Category: Featured Content

Tastes of Africa and beyond

Mola Foods to open new tasting room and kitchen

Since launching Mola Foods in 2016, Jeannette Bryant of Nashua has opened a retail store, established a culinary scholarship program and published a cookbook offering ideas on how to best utilize her globally inspired spice blends and chili relishes into one’s meals. Now Bryant is expanding her “culture in a bottle” theme even further in the form of a new space, which will serve as a combination store front, tasting room and commercial kitchen.

Set to open on Saturday, Feb. 20, the new Mola Foods location is much more than a larger retail spot for Bryant’s products.

You’ll also be able to order traditional meals from her home country of Cameroon in Central Africa as well as other nations, prepared fresh in the kitchen and available weekly through a grab-and-go model.

Bryant, who has been offering a similar meal service at Creative Chef Kitchens in Derry, known as Jals Cuisine Bantu, said the transition to Nashua allows her to do everything under one roof.

Although she expects meals to be available on the first day for visitors stopping in to the store, orders going forward will be accepted by 10 a.m. every Thursday, for pickup on Saturdays, either fresh out of the oven or out of a refrigerated case.

“People can experience Cameroonian cuisine right here in Nashua,” she said. “[Meals] will be from other countries too, so you’ll be able to taste different things from different countries, but you’ll always find at least one Cameroonian meal that you can try.”

One such meal is ndole — because it’s a dish made with a plant that’s indigenous to Cameroon, Bryant said, she uses spinach as a substitute, stewed together with peanut sauce, shrimp and beef, and served with boiled plantains.

A vegan version of ndole will also be available.

Other options will include a black bean and mango rice bowl with cilantro vinaigrette and red bell peppers; a Cameroonian peanut soup, made with tofu or beef and served with basmati rice; and a blackened sauce, known as mbongo, that will be cooked with bone-in pork.

New menus will be updated on Sundays for the following week. All of them will be used with Mola Foods spice blends, each of which is inspired by a different country, from African nations like Cameroon, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Morocco to those in Asia, like India, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

“Everything here is made fresh. There will never be meat in here that is conserved or frozen,” Bryant said. “That’s why we have people place the orders on Thursday. It gives us time to go to the market, purchase everything and start cooking.”

In the front of the retail store, small standing tables will be set up for designated tasting events of Mola Foods products, and the space can be used for private tastings for larger parties too.

Bryant said the concept of her company started when she was experimenting with a hot sauce recipe made from a Cameroonian ghost pepper.

The feedback she received from it was so positive that she began working with other world-inspired spice blends, sauces and marinades, and she has continuously expanded her product line ever since.

Most recently she has introduced hibiscus and golden milk turmeric tea, as well as a new sweet and spicy wing sauce.

Mola Foods
Where: 9 Simon St., Suite 103, Nashua
Hours: Retail store hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Order meals by 10 a.m. on Thursdays for pickups on Saturdays
Visit: molafoods.com or jalscuisinebantu.ecwid.com

Featured photo: Cameroonian ndole (spinach cooked with peanuts and served with boiled plantains). Photo courtesy of Mola Foods.

May the best chilis win

Amherst, Merrimack Lions Clubs to host “virtual” chili cook-off

If a hot bowl of chili has been one of your favorite go-to at-home meals, you’ll be able to showcase your creation during a special “virtual” cook-off. The event, a collaborative effort of the Amherst and Merrimack Lions Clubs, will be video recorded on Tuesday, March 2, at the former Buckmeadow Recreation and Conservation Area Clubhouse in Amherst.

“Covid has taught us to be very creative,” Amherst Lion and event co-captain Joan Ferguson said. “We said, ‘What can we do to continue the tradition?,’ and we kind of got more creative with it as we went along. There were a lot of combined resources to make this fall into place.”

One of the first tasks in organizing this event involved recruiting local chefs and restaurateurs to serve as “celebrity” judges, a significant change from the people’s choice voting of previous cook-offs. Merrimack Lion Adam Jump, who has been a participating chili maker in the past, helped select the three judges — Jay Smith, executive chef of the Copper Door Restaurant in Bedford; Dan DeCourcey, owner of the Up In Your Grill barbecue food trailer in Merrimack; and Alan Frati, owner of Crack’d Kitchen & Coffee Eatery in Andover, Mass.

Now through Feb. 24, anyone can register their chili by filling out an entry form on the Amherst Lions Club’s website and emailing a copy of their recipe. Chili cooks will then be invited to the March 2 taping at a designated time. Submissions will be divided into three categories for judging: individuals, restaurants and Lions Club members. Smith, DeCourcey and Frati will rate each chili on a scale of 1 to 5 in a variety of factors, like taste, smell, creativity and presentation.
“They’ll be judging everyone from each category at one time frame,” Ferguson said. “The entrants will get to receive constructive comments from these chefs, which is another thing that’s different this year and can be valuable as well.”

To promote social distancing, participants will be given a time within the two-hour event window for when their presentation will be recorded. Tables, napkins, spoons and gloves will be provided, but you must bring your own bowls, serving ladle, electrical cords and heating elements, in addition to at least one quart of your chili.

Among the restaurant contestants is Smokehaus Barbecue in Amherst — last year’s winner in the Restaurant category — as well as The Common Man of Merrimack, Tomahawk’s Butchery and Tavern in Merrimack, the Alamo Texas Barbecue & Tequila Bar in Brookline and Bobby and Jack’s Memphis Barbecue in Tewksbury, Mass.

Shortly after its taping, the recorded video of the cook-off will be uploaded onto the Amherst Lions Club’s website and social media pages. Viewers will be given the opportunity to purchase recipes from each of the cook-off entrants, with all proceeds going to the Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation of New Hampshire. Winners of each cook-off category will receive an engraved trophy and bragging rights for a year.

“Virtual” Chili Cook-off
When: Tuesday, March 2, 5 to 7 p.m. (open to chili registrants only, with recorded video of the cook-off to be posted online soon after; enter your chili by Feb. 24 to participate)
Where: 30 Route 101A, Amherst (former Buckmeadow Recreation and Conservation Area Clubhouse)
Cost: No cost to register; participants’ recipes will be sold online ($5 for one recipe, $12 for three recipes and $25 for 20 recipes), with proceeds going to the Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation of New Hampshire
More info: Email amherstlionsclub@gmail.com, or visit e-clubhouse.org/sites/amherstnh

News & Notes 21/02/18

Covid-19 updateAs of February 8As of February 15
Total cases statewide68,49971,017
Total current infections statewide3,2452,953
Total deaths statewide1,1061,135
New cases2,441 (Feb. 2 to Feb. 8)2,518 (Feb. 9 to Feb. 15)
Current infections: Hillsborough County1,106922
Current infections: Merrimack County292217
Current infections: Rockingham County771678
Information from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services

Covid-19 news

Dr. Beth Daly, Chief of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control of the New Hampshire Department of Health & Human Services, said during a Feb. 9 press conference that about 172,000 total vaccine doses to date have been administered statewide, including about 123,000 first doses and 49,000 second doses. State health officials received 21,475 first doses of vaccine that week, a slight increase from previous weeks’ amounts. “Going forward, we continue to expect to receive these incremental increases … in the coming weeks,” Daly said.

First-dose appointments for people in Phase 1B of the state’s vaccine distribution plan are continuing to be booked in April, while those who already received it can make appointments for their second dose in late February and early March. The state is also collaborating with Walgreens, which, beginning this week, will receive around 3,400 doses across many of its pharmacy locations. “They’re partnering with us to make sure that we can compress the time that folks in Phase 1B have to wait for their first shot,” Gov. Chris Sununu said later during the press conference. “We are going to start kind of at the back of the list, those that are furthest out, and start directly one-on-one calling them and rescheduling them to go get their vaccine at a much earlier date, and using Walgreens as our partners to administer that.”

On Feb. 11, Sununu issued Emergency Order No. 84, an order rescinding Emergency Orders No. 37 and No. 77 and therefore lifting the hiring freeze for state employees. Emergency Order No. 37 had been issued back on April 28 of last year, temporarily halting hiring of all full-time and part-time employees of the state’s executive branch. Emergency Order No. 77 was later issued on Dec. 23, restating these provisions but also adding that all full-time and part-time employee positions may be posted for internal and external applicants.

On Feb. 12, the same day New Hampshire surpassed 70,000 total Covid-19 cases, state health officials announced the first known detection of the B.1.1.7 variant of the virus, the highly contagious variant first detected in the U.K. late last year. According to a press release, the person infected with the variant is an adult resident of Hillsborough County who had close contact with someone diagnosed with the virus who travelled internationally. Although vaccines appear to be effective at preventing it, the variant, which is greater than 50 percent more infectious and transmissible, has been identified in more than 37 states and 86 countries worldwide as of Feb. 12, according to the release.

Also on Feb. 12, Sununu issued Executive Order 2021-2, extending the state of emergency in New Hampshire due to the pandemic for another three weeks through at least March 5. It’s the 16th extension he has issued since originally declaring a state of emergency last March.

Details of Sununu’s emergency orders, executive orders and other announcements can be found at governor.nh.gov.

NH’s budget

Gov. Chris Sununu gave his 2021 Budget Address on Feb. 11, emphasizing good fiscal management throughout the pandemic. In his address Sununu highlighted no new taxes or fees and no increased taxes or fees; tax relief across the board; a focus on core, essential services and increased funding for veterans and child support services. He said the budget shortfall to end the biennium is projected to be less than $50 million; original projections anticipated a shortfall of about $350 million. “Unlike other states across the country, which are now raising taxes on businesses, taxing out-of-state workers, or enacting draconian budget cuts to cover their massive deficits, New Hampshire managed to mitigate the worst financial impacts of the pandemic — without raising taxes,” Sununu said in his address. He also said the state budget does not cut any education spending and includes “innovative funding” for mental health programs.

College merger

The University System of New Hampshire could merge with the Community College System of New Hampshire, a plan set forth by Gov. Chris Sununu and supported by the University System of New Hampshire Board. According to a press release from the board, it is concerned about increasing costs associated with higher education and believes the merger is essential to ensuring that all residents are offered affordable and accessible high-quality education in the long term, creating “a stronger, more competitive, more efficient and more sustainable driver of the state’s economic and cultural well-being than two separate systems.”

Canterbury Shaker Village will be hosting a two- to four-mile snowshoe race on Saturday, March 6, at 10 a.m., as a bonus race for the New Hampshire Snowshoe Trail Race Series, it announced in a press release. There will be hot chocolate and treats after the race, and prizes will be awarded. The cost is $20 at shakers.org, and there is no day-of registration.

Making Matters in Concord is offering limited-capacity in-person classes, according to a press release. Coming up this week are How to Make Polymer Clay Jewelry, Sewing Sundays: Winter Hats, and Hands on 3D Printing for Beginners. Visit makingmattersnh.org for details and a list of upcoming classes, or to find out how to teach a class at Making Matters.

The Currier Museum of Art in Manchester announced last week that it has purchased the George Byron Chandler House, built in the late 19th century, across the street from the museum. According to a press release, the museum plans to restore the Victorian house so it can be enjoyed by the community.

The Candia Dollars for Scholars chapter is asking local businesses, organizations and individuals to help support local students who are either heading to college or currently attending. According to a press release, Candia residents will soon be able to fill out scholarship applications for the next academic year, but Dollars for Scholars is looking for financial support to continue its annual efforts this year. Visit candia.dollarsforscholars.org to donate.

Who are your favorites

We’re now deep into the pandemic hoping against hope that 2021 will be the year that we’ll get to see friends, family and some of our favorite places. It’s too early to say how much will return to normal or even what we’ll consider normal then, but there is hope. Hope that we’ll get back to some of those routines and hope that we’ll discover new ones. Hope for one another.
This is Hippo’s 20th Best Of and like many of you we’ve had to make some adjustments to accommodate this pandemic. We’ve changed some of the questions and pared down some categories to better reflect the current situation and past year. The goal, as always, is really to get the pulse of our readers about what they value and like about their community. As big box stores, big tech and big finance occupy more of our landscape it’s all the more important to share what you think makes your community special and different from another place. It’s those great hiking trails, those places to take the kids sledding, the places to grab a scoop on a lazy Sunday or the person who kicks your butt into shape. It’s the coffee shop with art for sale on the walls and it’s the juicy burger that you probably didn’t need. It’s that slice of pizza that you tell people from out of town about.
Those are the things we want to know about in our annual Best Of and it’s those things that we enjoy now or look forward to enjoying when we can. You can vote in this year’s best of at hippopress.com. Voting ends Feb. 28.

Family man

Comedy showcase features Francis Birch

In standup comedy, a weekend booking represents validation. Francis Birch’s first was at Veronica Laffs in Strikers East, a Raymond bowling alley. The pop-up club closed mid-decade, when comic and entrepreneur Jay Grove opened a dedicated venue, Curlie’s Comedy Club in Rochester.

The laughs are returning to Strikers East — as is Birch, who’ll share the stage with headliner Graig Murphy on Feb. 13.

The upcoming show is presented by Laugh Riot Productions and will be hosted by its CEO, Michael Smith.

“It’s kind of cool to go back,” Birch said recently by phone. “To work there as a more polished comic who has a little bit of a reputation now.”

Birch began doing comedy in 2011, egged on by friends who said he was funny. However, his first attempt at an open mic night wasn’t a triumph.

“I did not know what I was getting myself into,” he said, ruefully noting that a friend taped his 11-minute, laugh-free set and posted it on YouTube. “Sometimes when I need to humble myself, I’ll watch that.”

Unbowed, Birch persisted, finding a home at a Monday night gathering called Punchlines, hosted by Grove at Penuche’s Ale House in Concord. While there, he worked the same five minutes repeatedly, “to just see if I could nail my timing” in front of a tough, sometimes unforgiving crowd.

One night, the antipathy in the room broke his rhythm — and led to a breakthrough.

“Some drunk guy was yelling at me,” Birch said. “I just had a conversation with him, and it really went well. Jay said to me, ‘Any time you can engage and shut down a heckler, and he comes up to shake your hand afterward, is a good thing.’”

Birch is married with three boys of his own, and he’s a stepfather to one more. The big family is a major source of material, but it was also parenthood that caused him to step away from comedy, from 2015 to 2018. The decision came after he’d received one too many videos of his son, now 8, “doing awesome stuff, and I wasn’t there,” he said. “I missed my other boys I was raising because I was in my 20s and being an idiot. Now I was missing this one growing up because I was doing comedy.”

Along with his children, Birch’s mother was a big part of his act. It was her death in 2018 that helped spur him back into the game.

“I had the itch,” he said. “I wanted to go out and tell some jokes, make fun of her a little bit. Because she helped me write those jokes.”

He did a midweek open mic, then a Saturday night guest slot at Curlie’s.

“Maybe if I got 10 minutes on a weekend that’ll be scratchy enough to satisfy,” he reasoned, but “that did nothing. It made it more itchy. Since then, I’ve been working full steam ahead, just growing my act and incorporating some of the things that happened since.”

Birch said he came back more confident, and more honest — “I started to speak to my stories, being them instead of reciting it.”

He also quit smoking and gave up drinking in the months after returning to standup; again, he was guided by his mom.

“She got pneumonia and her body wasn’t strong enough to fight it, because she had COPD,” Birch said. “[I realized that] if I don’t make changes in my life, that’s gonna be me. My kids are gonna have to watch me die.”

A fitness regimen “to make my body as strong as it can be to fight off any infection” soon began, an effort that grew into a coaching business.

“I help people create habits and become better versions of themselves,” Birch said. He believes telling jokes is not dissimilar. “When I do comedy, I feel like I’m helping people escape their reality and laugh a little bit.”

Asked if the health focus had an effect on his act, Birch replied with a laugh, “I got a lot of fat jokes I can’t use anymore! That’s something Jay taught me when we first started … don’t write jokes about your beard or being fat because you might not always have that beard, you might not always be fat.”

One subject remains, though: Birch’s beloved mother.

“I make fun of her like never before,” he said. “I’ve actually written more material about her, and I like to deliver it with a smile. Because I know that’s what she’s doing — she’s smiling. She’s my rock, my heart and soul, and she’s with me every performance.”

Graig Murphy, Francis Birch & Mike Smith
When: Saturday, Feb. 13, 8 p.m.
Where: Strikers East, 4 Essex Dr., Raymond
Tickets: $20 at laughriotproductions.com or call 895-9501

Featured photo: Francis Birch. Courtesy photo.

Malcolm & Marie (R)

The Little Things (R)

A couple argue in Malcolm & Marie, a movie somewhat reminiscent of the talky (if mannered) indies of the 1990s.

Did you like your Clerks and your Blue in the Face-type movies? This is slicker than those but there is something in it that reminds me of them. Like those movies (with their backstories of being funded by credit cards), this one leans on dialogue in part because of behind-the-scenes constraints. According to media reports, Malcolm & Marie was made during Covid times. So while multiple characters — an actress, past girlfriends, a “white lady from the LA Times” (who becomes a stand-in for all film critics) — and a big fancy party are in the narrative mix, on screen there are only two people at one location.

Malcolm (John David Washington) is a filmmaker ecstatic after the premiere of his new movie. He is so giddy that it takes him a while after he and his girlfriend, Marie (Zendaya), return home to notice that she’s mad. We learn that while introducing the film at the event, Malcolm thanked all the people involved in the film but not Marie. And, in the hours since, the lack of a thank you has become A Whole Thing.

Thus this relatively spare setup digs into relationship stuff, relationships-in-a-Hollywood-environment stuff, ideas about the art of film, ideas about the criticism of film, stuff about who gets to make art with whose life experiences. Has that description made you say “ugh, pass” or “OK, tell me more”? I feel like if you have a low tolerance for this much self-conscious, very movie-scripty talkiness, Malcolm & Marie may not entirely win you over. But I found all of this self-aware movie-ness kind of charmingly spunky even when it’s being A Lot.

Washington joins his father (Denzel Washington) in that group of actors who I just enjoy watching, no matter how good or flawed or adequate the scene they’re in is. He’s fun here and seemingly having fun and also turning in an engaging performance that at times maybe feels a little like an audition for a better movie but it was thoroughly watchable. Zendaya is often fine but not always able to match the heft that Washington brings to a scene, a state exaggerated by the way her character is written and their age difference (Zendaya is 24 and Washington is 36). I’m not sure how much older the movie wants us to believe Malcolm is than Marie or how we’re supposed to think that plays in to their relationship. In a movie so all about who is telling whose stories and why, it’s an oversight that gets in the way.

So, yeah, there’s a lot of talking about what we’re talking about. And it’s not a relaxing good time to watch couples fight. The setup does occasionally border on stagey and the movie continues for a few minutes past the point of its natural ending. But I had enough nostalgia for this kind of chatty movie and Washington delivered enough moments of a fun performance that I had a better than average time. C+

Rated R for pervasive language and sexual content, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Written and directed by Sam Levinson (son of Barry, and this movie about a movie-maker takes on a whole new entertaining layer when you know that), Malcolm & Marie is an hour and 46 minutes long and is available on Netflix.

Featured photo: Malcolm & Marie

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