Meet Carolyn, the Patty Queen from Choose Life Foods. Carolyn creates delicious plant-based options for traditional Jamaican patties using all natural and vegan ingredients. Read more to learn all about Carolyn and Choose Life Foods!
Fresh City: Can you share how you first started Choose Life Foods? Take us back to the beginning!
Carolyn Simon: I have always loved Jamaican Patties, I grew up eating Randy's Patties, a Jamaican Patty shop located in the heart of Little Jamaica in Toronto. When I was trying to transition to a plant-based diet, I was frustrated at not finding a vegan alternative that reminded me of the patties I loved growing up. I wanted 3 things in a patty:
1. Quality ingredients
2. A flaky crust
3. A delicious filling because unseasoned food in the Caribbean is a CRIME! :-)
A regular Jamaican Patty usually has beef suet/lard in the crust to get that flake, but vegans and vegetarians won't eat it. In addition, there can be chicken broth in a vegetable filling as seasoning. I decided to start making my own and soon my family and friends were asking repeatedly why I wasn’t selling them. Thus, Choose Life Foods was born, offering vegan Jamaican Patties made with natural and quality ingredients!
FC: Can you tell us a little about each of your products and how they came to be?
CS: At the moment, we currently have 3 products which include:
Beefless's Patty (mild and spicy)- It's a hommage to a classic beef patty, but it's not.
Coconut Kale Delight - It's the Patty Queen's favourite! A mix of kale, carrots, and coconut milk with a pinch of spice.
We were supposed to come out with a new flavouring in 2020, however the pandemic caused many delays, so it should happen this year.
FC: We love the emphasis on using high quality and natural ingredients. What does this mean for you?
CS: Choose Life Foods produces delicious vegan Jamaican Patties made from natural and quality ingredients. A better for you alternative to the Jamaican Patties currently on the market, our patties are exempt of questionable ingredients. The patties are the first and only Jamaican Patties certified by Vegan.Org!
FC: Can you share any exciting news or updates for Choose Life Foods?
CS: We are so proud that we produce the first and only vegan Jamaican Patty that is certified by Vegan.org! (For Canada and the U.S.!)They have strict protocol, it took 6 months to evaluate the ingredients, production protocol, etc. The Patty Queen will be sharing plant-based recipes with the Cityline audience. I was invited by the producers to audition to become a cooking expert. The audition went well, so I'll be sharing recipes on the show. I am grateful for the opportunity. My first recipe was a sweet potato & quinoa salad.
