World Mart food truck brings a world of flavor to Worthington

Jun. 7—Editor's Note: This is the first installment in a summer-long series of stories by The Globe's summer intern, Jase Arp, on food trucks operating in Worthington.

WORTHINGTON — Nathalie Nkashama, owner of the World Mart food truck, works to bridge the gap between knowledge, cultures, foods and people.

"I'm bringing, to Worthington, the taste of international food," shared Nkashama, who represents East and West African culture. She opened World Mart in Worthington in June 2018, which encompasses not only her food truck, but a business that offers hair braiding, beauty supply and therapy.

Nkashama has a formula she abides by, whether cooking or in daily life. It is called the MAYA formula — Most Advanced Yet Acceptable. In terms of food, she is taking foods from other cultures and making them acceptable for the culture she feeds.

For example, ribs are served without barbecue in East and West Africa. To bridge the gap between cultures, she cooks ribs in an African way, and then adds barbecue to make the ribs more acceptable to American culture.

Nkashama takes into consideration who she is serving, saying, "If I serve an African person then I make it very different — very spicy."

The way Nkashama cooks her food is different from any other restaurant. She puts a lot of passion and care into her cooking, and the result is amazing. Nkashama has her own self-created dry rub and spice, which acts as her signature to dishes she prepares.

"When I sprinkle it in anything, people just love it," she shared.

World Mart's most popular dishes, according to her customers, are barbecue ribs, Middle Eastern and Indian samosas, Grecian gyros and French beignets.

Nkashama's biggest inspiration in cooking comes from her mom.

"She's the one who really introduced me to cooking," said Nkashama, who started cooking at age 10. She recalls her mother cooking for a huge family, and now with her food truck, she is doing that also — and not just for family, but for customers around the region.

"We cook for the whole family and this is not a small family, It's a big family. My mom had a lot of foster children," Nkashama said, adding that sometimes there were more than 20 people to cook for in one household.

Nkashama's mother was very critical toward Nathalie's cooking while she was growing up.

"There's always something she would complain about," Nkashama said with a laugh.

Those moments impacted Nkashama's cooking. She said she feels as If she has to cook as good as Gordon Ramsay to satisfy her mother.

Nkashama traveled a lot in her youth because her father worked with the United Nations. From her travels, she learned about many different cultures. She has visited eastern and western African countries, Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

Nkashama strives to inspire others to share the gifts they have and to also empower and embrace the community. She invites people to come and try different international foods to gain international experience.

Nkashama's World Mart food truck is parked next to Ace Hardware on Oxford Street in Worthington. This summer, she can also be found at the new Worthington Water World water park near the YMCA.

To find out where her food truck is on a given day, visit her World Mart Worthington MN Facebook page.