MILWAUKEE — As we gear up to celebrate Juneteenth, we wanted to highlight some of the vendors that you might see if you head to the parade.
The owner of It's Smackin’, Star Harris, brings her own spin on traditional West African cuisine.
"I really found my passion. I said, 'You know what? This is it.' This doesn't make me mad, the people make my heart sing. This is me. This is my lane, I found it. I figured out what I'm here for,” said Harris.
Star’s road to cooking for a living wasn't a straight line.
The mother of two says it all began during the height of the pandemic when a restaurant that made her favorite dish went out of business and she had a craving that she just couldn't ignore.
"I was just like, 'you know what, I'm gonna make this myself.' So, I just researched some recipes and tried it. Someone ate it, loved it and it has just been going since then,” said Harris.
From there, Star says word of mouth sent her small hobby from her kitchen into the hearts and stomachs of her neighbors and the city.
“I really just got here by people liking my food, honestly. It wasn't like something that I really had plans on doing. When it first started, I was really focused on opening a daycare. Then, I just got to preparing these meals and people were like, 'I want it, I want it,' so I just dug deeper into this,” said Harris.
Star makes egusi soup, a dish that originates from West Africa, particularly in Nigeria, and contains vegetables, meat, crayfish, tomatoes, mushrooms and greens. She also sells elotes and banana pudding.
Star says when she thinks about people enjoying her food, she gets emotional.
"Cooking, it just makes me so happy. I like going to the store 50 times and just like when people eat the food, and they really like it. When people really like my food, that'd be making me cry in public," said Harris.
Star is working toward securing a food truck to make sure her food is accessible to everyone.
"I want everybody to be able to try my food and if I'm all the way up top, you know these people all the way over here are not going to be able to come see me so I'm really just trying to hopefully by the end of the year get me something on wheels,” said Harris.
To try her food for yourself, be sure to keep an eye out for It's Smackin' at this year's Juneteenth parade.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
