July 22, 2025 • 24 mins
Welcome to back to another episode of Caribbean Adjacent, a series within the Carry On Friends Podcast!
Tiffany Cohen is back on the podcast and this time she is with her husband Jorge. They are dynamic husband-and-wife duo behind Flor de la Jara, an olive oil brand rooted in generations of Spanish farming and powered by cross-cultural connection.
In this episode, they shared their airport meet-cute (yes, another one!), Jamaican-Spanish fusion cooking, raising a trilingual son, and building a legacy together. From curry chicken with a Spanish twist to navigating language mix-ups, this is a joyful celebration of culture, family, and flavor.
Connect with Tiffany & Jorge: Flor de la Jara - Website | Instagram
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode
of Carry On Friends and ourspecial series, caribbean
Adjacent, and I'm excited tohave Tiffany and Jorge on the
podcast.
So now, if you have just beenrocking with Carry On Friends,
you may have missed Tiffany'sepisode that we recorded last
year.
So Tiffany is of Jamaicanheritage and she came on the
(00:25):
podcast to talk about thisbusiness she had with her
husband.
She has, because it's not pasttense, they still have the
business with her husband, jorge, and it's an olive oil business
.
It's Flor de la Jara.
Did I get it right?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Got it right, perfectly fine Yay.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Welcome Tiffany and Jorge.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Thank you so much for having us.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Well, thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
And other fun fact.
I met them in person last yearat my friend's event, black
Men's Health Festival, and itwas great to see them, both with
their son.
So you know I love when I getto meet the guests in real life
and not just in virtual life.
You know I'm excited to havethis conversation.
So when I was thinking throughthe series, I had a list of
(01:12):
names that I knew I wanted toconnect with, and both of you
are on the top of the list.
So let's back up a little bit.
Why don't we tell the audiencea little bit about the work that
you both do through thebusiness?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Well, so, like you said, we actually founded an
olive oil brand here in theStates.
It's called Floralajara, but itactually originates from Spain,
because Jorge's family has beenmaking olive oil in their
family land for threegenerations, and then we decided
to bring it here to the States.
So it's something that we'vecreated together and we we love
(01:53):
it.
We love being able to worktogether and we love also being
able to create something for thefuture, and then something that
also incorporates both familiesand both like heritages and
cultures.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So far.
It's been a long um.
I mean a lot of fun so far, andit's been great to work with
you, by the way, thank you Iwould hope so, you know, because
you know when, when we're done,you still have to go home all
right.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
so or hey, I already told you you're the one that's
mostly going to be on the hotseat.
I have some questions forTiffany, but it's all about you,
so my first question for you ishow did you first meet Tiffany
and what was your initialimpression of her cultural
background?
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Well, it's a very funny story, because we met at
the airport in Madrid andbasically, when I saw her, I
said wow, she's so beautiful,I'm going to sit down close to
her.
But you know, I was like a kindof blog.
I couldn't say anything to her,I was just sitting in front of
her.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
You know like which I will just say is very funny.
I you know like.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I will just say it's very funny.
I couldn't say anything, I gotblocked.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Yeah, because he's usually a lot more outgoing than
I am.
I'm outgoing, but he's a lotmore outgoing as well.
So the fact that he wasn't likesaying anything now that I know
on this other side is prettyfunny.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
But yeah, and then we started talking.
She basically she was the firstone who said something.
She basically she was the firstone who said something.
And, of course, in the momentshe opened the door I was like
all the way Okay.
So okay, can I sit down rightthere with you and we start
talking right away.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Tiffany.
So I need to understand andthen I'll put another
correlation.
You saw him sitting there andhe's like what?
Why look like him?
I want to talk Like tell mewhat you said.
What did you say?
Speaker 3 (03:45):
I'm going to tell you what it was like.
So I, I was there already andthen he came down, like he said,
and sat in front of me and Isaw him because he was literally
right in front of me and I waslooking at him and I was like
huh, then his eyes were catchingmine, like our eyes were
catching, for a little bit, andthen I said, oh, you know, I was
like maybe I should saysomething and in my mind I had
this whole conversation likewell, what would you say?
(04:07):
I was like you don't even knowif he speaks English, all of
these things that you thinkabout, right, and then it's like
all of a sudden, like the wordsaid hello, what's your name?
And I almost was like who saidthat?
Because I was like I never sayanything to people Usually, I
usually don't, so it was justlike it just came.
You know, I was like it'salmost like a divine adventure.
It just came out likesurprisingly to me too.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
You both are the second guests who've come on
this series and talked aboutmeeting at the airport.
I'm not going to say thatthat's the place to meet, but
I'm going to see if it's apattern.
Okay, that is so interesting,all right.
So, jorge, what's one aspect ofCaribbean culture, jamaican
(04:50):
culture, that has surprised youthe most when you first
encountered it?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Well, I'm surprised I have been by the fact that we
have a lot of things in common.
It surprised me a lot.
So Spaniards are Jamaican.
We have more things in commonthan we think and for me it was
like so easy to get used to theJamaican culture and I feel
myself already half Jamaican.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
I don't know how to explain.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
But I don't feel I go there and I see like, okay,
let's go to our country.
And I see myself in the airportlike okay, I feel like local
already and we are trying toincorporate that in our, in our
son, because I think that he'svery rich to to incorporate at
the roots of your parents inyour life.
So we are trying to do thatwith nicolas nicolas right now.
(05:39):
Sometimes you can find him inthe middle of the corridor
speaking in patois he's so funny.
And right after the corridorspeaking in Patua, he's so funny
, and right after he's talkingin Spanish.
And he so emerged in theculture, in both cultures
Spanish and Jamaican that I loveit Because he's like he was
born in the United States, inNew York, but he has the three
(06:03):
of the cultures together that Ithink that enrich your life a
lot and we are making sure thathe's basically into three of the
cultures at the same time andwe are not aware, but it's so
easy for him.
It's like we are not doingalmost any effort.
It's just so natural on him asis on me.
(06:23):
I don't know if it makes sense.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
No, it does, and I mean living in New York also
kind of helps with that as well.
You know there's the culturalimmersion in New York.
So I want to go back to whatyou had in common Name,
something that you know was likewow, this feels like what we do
in Spain.
What's one thing from theJamaican culture that you're
like, yeah, we have this incommon, what we do in Spain.
What's one thing from theJamaican culture that you're
like, yeah, we have this incommon?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
One specific thing that we have in common is like
we work to live.
We don't live to work.
That's super.
That's something that we havein common, jamaicans and
Spaniards.
So we are not focused our lifeinto work, work, work, work.
We are not focused.
We work because we have to live.
You know what I'm saying, andwe enjoy life to the full.
(07:13):
So that's that's like, that youcan feel in the people that we
have that kind of like, a samekind of vibes, like, uh, in a
different, in a differentatmosphere, but same kind of by
like you, you are in love withlife, you, you, you enjoy living
, you, you are so, you aresmiling, you are enjoying, you
are having fun.
You know what I'm saying and Ifeel that way with my loves.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
It was like love at first time with her.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
I love her at first time with my love.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
So for everyone listening, you know the.
You know what they said.
Long story short, we love party.
So both of you have this.
(08:02):
You know olive oil brand.
It has to do with food andeverything.
I know.
You know, Tiffany, the lasttime we spoke, you know you
talked about how his mom youwould, you know, take a spoonful
of the olive oil and remind usof the seven seeds cod liver oil
.
That's correct.
So talk to me about how youexperiment with Jamaican and
(08:27):
Spanish cuisine, and I mean, weuse Spanish loosely, but Spanish
as in Spaniard cuisine, right?
And do you have any fusiondishes?
That's a favorite in yourhousehold?
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Oh, definitely.
We have a couple of them thatare like a superstar in this
home, and it's basically.
One of them is like I preparecurry chicken with curry powder,
jamaican curry powder, but witha Spanish twist, using, of
course, spanish olive oil.
That gives it a special touch,and also with some kind of
(09:03):
marination that we do in Spain.
Also, we do like the frieddumplings and we fry them.
Instead of frying them, perhaps, with butter or with oil, we
use olive oil as well, and then,on top of the fried dumplings,
I cut very thin slices ofIberian ham and put it on top,
and that's delicious.
(09:24):
I love it, I love it, I love it.
I love cooking and I try alwaysto incorporate different things
from different cultures, andespecially from Jamaican culture
and from Jamaican cuisine.
I'm trying to do a lot ofexperiments.
I'm the one who is basicallyyeah.
But she's also trying.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
I try.
I will say between the two ofus he's the better one in the
kitchen, for sure.
But yeah, we definitely try,like he said, to try and make
things together, especiallyagain for our son that we're
saying so that he can appreciateboth things and both cultures.
So, yeah, we definitely try todo that.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Jorge, we live close right.
I want the fried dumpling, butno ham, none of that, just give
me the sauce of fried dumpling.
All right, I want to taste it.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I heard you.
My brother-in-law says the same.
He's from Jamaica as well.
He say listen.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Left the pork.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
But no pork.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
I know.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
So I understand that part.
That's funny.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
You know, and to that point right, you know, that's
kind of where I enjoy ourculture, where we can see like,
well, jorge likes pork, butwe're not killing for the pork's
, just like, okay, cool, justgive me a version without, and
it's still the energy.
And I think the thing aboutfood, too, is just a thing that
we all love to gather around.
(10:55):
So I'm now curious about areyou bringing your son into the
kitchen to help with thesedishes, and does he have a
favorite?
Into the kitchen to help withthese dishes, and does he have a
favorite?
Does he Wait?
All right, here's the question,is it?
Speaker 2 (11:12):
daddy cook better or grandma cook better.
Well, sometimes he say, well, Ilove how grandma does this dish
, but you do it better, orsometimes the opposite.
But he's very inclined to thekitchen.
He's very inclined to learn how, because when I was like his
age I was five years old aftercoming back from school, the
first thing that I was doing itwas spending time with my mother
(11:32):
and my grandma in the kitchen,learning, and it's how I learned
.
I learned at that time, believeit or not, I was so curious,
like, okay, why you put garlic,why you fry the onion, why you
poach the, why you put this orwhy you put that.
And I was learning at that time,at that time and Nicholas has
the same curiosity as me in thatsense, and every time I'm
(11:52):
cooking that don't put that.
I'm coming Let me see howyou're doing, can I mix it?
Can I do it myself?
Why you put this, why you putthat, why you put cumin, why you
put this, why you put that, whyyou put cumin, or why you put
onion powder, or why you putthis, or why you put ginger.
And he's so curious and he'sinto the into learn that I'm I
(12:12):
feel so happy and and and I'm Ifeel, I feel the joy on that,
because I think that it's veryimportant to learn how to eat,
and to eat well and healthy, butit's also very important to
learn how to cook right, right,that's true so the one thing I
have to touch on right, or hisspanish and jamaican language is
(12:38):
a whole different language.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
So, tiffany, all right, I want you to tell me
what an incident where there wasmiscommunication Jorge, spanish
and the Jamaican coming andeverybody got confused.
Was there a moment where therewas some misunderstanding
because of the different, theway Jorge speaks, the way we
speak in Jamaican?
Like, tell me if there was everan incident like that.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
For me at the very beginning.
It was a little bit with theaccent, same as when they hear
my voice with the Spanish accent.
It was kind of a little bitconfusing.
But I remember one day that itwas so funny for me.
It was very funny when they say, and I was like, wait a second.
(13:22):
That was so funny and I'm usingit very often when I feel like
okay, I will do it, but suncam,suncam.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
That's right.
The suncam doesn't mean suncam.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Oh okay.
So I was like yeah, suncam,like suncam could mean anything.
Suncam, Exactly, exactly Suncam, don't mean soon come Exactly.
All right.
So we're going to get into somefun stuff, so all right.
So Jamaican culture you know wehave food.
We can't talk about Jamaicanculture, caribbean culture,
(14:00):
without the dancing.
So, tiffany, first the questionfor you.
You can party.
I don't know what was it liketaking Jorge to the family
session and how did that go?
Speaker 3 (14:09):
it was good it was, it was totally fine and we were
just because okay between thetwo of us.
So my sisters, they love toparty, party right, and so
between the two of us heactually likes to party more
than me.
So if anything, it would bethem trying to say come on Jorge
, come on Jorge, and me justkind of like okay, you know,
like okay, dragging me along,but he's in there dancing this,
(14:32):
that, listening, moving, all ofthat stuff, all of that are you
coming, tiffany, are you coming?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
no, okay, see you later.
I'm going with your sisters,yeah yes, all right.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
So tell me about, like the, the most fun party you
went to with Tiffany's sisterand what's your favorite song in
the dance.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Well, I have a favorite song.
I don't necessarily think thatis a party song, but it's a song
from Beres Hammond.
Oh yeah, they're going to talk,they're going to talk.
And that we were falling in loveto each other at that moment
and I introduced that song to meand it was so I don't know.
(15:13):
Every time I hear that song Ifeel that I don't know.
I feel that those moments wherewe fell in love, in that moment
, where we start to know eachother, and you know, and I love
that song to pieces, to pieces.
And of course there is a lot ofparty songs that are between
the dance hall and also theylove soccer as well.
(15:38):
It's Caribbean, but it's notJamaican, but they love soccer a
lot, and there's a couple ofsongs that I love.
I love that they are forTrinidad.
I love Adela for Trinidad.
Regards to all the Trinidadians.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
So wait, what's the Soca song?
All right, so we get Beresright, and then what's the?
Speaker 2 (15:57):
one.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Soca song that you like.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Can you name it?
This song is from Desta.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
It's from Desta.
The song is like what's thename of the song right now?
Lucy, Lucy from Desta.
Lucy.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
That's the one that he likes.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Lucy and Nicholas Love it too yeah.
Nicholas Love it too All right,I love it.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
I love it, jorge.
Yeah, yeah, all right.
So this is one of my favoritequestions.
If you had to sum up what,being Caribbean adjacent, you
know largely Jamaican adjacent.
What does this mean for you?
What would that mean?
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Yeah, and for me it means like to be part of the
family.
I feel part of the family, partof the Caribbean family, part
of the Jamaican.
I feel I don't feel, as I say,I don't feel a foreigner there.
I feel like, yeah, that wouldbe like I'm part of this family,
I mean from the first, veryfirst moment.
(17:01):
I wouldn't say specifically,one sentence would define it,
but I would be that like I feellike part of the family from the
very beginning, you both worktogether, and it's not easy
running a business and workingtogether.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
So what advice would you have for anyone?
You're from different cultures,merging cultures, and then
you're working together.
What advice would you giveTiffany Jorge?
Any one of you could answerthat question.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
So I would say, from, like, the first thing that came
to mind was like give eachother grace, or just give people
grace in general, right.
And so I think that thattranslates in every facet, right
?
So when you're working together, you know, maybe you know
things are not going very wellbecause you want to do this and
you want to do this you have toremember that both people, both
of you, want the best, foryou're both aiming to the same
(17:54):
goal, right?
Both people want the best, andso, even though it may not come
the way you think it does, orvice versa, give each other
grace, right, and that's thesame thing with culture, right?
So maybe we do one thing oneway and maybe they do something
differently, right?
No way is right, no way iswrong, it's just different.
And so just give each other thegrace to learn the differences,
(18:14):
understand them and appreciatethem.
I think that that goes a longway.
And then also, just like interms of working each other,
working with each other, rather,just if everyone, if each
person can know that their ownstrengths and work towards that,
so there's not a lot of overlap.
I think that that works reallywell with us, because we're very
different in terms of thestrengths that we can bring to
(18:35):
the olive oil business, ourcompany, essentially, and so
that works really well for us.
I'm not very creative, he's verycreative, right, so I'm not
ever going to try.
I mean I'll try but, like, I'mnot very good at anything
creative, where I am very kindof like, more rigid in terms of
like, oh, I like to fill outforms, I like, like, I like to
do things that are very kind ofdefined.
(18:55):
I like to do those things, himnot so much.
So that works well for us.
You know what I mean.
So like, so with that, ifeverybody kind of plays to their
strengths, or each person playsto their strengths, and work
through those things, combinedwith the grace, I think that
that's really helpful.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I love it, and so, before I wrap up, I have a last
question for you, jorge.
What's in your Caribbeanadjacent survival kit?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Oof, let me think about it one second.
Let me think about it onesecond.
Let me think about it.
Well, I will put some beefpatties for sure.
I mean, I love beef patties somuch.
Festivals I love festivals aswell and, of course, a bottle of
Ryan Nephew.
That would be my survival kit,because, listen, that rum has
(19:47):
something special.
I'm telling you.
I don't know what it is.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Let me tell you something that rum is not just
for drinking.
I don't know about you, tiffany.
When I was growing up, they putit in this bottle, shake it up.
They put farty leg beer, rum,all sorts of stuff.
I just tap it on you, of course.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Of course, when you had a cold or a fever or so, rub
them.
You get rubbed down with it, ofcourse.
No, that that is a all an, alldoer.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
It does everything and also cocoa butter.
Sometimes, when, when I learnedthat from when nico was like a
you know, falling on the flooror something and oh, there's a
mark here in the skin, let's usecocoa butter, cocoa butter,
cocoa butter, sorry To you know,wrap it and it works, it works.
So I would totally include abar of cocoa butter, for sure.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Jorge, I just love it because everything that you
said is just on point.
You get the cocoa butter forRobito.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
But first you have to clean it with the rare nephew.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
It's so good.
It's so good, it's true, it'sso true.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Well, thank you both for really coming by and being
part of Caribbean Adjacent.
You're part of the Carry OnFriends family.
I'm off soon, or somewhere inBrooklyn, because you don't know
.
And again wishing you both lotsof success.
In Flor de la Jara, metella isstill that same sexy bottle on
the house.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Yes, yes A wonderful bottle.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Why don't you tell everybody where they could find
you online?
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Sure-A-J-A-R-Acom.
You can find us on Amazon aswell, and then you can also just
see us on Instagram at FloridaLahada Olive Oil underscore
olive oil.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
I did say a last question, but you know Jamaican,
I lie.
Last last question.
So when is Jorge having his owncooking show?
Because at the rate where he'stalking it makes me feel like
Jorge is on somebody's TV orcook Well we are doing some.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
there were some chapters that we presented on
Instagram, facebook and so on.
Like we call it cooking withfamily, and we do.
Sometimes I cook with myin-laws and sometimes she cooks
with her in-laws, and we do somespecial Jamaican dishes.
I did with my brother-in-law,for instance.
we did like a Aki and saltfish,aki and saltfish, and we were
(22:19):
cooking together hands-to-handand it was so much fun and many
people liked that recipe and itwas kind of impacting many
people seeing how we canincorporate the olive oil into
Jamaican recipe.
That gives a different touch.
And actually my brother-in-lawsince that day he's cooking,
he's oaky and selfish withSpanish olive oil, with our
(22:42):
olive oil, and he loves it.
He loves the touch.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
I mean I was telling you, tiffany, the last time I
was here I was like how can weincorporate it?
And I mean, there's so manythings you know.
So when you deal with thecallaloo make, with Noah, when
you're doing all that just makewith Noah, because you already
don't know.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Just let me know and me come by and get me done with
the food and thanks.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Open invitation.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
And also, especially with the oxtail, that we have
oxtail in our astronomy.
In Spain we have oxtail too.
But let me tell you somethingSince I tried the Jamaican one,
it's a wrap.
I've heard my favorite Jamaicandish is oxtail.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
There's a reason why it's popular but yeah, just let
me know, you know, put out thelittle e-book cookbook with the
things, and just let me know,because, jorge, you're a gear
off like I'll try anything inthe kitchen and I'm like whoa
and I love like whoa and I lovefestival too, so if you have a
(23:49):
good festival, me and my sonwill be there.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
All right.
Well, thank you both and untilnext time walk good.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Thank you so much.
Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode
of Carry On Friends and ourspecial series, caribbean
Adjacent, and I'm excited tohave Tiffany and Jorge on the
podcast.
So now, if you have just beenrocking with Carry On Friends,
you may have missed Tiffany'sepisode that we recorded last
year.
So Tiffany is of Jamaicanheritage and she came on the
(00:25):
podcast to talk about thisbusiness she had with her
husband.
She has, because it's not pasttense, they still have the
business with her husband, jorge, and it's an olive oil business
.
It's Flor de la Jara.
Did I get it right?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Got it right, perfectly fine Yay.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Welcome Tiffany and Jorge.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Thank you so much for having us.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Well, thank you for having us.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
And other fun fact.
I met them in person last yearat my friend's event, black
Men's Health Festival, and itwas great to see them, both with
their son.
So you know I love when I getto meet the guests in real life
and not just in virtual life.
You know I'm excited to havethis conversation.
So when I was thinking throughthe series, I had a list of
(01:12):
names that I knew I wanted toconnect with, and both of you
are on the top of the list.
So let's back up a little bit.
Why don't we tell the audiencea little bit about the work that
you both do through thebusiness?
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Well, so, like you said, we actually founded an
olive oil brand here in theStates.
It's called Floralajara, but itactually originates from Spain,
because Jorge's family has beenmaking olive oil in their
family land for threegenerations, and then we decided
to bring it here to the States.
So it's something that we'vecreated together and we we love
(01:53):
it.
We love being able to worktogether and we love also being
able to create something for thefuture, and then something that
also incorporates both familiesand both like heritages and
cultures.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
So far.
It's been a long um.
I mean a lot of fun so far, andit's been great to work with
you, by the way, thank you Iwould hope so, you know, because
you know when, when we're done,you still have to go home all
right.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
so or hey, I already told you you're the one that's
mostly going to be on the hotseat.
I have some questions forTiffany, but it's all about you,
so my first question for you ishow did you first meet Tiffany
and what was your initialimpression of her cultural
background?
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Well, it's a very funny story, because we met at
the airport in Madrid andbasically, when I saw her, I
said wow, she's so beautiful,I'm going to sit down close to
her.
But you know, I was like a kindof blog.
I couldn't say anything to her,I was just sitting in front of
her.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
You know like which I will just say is very funny.
I you know like.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I will just say it's very funny.
I couldn't say anything, I gotblocked.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Yeah, because he's usually a lot more outgoing than
I am.
I'm outgoing, but he's a lotmore outgoing as well.
So the fact that he wasn't likesaying anything now that I know
on this other side is prettyfunny.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
But yeah, and then we started talking.
She basically she was the firstone who said something.
She basically she was the firstone who said something.
And, of course, in the momentshe opened the door I was like
all the way Okay.
So okay, can I sit down rightthere with you and we start
talking right away.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Tiffany.
So I need to understand andthen I'll put another
correlation.
You saw him sitting there andhe's like what?
Why look like him?
I want to talk Like tell mewhat you said.
What did you say?
Speaker 3 (03:45):
I'm going to tell you what it was like.
So I, I was there already andthen he came down, like he said,
and sat in front of me and Isaw him because he was literally
right in front of me and I waslooking at him and I was like
huh, then his eyes were catchingmine, like our eyes were
catching, for a little bit, andthen I said, oh, you know, I was
like maybe I should saysomething and in my mind I had
this whole conversation likewell, what would you say?
(04:07):
I was like you don't even knowif he speaks English, all of
these things that you thinkabout, right, and then it's like
all of a sudden, like the wordsaid hello, what's your name?
And I almost was like who saidthat?
Because I was like I never sayanything to people Usually, I
usually don't, so it was justlike it just came.
You know, I was like it'salmost like a divine adventure.
It just came out likesurprisingly to me too.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
You both are the second guests who've come on
this series and talked aboutmeeting at the airport.
I'm not going to say thatthat's the place to meet, but
I'm going to see if it's apattern.
Okay, that is so interesting,all right.
So, jorge, what's one aspect ofCaribbean culture, jamaican
(04:50):
culture, that has surprised youthe most when you first
encountered it?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Well, I'm surprised I have been by the fact that we
have a lot of things in common.
It surprised me a lot.
So Spaniards are Jamaican.
We have more things in commonthan we think and for me it was
like so easy to get used to theJamaican culture and I feel
myself already half Jamaican.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
I don't know how to explain.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
But I don't feel I go there and I see like, okay,
let's go to our country.
And I see myself in the airportlike okay, I feel like local
already and we are trying toincorporate that in our, in our
son, because I think that he'svery rich to to incorporate at
the roots of your parents inyour life.
So we are trying to do thatwith nicolas nicolas right now.
(05:39):
Sometimes you can find him inthe middle of the corridor
speaking in patois he's so funny.
And right after the corridorspeaking in Patua, he's so funny
, and right after he's talkingin Spanish.
And he so emerged in theculture, in both cultures
Spanish and Jamaican that I loveit Because he's like he was
born in the United States, inNew York, but he has the three
(06:03):
of the cultures together that Ithink that enrich your life a
lot and we are making sure thathe's basically into three of the
cultures at the same time andwe are not aware, but it's so
easy for him.
It's like we are not doingalmost any effort.
It's just so natural on him asis on me.
(06:23):
I don't know if it makes sense.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
No, it does, and I mean living in New York also
kind of helps with that as well.
You know there's the culturalimmersion in New York.
So I want to go back to whatyou had in common Name,
something that you know was likewow, this feels like what we do
in Spain.
What's one thing from theJamaican culture that you're
like, yeah, we have this incommon, what we do in Spain.
What's one thing from theJamaican culture that you're
like, yeah, we have this incommon?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
One specific thing that we have in common is like
we work to live.
We don't live to work.
That's super.
That's something that we havein common, jamaicans and
Spaniards.
So we are not focused our lifeinto work, work, work, work.
We are not focused.
We work because we have to live.
You know what I'm saying, andwe enjoy life to the full.
(07:13):
So that's that's like, that youcan feel in the people that we
have that kind of like, a samekind of vibes, like, uh, in a
different, in a differentatmosphere, but same kind of by
like you, you are in love withlife, you, you, you enjoy living
, you, you are so, you aresmiling, you are enjoying, you
are having fun.
You know what I'm saying and Ifeel that way with my loves.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
It was like love at first time with her.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
I love her at first time with my love.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
So for everyone listening, you know the.
You know what they said.
Long story short, we love party.
So both of you have this.
(08:02):
You know olive oil brand.
It has to do with food andeverything.
I know.
You know, Tiffany, the lasttime we spoke, you know you
talked about how his mom youwould, you know, take a spoonful
of the olive oil and remind usof the seven seeds cod liver oil
.
That's correct.
So talk to me about how youexperiment with Jamaican and
(08:27):
Spanish cuisine, and I mean, weuse Spanish loosely, but Spanish
as in Spaniard cuisine, right?
And do you have any fusiondishes?
That's a favorite in yourhousehold?
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Oh, definitely.
We have a couple of them thatare like a superstar in this
home, and it's basically.
One of them is like I preparecurry chicken with curry powder,
jamaican curry powder, but witha Spanish twist, using, of
course, spanish olive oil.
That gives it a special touch,and also with some kind of
(09:03):
marination that we do in Spain.
Also, we do like the frieddumplings and we fry them.
Instead of frying them, perhaps, with butter or with oil, we
use olive oil as well, and then,on top of the fried dumplings,
I cut very thin slices ofIberian ham and put it on top,
and that's delicious.
(09:24):
I love it, I love it, I love it.
I love cooking and I try alwaysto incorporate different things
from different cultures, andespecially from Jamaican culture
and from Jamaican cuisine.
I'm trying to do a lot ofexperiments.
I'm the one who is basicallyyeah.
But she's also trying.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
I try.
I will say between the two ofus he's the better one in the
kitchen, for sure.
But yeah, we definitely try,like he said, to try and make
things together, especiallyagain for our son that we're
saying so that he can appreciateboth things and both cultures.
So, yeah, we definitely try todo that.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Jorge, we live close right.
I want the fried dumpling, butno ham, none of that, just give
me the sauce of fried dumpling.
All right, I want to taste it.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
I heard you.
My brother-in-law says the same.
He's from Jamaica as well.
He say listen.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Left the pork.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
But no pork.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
I know.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
So I understand that part.
That's funny.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
You know, and to that point right, you know, that's
kind of where I enjoy ourculture, where we can see like,
well, jorge likes pork, butwe're not killing for the pork's
, just like, okay, cool, justgive me a version without, and
it's still the energy.
And I think the thing aboutfood, too, is just a thing that
we all love to gather around.
(10:55):
So I'm now curious about areyou bringing your son into the
kitchen to help with thesedishes, and does he have a
favorite?
Into the kitchen to help withthese dishes, and does he have a
favorite?
Does he Wait?
All right, here's the question,is it?
Speaker 2 (11:12):
daddy cook better or grandma cook better.
Well, sometimes he say, well, Ilove how grandma does this dish
, but you do it better, orsometimes the opposite.
But he's very inclined to thekitchen.
He's very inclined to learn how, because when I was like his
age I was five years old aftercoming back from school, the
first thing that I was doing itwas spending time with my mother
(11:32):
and my grandma in the kitchen,learning, and it's how I learned
.
I learned at that time, believeit or not, I was so curious,
like, okay, why you put garlic,why you fry the onion, why you
poach the, why you put this orwhy you put that.
And I was learning at that time,at that time and Nicholas has
the same curiosity as me in thatsense, and every time I'm
(11:52):
cooking that don't put that.
I'm coming Let me see howyou're doing, can I mix it?
Can I do it myself?
Why you put this, why you putthat, why you put cumin, why you
put this, why you put that, whyyou put cumin, or why you put
onion powder, or why you putthis, or why you put ginger.
And he's so curious and he'sinto the into learn that I'm I
(12:12):
feel so happy and and and I'm Ifeel, I feel the joy on that,
because I think that it's veryimportant to learn how to eat,
and to eat well and healthy, butit's also very important to
learn how to cook right, right,that's true so the one thing I
have to touch on right, or hisspanish and jamaican language is
(12:38):
a whole different language.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
So, tiffany, all right, I want you to tell me
what an incident where there wasmiscommunication Jorge, spanish
and the Jamaican coming andeverybody got confused.
Was there a moment where therewas some misunderstanding
because of the different, theway Jorge speaks, the way we
speak in Jamaican?
Like, tell me if there was everan incident like that.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
For me at the very beginning.
It was a little bit with theaccent, same as when they hear
my voice with the Spanish accent.
It was kind of a little bitconfusing.
But I remember one day that itwas so funny for me.
It was very funny when they say, and I was like, wait a second.
(13:22):
That was so funny and I'm usingit very often when I feel like
okay, I will do it, but suncam,suncam.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
That's right.
The suncam doesn't mean suncam.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
Oh okay.
So I was like yeah, suncam,like suncam could mean anything.
Suncam, Exactly, exactly Suncam, don't mean soon come Exactly.
All right.
So we're going to get into somefun stuff, so all right.
So Jamaican culture you know wehave food.
We can't talk about Jamaicanculture, caribbean culture,
(14:00):
without the dancing.
So, tiffany, first the questionfor you.
You can party.
I don't know what was it liketaking Jorge to the family
session and how did that go?
Speaker 3 (14:09):
it was good it was, it was totally fine and we were
just because okay between thetwo of us.
So my sisters, they love toparty, party right, and so
between the two of us heactually likes to party more
than me.
So if anything, it would bethem trying to say come on Jorge
, come on Jorge, and me justkind of like okay, you know,
like okay, dragging me along,but he's in there dancing this,
(14:32):
that, listening, moving, all ofthat stuff, all of that are you
coming, tiffany, are you coming?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
no, okay, see you later.
I'm going with your sisters,yeah yes, all right.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
So tell me about, like the, the most fun party you
went to with Tiffany's sisterand what's your favorite song in
the dance.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Well, I have a favorite song.
I don't necessarily think thatis a party song, but it's a song
from Beres Hammond.
Oh yeah, they're going to talk,they're going to talk.
And that we were falling in loveto each other at that moment
and I introduced that song to meand it was so I don't know.
(15:13):
Every time I hear that song Ifeel that I don't know.
I feel that those moments wherewe fell in love, in that moment
, where we start to know eachother, and you know, and I love
that song to pieces, to pieces.
And of course there is a lot ofparty songs that are between
the dance hall and also theylove soccer as well.
(15:38):
It's Caribbean, but it's notJamaican, but they love soccer a
lot, and there's a couple ofsongs that I love.
I love that they are forTrinidad.
I love Adela for Trinidad.
Regards to all the Trinidadians.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
So wait, what's the Soca song?
All right, so we get Beresright, and then what's the?
Speaker 2 (15:57):
one.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Soca song that you like.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Can you name it?
This song is from Desta.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
It's from Desta.
The song is like what's thename of the song right now?
Lucy, Lucy from Desta.
Lucy.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
That's the one that he likes.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Lucy and Nicholas Love it too yeah.
Nicholas Love it too All right,I love it.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
I love it, jorge.
Yeah, yeah, all right.
So this is one of my favoritequestions.
If you had to sum up what,being Caribbean adjacent, you
know largely Jamaican adjacent.
What does this mean for you?
What would that mean?
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Yeah, and for me it means like to be part of the
family.
I feel part of the family, partof the Caribbean family, part
of the Jamaican.
I feel I don't feel, as I say,I don't feel a foreigner there.
I feel like, yeah, that wouldbe like I'm part of this family,
I mean from the first, veryfirst moment.
(17:01):
I wouldn't say specifically,one sentence would define it,
but I would be that like I feellike part of the family from the
very beginning, you both worktogether, and it's not easy
running a business and workingtogether.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
So what advice would you have for anyone?
You're from different cultures,merging cultures, and then
you're working together.
What advice would you giveTiffany Jorge?
Any one of you could answerthat question.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
So I would say, from, like, the first thing that came
to mind was like give eachother grace, or just give people
grace in general, right.
And so I think that thattranslates in every facet, right
?
So when you're working together, you know, maybe you know
things are not going very wellbecause you want to do this and
you want to do this you have toremember that both people, both
of you, want the best, foryou're both aiming to the same
(17:54):
goal, right?
Both people want the best, andso, even though it may not come
the way you think it does, orvice versa, give each other
grace, right, and that's thesame thing with culture, right?
So maybe we do one thing oneway and maybe they do something
differently, right?
No way is right, no way iswrong, it's just different.
And so just give each other thegrace to learn the differences,
(18:14):
understand them and appreciatethem.
I think that that goes a longway.
And then also, just like interms of working each other,
working with each other, rather,just if everyone, if each
person can know that their ownstrengths and work towards that,
so there's not a lot of overlap.
I think that that works reallywell with us, because we're very
different in terms of thestrengths that we can bring to
(18:35):
the olive oil business, ourcompany, essentially, and so
that works really well for us.
I'm not very creative, he's verycreative, right, so I'm not
ever going to try.
I mean I'll try but, like, I'mnot very good at anything
creative, where I am very kindof like, more rigid in terms of
like, oh, I like to fill outforms, I like, like, I like to
do things that are very kind ofdefined.
(18:55):
I like to do those things, himnot so much.
So that works well for us.
You know what I mean.
So like, so with that, ifeverybody kind of plays to their
strengths, or each person playsto their strengths, and work
through those things, combinedwith the grace, I think that
that's really helpful.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
I love it, and so, before I wrap up, I have a last
question for you, jorge.
What's in your Caribbeanadjacent survival kit?
Speaker 2 (19:20):
Oof, let me think about it one second.
Let me think about it onesecond.
Let me think about it.
Well, I will put some beefpatties for sure.
I mean, I love beef patties somuch.
Festivals I love festivals aswell and, of course, a bottle of
Ryan Nephew.
That would be my survival kit,because, listen, that rum has
(19:47):
something special.
I'm telling you.
I don't know what it is.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Let me tell you something that rum is not just
for drinking.
I don't know about you, tiffany.
When I was growing up, they putit in this bottle, shake it up.
They put farty leg beer, rum,all sorts of stuff.
I just tap it on you, of course.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
Of course, when you had a cold or a fever or so, rub
them.
You get rubbed down with it, ofcourse.
No, that that is a all an, alldoer.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
It does everything and also cocoa butter.
Sometimes, when, when I learnedthat from when nico was like a
you know, falling on the flooror something and oh, there's a
mark here in the skin, let's usecocoa butter, cocoa butter,
cocoa butter, sorry To you know,wrap it and it works, it works.
So I would totally include abar of cocoa butter, for sure.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Jorge, I just love it because everything that you
said is just on point.
You get the cocoa butter forRobito.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
But first you have to clean it with the rare nephew.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
It's so good.
It's so good, it's true, it'sso true.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Well, thank you both for really coming by and being
part of Caribbean Adjacent.
You're part of the Carry OnFriends family.
I'm off soon, or somewhere inBrooklyn, because you don't know
.
And again wishing you both lotsof success.
In Flor de la Jara, metella isstill that same sexy bottle on
the house.
Speaker 3 (21:11):
Yes, yes A wonderful bottle.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Why don't you tell everybody where they could find
you online?
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Sure-A-J-A-R-Acom.
You can find us on Amazon aswell, and then you can also just
see us on Instagram at FloridaLahada Olive Oil underscore
olive oil.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
I did say a last question, but you know Jamaican,
I lie.
Last last question.
So when is Jorge having his owncooking show?
Because at the rate where he'stalking it makes me feel like
Jorge is on somebody's TV orcook Well we are doing some.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
there were some chapters that we presented on
Instagram, facebook and so on.
Like we call it cooking withfamily, and we do.
Sometimes I cook with myin-laws and sometimes she cooks
with her in-laws, and we do somespecial Jamaican dishes.
I did with my brother-in-law,for instance.
we did like a Aki and saltfish,aki and saltfish, and we were
(22:19):
cooking together hands-to-handand it was so much fun and many
people liked that recipe and itwas kind of impacting many
people seeing how we canincorporate the olive oil into
Jamaican recipe.
That gives a different touch.
And actually my brother-in-lawsince that day he's cooking,
he's oaky and selfish withSpanish olive oil, with our
(22:42):
olive oil, and he loves it.
He loves the touch.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
I mean I was telling you, tiffany, the last time I
was here I was like how can weincorporate it?
And I mean, there's so manythings you know.
So when you deal with thecallaloo make, with Noah, when
you're doing all that just makewith Noah, because you already
don't know.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
Just let me know and me come by and get me done with
the food and thanks.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
Open invitation.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
And also, especially with the oxtail, that we have
oxtail in our astronomy.
In Spain we have oxtail too.
But let me tell you somethingSince I tried the Jamaican one,
it's a wrap.
I've heard my favorite Jamaicandish is oxtail.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
There's a reason why it's popular but yeah, just let
me know, you know, put out thelittle e-book cookbook with the
things, and just let me know,because, jorge, you're a gear
off like I'll try anything inthe kitchen and I'm like whoa
and I love like whoa and I lovefestival too, so if you have a
(23:49):
good festival, me and my sonwill be there.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
All right.
Well, thank you both and untilnext time walk good.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Thank you so much.
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