Tocuma Indigenous Touch promotes Hinterland foods, culture in the city  

By Alva Solomon   

Over the past decade, a number of indigenous restaurants opened their doors in the city but as time passed, those ventures couldn’t keep up with the times and this is etched in the minds of the owners of Tocuma Indigenous Touch, a restaurant which promotes not only indigenous foods but also craft and music to the public.

The venture is the brainchild of Valary Dorrick who originally hails from Region Seven. The business opened its doors officially on February 19, 2021 on the Seawall Road behind the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) ground on CARIFESTA Avenue.

“ In the city you can go to restaurants and find other creole foods for different ethnic groups but you can’t Indigenous food so we decide to promote the food and other things,” Dorrick .

She said that to date business has been a picking-up and initially , things were a bit slow as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the customer response has been great, Dorrick said. “ We are still promoting so we have hope that the number of customers increase. We also provide other creole foods,” she said as she spoke about the diversity of the menu.

 What’s on the menu?  

At Tocuma Indigenous Touch, the menu includes Wild Meat pepperpot, wild meat tuma, Wild meat keebabs, smoked fish and wild meat tuma, curried Labba, farine and cassava bread. Customers can enjoy a glass of  fly,piwari, casseri as they eat.

Recently, the business added a live-band to its location with the popular Castro Band providing the entertainment to the those who can dine-in in keeping with the COVID regulations.

Dorrick said that one of her long-term plans is to extend the business by having another branch where one can have breakfast, lunch or dinner. She said it would include an Indigenous craft shop which  provides Indigenous desserts cassava ice-cream, cassava custard, farine cake just to name a few.

The young businesswoman said she is mindful of the fate of similar ventures which suffered in the past  and she is positive about her plans. “The  same will not happen. It takes time, energy and funds to where you want to be. Once you work to where you want to be you will get there,” Dorrick said.

She said business ventures do not materialise overnight, so according to the businesswoman,  there may be days when one feels like giving. But according to her,” it’s about getting up and go again.”