CARIBBEAT: Jamaican-American caterer rebounds with homemade sausage line after COVID shutdown

As it was for many others, the coronavirus crisis was a time of emotional and economic stress for Jamaican-American Selena Blake, who put her successful high-end catering business on hold during the pandemic shutdown. But she found relief and solace — from sausages.

Her solution and savior was the creation of a line of homemade chicken sausages.

“Selena’s Jamaican Gourmet Jerk and Curry Chicken Sausages” are made from boneless skinless chicken breast and thighs, containing no additives or preservatives. They’re gluten-free, and the “seasoning sauces are made from scratch,” she said proudly.

“It’s beyond breakfast. It’s exotic, conversational, delicious and loaded with lean protein,” said Blake.

Not just for breakfast meals with eggs, they are also versatile, tasty additions to lunch, brunch and dinner creations, said Blake, imagining sausages mixed with grilled veggies, basmati rice or mashed potatoes; sliced on pizza; as an ingredient in tacos and wraps; as a topping on salads, or as an addition to soups.

And she’s even thinking about adding cooked pasture-raised whole jerk chicken to the menu.

“Didn’t know I would love making sausages, but I do sincerely love what I’m doing,” said Blake, who was working successfully as an events caterer before the coronavirus shutdown last spring.

“I have created a product that I love, it is healthy and delicious and something I am so proud of,” she said.

Blake revealed that her sausage venture came after a spiritual moment.

“I asked God to give me a supernatural idea because I didn’t know what to do and I needed some way to weather this pandemic,” she said. “I drifted off to sleep [and] woke up with an overwhelming urge to make sausages! Which was odd, because I’d never made sausages before in my life,” said Blake, who immediately started working “24/7 for weeks” to learn from butchers and sausages makers, find the right equipment and develop the needed jerk and curry seasonings.

There are regular deliveries to Manhattan and in Astoria and Long Island City in Queens, on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. If you have a large order outside the delivery areas, call and “we will do our best to accommodate you,” says Blake.

Blake is thankful for her sausage business and the “push from a higher power” that got her there, but she got a lot of other help.

“I didn’t get here by myself. I know God did this. All these people gave up their time to help me,” she said, thanking Pastor Rosy for “constant prayers”; John at the International Meat Market in Astoria for “priceless advice”; Edward Blake for her logo design; Lisa Garcia for marketing and social media; Brownie, “who paid for my trademark application,” and Amy Steinberg who was a “great cheerleader.”

To purchase Selena’s “Jamaican Gourmet Sausages,” visit selenassausages.com, call (917) 334-6617 or send email to maynov@msn.com.

Big grant for Haiti

The World Bank last Tuesday announced the approval of a $75 million grant for Haiti, creating a “safety net” to aid the Caribbean nation’s response to COVID-19, and deal with vulnerability to food insecurity and future disasters.

“Social protection systems have the potential to enhance human capital, reduce inequality, build resilience, and end cycles of poverty,” said Javier Suarez, the World Bank’s acting country manager for Haiti. “This project provides immediate resources to help the most vulnerable households, while also supporting Haiti to establish the foundations of a social protection program to build resilience and develop human capital in the medium term.”

The grant for the Adaptive Social Protection for Increased Resilience Project (ASPIRE) comes from the International Development Association.

“The ASPIRE project will provide immediate support to poor and vulnerable households while increasing their resilience through regular unconditional cash transfers and measures to improve health, nutrition and financial inclusion,” according the World Bank, adding that it will also “enable the scale up of the cash transfer program in the case of emergencies, such as natural disasters or health crises.”

‘Panther’ actor’s Garvey role

Tobago-born “Black Panther” star Winston Duke is due to play Jamaica-born Black nationalist leader Marcus Garvey in the upcoming movie “Marked Man,” centered around the FBI’s investigation and infiltration of Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association, according to the Internet Movie Database website.

Set in the 1930s, the drama follows “a young black man who joins J. Edgar Hoover’s Federal Bureau of Investigation and then infiltrates Garvey’s UNIA organization, testing his loyalty to both race and country as he grows weary of both men’s actions,” reported IMDB.

Andrew Dosunmu is set to direct to film.

Duke is best known for his role as the tribal leader M’Baku in “Black Panther” (2018); “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018), and “Avengers: Endgame” (2019).

The actor also starred recently in the action-comedy “Spenser Confidential” (2020) and the Jordan Peele-directed horror-thriller “Us” (2019). Duke is also the co-executive producer of the film “Slice,” about the YouTube street fighter Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson.

The IMDB preproduction information says that Jesse Williams — known for “Brooklyn’s Finest” (2009); a long stint as Dr. Jackson Avery on the medical TV drama “Grey’s Anatomy” (2009-2020), and “The Cabin in the Woods” horror (2011) — will star in the film.

Rounding out the cast so far is actress DeWanda Wise of “She’s Gotta Have It” (TV series 2017-2019) and the upcoming sci-fi adventure “Jurassic World: Dominion” (2022).

‘Blackening Britain’

“Blackening Britain: Caribbean Radicalism from Windrush to Decolonization,” a talk based on the James G. Cantres book about the “radical political formations of Caribbean migrants in the U.K. through the mid-20th century,” will be held in a New York University webinar event on Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Hollywood actor Delroy Lindo and Cantres — an assistant professor in the Africana and Puerto Rican/Latino studies department at Hunter College — will converse about the “revolutionary thinkers, activists and artists” of the era.

The event is presented by NYU’s Center for Black Visual Culture and Institute of African American Affairs, and co-sponsored by 370J Project and the Africana studies/social and cultural analysis department at NYU.

A webinar registration is required for Zoom viewing information. To register, visit bit.ly/blackeningbritainnyu.