Elizabette Andrade grew up in the kitchen. In her household, you weren’t given a cookbook—you were expected to watch and listen.
As her matriarchs poured their hearts and souls into homemade dishes, Andrade catalogued every little detail. She took note of the unmeasured spices thrown into pots and marinades, her nose remembered savory scents and tangy undertones, and her taste buds rejoiced over the flavors of her family’s culinary heritage.
Since then, traditions of cuisine and family from Cape Verde, an island country off the western coast of Africa, translated through time and aided Andrade in finding her true self. When she visited the islands for the first time, she says, she learned how to cook in an unconventional setting.
“I learned how to cook outdoors and use natural resources to prepare a meal,”she says.
While abroad, Andrade learned a momentous philosophy: the power lies in the hands of the cook, not the ingredients. This observation, along with her “culinary-literate DNA” and connection to sustainable, natural sourcing, led to her current passion: Cooking Alchemy, her company that produces plant-based spice blends, pastes and bouillons.
“I came from a line of women who were very culinary literate, [meals were made] without recipes or reading,” says Andrade. “Most of them are functionally illiterate. Recipes were nonexistent. But cooking was a way to connect, nourish and keep the family together.”
She believes this approach is alchemical and transforms food into a whole new experience. This sentiment especially rang true when Andrade had her first child, at 25. Her son had health challenges that required changes to cuisine and lifestyle. After consulting naturopaths and various doctors, she began to use plant-based resources to heal herself and her family.
Andrade found that her culinary gifts were improving her son’s quality of life. What began as healing blossomed into a sustainable family business.
Cooking Alchemy was founded in 2010. When Andrade and her family moved from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, she immediately felt that the city was a “magical place.” After her adjunct teaching gig at a local college ended, she saw an opportunity to pursue food. At her home in Germantown, she threw together long-lasting rubs and pastes for vegan dishes. These creations became a hit amongst friends and family, and in 2012 she started vending at local farmers markets.
The family business relies on ancient as well as modern, sustainable practices to create handcrafted, plant-based products. Alchemy, Andrade explains, is “all about the feeling.” This translates into the production process of Cooking Alchemy’s spice blends—if she feels a vibrational or energetic pull toward a specific ingredient or flavor profile, she’ll add it. She can’t ignore it, she says.
Cooking Alchemy has almost a dozen products available online and at retail locations, including Germantown Kitchen Garden. Cooking Alchemy’s mushroom bouillon, three savory spice blends and six world-fusion pastes will pack a punch to homemade meals. The recipes for some of Alchemy’s blends, like the herbal nutri-spice, go back almost 10 years in the making, Andrade says.
Yolanda Wisher, a Germantown resident and repeat customer, can’t get enough of Alchemy’s jerk paste. The jerk is a twist on the classic Jamaican jerk seasoning, with the addition of onion, garlic, ginger and thyme in an olive oil base.“It’s so versatile in a lot of different types of meat and poultry,” says Wisher.
She discovered Cooking Alchemy after her husband, a teacher, received a jerk paste sample as an end-of-the-year gift. “I stole it from him,” Wisher laughs. “He gets a lot of teacher gifts and I usually steal the ones I don’t think he’s going to appreciate as much as I will.”
While abroad, Andrade learned a momentous philosophy: the power lies in the hands of the cook, not the ingredients. This observation, along with her “culinary-literate DNA” and connection to sustainable, natural sourcing, led to her current passion: Cooking Alchemy, her company that produces plant-based spice blends, pastes and bouillons.
She experimented with the paste in her cooking and fell in love. Soon after, she started to order multiple products every month or so, picking them up at Cooking Alchemy’s day stall at Reading Terminal Market—which opened in February 2019—or receiving a delivery from Andrade herself. Wisher relies on the pastes in times of fast-turnaround cooking or to satisfy umami-filled cravings.
Kush, a paste reflecting Ethopian and Indian flavor profiles and named in honor of the ancient African empire, is another favorite. “Kush is magical and deepens the flavor,” Wisher adds.
The plant-based creations also exude rich, earthy scents that envelop a room, and even the Reading Terminal. Andrade remembers a customer once inhaled the spicy, botanical aroma of Kush and exclaimed, “I can picture the children running when I was in Ethiopia.”
Andrade hopes to return to the Reading Terminal once Philadelphia is able to fully reopen.
Germantown Kitchen Garden, owned by Amanda Staples, is a farmstand and plant nursery that has offered organic, locally grown produce to Germantown residents since 2015. Staples tried several of Andrade’s pastes and rubs, and, soon after, Cooking Alchemy was on the shelves. She heard the feedback from her customers almost immediately.
“My customers are very chatty, so they definitely want me to know what they like and don’t like … people got excited about [the Shambhala paste],” Staples says. “People are really trying to support local businesses. Now, they’re even more excited, as it’s more meaningful than maybe it once was.” Supporting local businesses and owners of color is extremely important, especially in Germantown, adds Staples.
In August, Andrade’s product line debuted at Di Bruno Brothers. Andrade met owner Bill Mignucci at a specialty food conference, which set the stage for their future partnership. “He is all about family business and Philly. And I felt like that was, energetically, the right kind of connection,” says Andrade.
At first, she assumed the Italian grocer would sell only her bestsellers—in fact, Di Bruno Brothers requested her entire paste line. The pastes, including Creole and fan-favorite Shambhala, are available in all three Philadelphia locations.
To urban farmer Christa Barfield, success lies in the use of products of traceable origin, all-natural ingredients and accountability. “Because what we’re putting into our bodies dictates how we feel and how we connect with each other, it’s important to have all-natural and healthy products,” says Barfield, owner of FarmerJawn Community Greenhouses and Viva Leaf Tea Co.
Like Di Bruno Brothers, FarmerJawn introduced Cooking Alchemy to its farmstand in August. “Our companies are very similar. That’s the reason why I definitely wanted to work with her—that holistic aspect and just understanding the importance of food and empowerment manifests throughout our daily lives,” Barfield adds.
Barfield and Andrade connected over important social justice topics like food insecurity, food justice and sustainability. Cooking Alchemy is sold in glass jars, lessening plastic waste. Once COVID-related restrictions ease, Andrade will be able to refill jars for a discounted price.
“Her product is exceptionally delicious, and that’s the No. 1 most important thing. I’m not a vegan, but every time Elizabette has made me food, I have been overwhelmed by how she understands flavors and how they work together,” Staples says. Wisher agrees. “Elizabette thinks about her work with food as an art form, and that makes me feel that way when I’m cooking.”
