion-food-tasting-gala-tickets-151426527821

RECIPE

In my country, this is one of the best breakfast salads we have. Especially around avocado season:

Sample summer avocado salad. One large avocado chopped medium dice. ⅓ cup small diced white onion. ⅓ cup small diced tomatoes. ⅓ cup small diced bell pepper ( any color ). 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley. 1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro. ½ Maggie cube. Salt & pepper. 1 tsp Vinegar. ⅓ cup vegetable oil.

Instructions

1. Combine all vegetables together in a bowl.
2. Add Maggie seasoning along with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add vinegar and oil and use a spatula to fold everything together.
4. Can be eaten with pan-seared shrimp or on top of bread. Can also be eaten on its own.