Nanny Pearl's legacy has been passed down generations until it eventually flourished into the Caribbean street food family business we see today.
Nanny Pearl was one of the Caribbean passengers who came to the United Kingdom as part of the Windrush generation in the early 60s from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. After moving to Southport, she began to build a life for herself surrounded by food and family.
Her grandson, Josh Murphy, 32, is the pioneer behind the Nanny Pearl's street food business we see today. He decided to bring his grandmother's recipes to the masses and knew her food would find a loving home in Southport.
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The link between generations is Stephanie Murphy, Josh's mother and Nanny Pearl's daughter. Although the business is Josh's, she still finds herself helping out where she can.
Nanny Pearl passed away aged 91 just before the lockdown, which means she never saw the business as it is today, but her talent for cooking was prevalent throughout her life to those around her. Stephanie told the Echo: "Like with any culture, food is a big part of it and she'd teach us recipes growing up. I was always watching and learning in the kitchen."
After Josh progressed through school and college, he decided to open a business with Nanny Pearl at its heart in both name and substance. The business received a grant from the Princess Trust to help build a foundation and was eventually shortlisted out of 3,000 competitors down to four at the Startup Awards in 2023.
Despite backing from financial and industry experts, Josh admitted he was still nervous about how authentic Caribbean cuisine would be received. He said: "There's not a big Black population here in Southport so we were nervous about whether it'd go down well or how the food would be received. We put it on Facebook to see how many people were interested and we got almost 500 responses in two hours so we knew we had a place here."
Not only was Josh backed by the Princess Trust and the local community, but the Southport African Caribbean Heritage Association (SACHA) also threw their support behind the entrepreneur. Stephanie added: "To us, it is all about Windrush as mum would not have been here and obviously, we wouldn't be either."
Southport has since embraced Nanny Pearl's Caribbean street food with open arms which means the world to the family. Stephanie said: "Nanny Pearl would be so proud. She'd be trying and testing everything and getting involved but she'd have loved it. It's still a little weird to hear people say 'We're going to Nanny Pearl's' because that was what we said in our family but we love the name and she'd be so happy."
Josh added: "There's so much work that goes into it and getting all of your marketing out there. After the response we got online and from people in person, it gave us even more confidence to really go for it."
Nanny Pearl's has solidified its standing in Southport's food scene. His food truck is pitched on The Woolen Pig site, a popular food haven in Southport. Josh hopes will make way for more unique and experimental items on the menu. He said: "Normally, we'd have it a lot hotter but we tempered it to people's tastes. We knew not to include things like oxtail or chicken foot soup but who knows what we'll see in the future?
"It's all about merging cultures. There's so much stuff people can still try and we're happy to give them it." Discussing what he hopes for the overall business in the coming years, Josh added: "I'd love to franchise it. Branch out into two or three different places, maybe one in Formby and Ormskirk. We can take everything on tour."
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