October6,2010_________________
Minority & Small Business Week________________ Pa&
eIS
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Kammy Naidoo offers up the culinary traditions of South Africa's large Indian population at her food cart on the corner of Vancouver Avenue and Fremont Street.
Mum’s Kitchen Flavors
c o n t i n u e d f r o m front
ries and seasoned rice — was no
exception.
Kammy Naidoo grew up in Port
Shepstone, a coastal city in South
African, where her father ran a
kitchen in a hotel. After working a
number o f various jo b s, she
moved to Durban, where she and
other family members continued
the tradition
"The way I cook is the way my
parents did it," she explained.
"This is the kind of food that they
served. This is the kind of food
that I know."
M um ’s K itchen serves up
staples common at other Indian
carts including curried chicken,
chickpeas, potato samosas, len­
tils and other favorites.
But it’s clear there is something
different about what is served at
Mum’s, although it can be hard
for someone familiar with the food
to put their finger on it. The
flatbread is more akin to a tortilla
than what's served at other carts;
the curries aren’t as creamy, and
th e re ’s som ething about the
spices that are a bit different.
Cumin and nutmeg, flavorings not
used as much in more traditional
Indian food, have a greater pres­
ence at Mum’s Kitchen.
The cart also offers fare that
you’d be hard-pressed to find else­
where. During colder months,
customers can get “sam p,” a
heavy South African comfort food
of pinto beans and corn kernels,
accompanied by curried chicken,
giving it an Indian twist. Mum’s
also offers “roti rolls,” which are
essentially Indian burritos filled
with curry or spicy chickpeas.
"She took a very complex cui­
sine and simplified it a bit," said
Kas Naidoo of her mum’s cook­
ing.
"I don't think we really try to
stand out,” added her Kammy
Naidoo. “We just did what we do
best. We have foods that were
true to our culture and our family
history."
Kammy Naidoo came to Port­
land in 2008 to follow her daugh­
ter who had come to the city after
a short stint in Cleveland, Ohio in
1999 as part of nanny program
that aimed at fostering inter-cul­
tural interaction.
She and her daughter, who also
works as a chef and general man­
ager for another company, wanted
to open up a restaurant serving
their unique food, but had a hard
time accessing startup capital, and
decided to settle for a food cart to
get established.
They eventually secured a
microloan to rent a food cart in the
parking lot of a dry cleaner lo­
cated on the corner of Vancouver
Avenue and Fremont Street, and
opened up in September o f last
year. A few months later, they
purchased their own no-frills cart
in Eugene and hauled it up 1-5 to
the current spot.
"We didn't really know what we
were getting into,” said Kas
Naidoo, who explained that food
carts aren’t common in 'South
Africa, and they didn’t fully real­
ize the scope of Portland’s food
car culture until they became part
of it. “We just saw it as an oppor­
tunity to establish our business,
and once we got into it we realized
that it's huge in Portland,"
The Naidoos said that they had
a hard time at first generating in­
terest in their unique food, but
people came by whose curiosity
had been piqued by a sign adver­
tising South African Indian food.
People eating at the Mexican food
cart next door also checked it out,
and word steadily spread about
Mum’s Kitchen.
Business is doing well, accord­
ing to both women. It’s gotten
favorable reviews on websites like
fo o d cartsp o rtlan d .co m
and
yelp.com, and received an award
this past summer at the Deschutes
Brewery street festival.
And the original long-term goal
of opening a proper restaurant
seems to be much closer.
"At the rate our business is
expanding I think a restaurant is
more of a short term goal than a
long term goal," said Kas Naidoo.
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