Janette's sweet hand whets Maraval's appetite

ABOUT A fortnight ago, Janette Pillai, manager of Triple M Supermarket at upper Saddle Road in Maraval, decided to add “Try It Nah” Food Court, to the complex.  And life has suddenly become much easier for those who live anywhere past Ellerslie Court, Shoppes of Maraval and Adam’s as those three places where a meal can be purchased if one is both hungry and tired are all located at the entrance to Saddle Road. The best thing about it is that Janette’s meals are mouth-watering, nutritious, well-balanced and inexpensive.

At a time when most women would be thinking of retirement, Janette, who has always worked in the family businesses, went into the supermarket six years ago “to help out my son, Michael, who runs another one downtown.” Janette’s husband, Euric, had just died suddenly in Venezuela from a massive heart attack. Previously she had dealt with the loss of two of her children at very young ages, eldest son, Dexter, at age 17 in a tragic accident, and her only daughter, Nicole, had passed away at age 22 about three years before Euric. In the face of  losing those near and dear to her, this very down-to-earth woman did not curl up and die, but instead called on the “Grace of God to give her strength and courage to do everything. I pray a lot,” she says.

Her other son, Brian, is in the hardware business. Janette had already tried running a “linen” shop at the Triple M complex, but it did not work out.  Customers and others kept asking her why she didn’t sell food. “They would be hungry and there was nothing around to eat. I had at one time cooked for the banks and other corporate businesses because I just like to cook.” She had been well-trained in the culinary arts, first by an aunt who brought her up after her own mother died when she was just two years old, and after marriage. “My mother-in-law showed me how to cook,” says Janette, who has always cooked for her family. “I even showed my husband how to cook when he was going on river limes and to Maracas. For instance, you do not brown sugar in oil, you put the sugar into the hot pot with no oil, when it melts for itself, turn it, then put in a drop of oil. I cook with olive oil, and add your garlic and onion. I only use fresh seasoning, none of the packaged ones. In my day, there was none of those. Everybody cooks in a different way, but this is the healthy way.”

At 60-plus, this energetic woman supervises the planning of menus, preparation and cooking of meals for “Try It Nah.” She is up at 5 am and is soon in the kitchen to start the day’s cooking.  The menus vary from day to day and come from the top of her head with advice from the workers, a niece and even the customers. The portions are just right for those who live on their own and who would rather not cook on a daily basis. There are choices of two meals. Curry is a definite on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Cow heel soup and curry crab and dumplings are the staples on Saturday mornings from as early as 9.30 am. The service starts at 10 am on the other days, and stops when the food is finished, or at 7 pm. Janette is in good health and plans to continue working as long as God gives her good health and strength. In the many troubled times she has had to face, the support of friends saw her through. “They gave me the will to move on and I would say to myself: “Why worry? It does not bring them back, you will just get sick so you just move on,’ and move on I did.”

She is still feeling out the food market because, “you put all your ingredients in your food and  people will still say: ‘So expensive for that?’ But where will you get curry chicken, mango, pumpkin, bodi, potato, channa and buss-up-shut for $15?” asks Janette. “I cook for the poor person who cannot afford it every day because I really want to help poor people too, I am there for them. We have worked very hard for whatever we have and up to now my son is still working hard. So I am doing this for the people, community and public. It is not to say I am in it for the money.” So far business is not doing too badly.

“They are coming in to buy. Some will say I cannot afford $15 today, can I get a roti for $10, and I give them because I know tomorrow they will come back for the $15 meal.” Although the supermarket is open on public holidays and Sundays, “Try It Nah” is not, but the lady with the sweet hand says, “People are asking me to cook on Sundays and I am thinking of doing it, but strictly by orders.”