With a fourth consecutive win at the 2006 Jamaica Observer Food Awards, this time for her stew beef with rice and peas, and spicy brown stew chicken, it looks like Claudette Tenn of Homestyle is set to take her taste of home, abroad.

While Homestyle can currently be found in locations in Canada, this product is not made in Jamaica and exported. Back in January 2006, Tenn spent a month in Canada, in a rented kitchen, where she prepared and boxed about 500 meals to be sold in Canada.

Since her husband’s stroke, she has not been able to travel so frequently; however the growing popularity of Homestyle, throughout the Caribbean, has led to talks with various distributors in Trinidad & Tobago, Cayman and Barbados. “I have been talking with Jampro (now Jamaica Trade & Invest) and the Jamaica Exporters’ Association to export to these countries later this year,” Tenn said. She is hoping to export larger quantities through Canada at a later date, with hopes to also go to the United States.

When it comes to the products that continue to expand the Homestyle repertoire – which currently includes stewed spicy pork (Best New Food Item, 2004), curry goat, and oxtail (Best New Food Item, 2005) – Homestyle fans continue to watch for new items. Next week, customers will be able to buy pre-packaged rice and peas alone, and within the next two to three weeks, she hopes to add rice to each dish (either plain white rice, or rice and peas). “People are always asking me ‘what happen to the rice?’ and I just wanted to make it more convenient for the customers.” And as for the plantain? “I have been in talks with the Scientific Research Council to test the shelf life,” Tenn says, “but I am working on it.” -LCY