YERR!
MADE IN NY!(CARIBBEAN MAGIC INSPIRED)
Un Chin! was founded in 2020 by Grace (THATS ME!). I'm a Black Latina, Bronx native, who like many of the individuals in the Bronx, has struggled with health issues due to obesity, diabetes, heart conditions and lack of healthy food options in our borough to combat those issues. In early 2020, I lost my mom to a history of unregulated heart issues, in part due to unhealthy food choices and not understanding those long term impacts. In 2022, I lost the matriarch, head chef and my biggest supporter, my grandmother M.
My story, is the story of many in cities across the country & world.
As someone who struggled with obesity, diabetes and other health issues & saw those around me too, this was a slap in the face to begin my journey to a healthier life -- starting in the kitchen and decolonizing what I eat.
COMMUNITY-CULTIVATED
I am a Caribbean blend but my grandparents hail from the Dominican Republic, St. Kitts and Puerto Rico. The neighborhood in the Bronx where I grew up in was the West Indies part 2 & we were highly influenced culturally and culinarily by my family recipes and chosen family traditions of Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana and other Caribbean & Non Caribbean influences.
What I found later in life is that many of the staple products in our Latin, Caribbean, and Black kitchen in the states were products full of ingredients that didn’t offer any health benefits and negatively impacted the meal preparation process. Things such as MSG and unnatural dyes, linked to obesity, heart conditions and cancers that directly impacted those around me, were main ingredients. To get the best and most authentic flavor, a little grandma or aunt snuck back spices on a plane from the motherlands.
We, as a culture (due to access and proximity) have become so far removed from the production ingredients and process that our grandparents had that we've allowed big business to dictate our health & choices. Through working with experts in the culinary world, research, blind testing and my own understanding of culinary flavors, I sought out to make a product that would 1.- in flavor, make my 2 grandmothers (Mercedes & Venicia) proud but 2. also provide healthier options to my community and those who love our dishes. QUEUE UN CHIN!
A MI ME GUSTA NATURAL