by Diana Cercone
Say Wah Gwan when you’re in Jamaica and they’ll think you’re hip to their patois. Reach for Wah Gwan™ in the kitchen when you want to be hip and up your culinary game—or are a newbie in the kitchen and want to know more. Wah Gwan is the Jamaican phrase that means “What’s going on?” So, whether you’re just arriving on this Caribbean island or stepping into your own kitchen, these two words will serve you well.
Wah Gwan™ is the upscale seasoning line inspired by the Jamaican greeting, culture and approach to cooking. No need to pack your bags though. This Wah Gwan™ is made right here in New Hope by Chef Marcus Anthony.
Wah Gwan™ seasoning line consists of four spice blends and one specialty salt. Marcus is working on more, he says, including a Jamaican Jerk chicken spice blend. For now his line-up includes: Wah Gwan™, an all-purpose blend of paprika, garlic powder, peppers, onion powder, proprietary herbs and organic rice hulls to prevent caking; Dry Brine, a mix of salt, star anise, coriander, bay leaf, juniper, thyme and fennel; Scotch Bonnet Powder, dried Scotch bonnet peppers; and G Salt, sel gris. For those who like to gin up the heat, Marcus created Hot Wah Gwan™, which adds a healthy dose of Scotch bonnet to the blend.
Marcus Anthony Davis and his wife Rose Orrell Davis created the line of spices out of their love of cooking and commitment to quality ingredients. With a few simple goals in mind: to help you produce flavorful and healthy food; make cooking easy, simple and fun; and bring back family dinners and gatherings around the table with friends.
Neither Marcus nor Rose takes their commitments lightly—nor do they, their cooking.
Marcus, whose parents emigrated from Jamaica, grew up in Long Island with his family before moving to Manhattan to work as a steamfitter. He may have left Nassau County, but Marcus never left behind his love of or his experimenting with food. From his earliest memories in his mother’s kitchen, he says, he took recipes for breakfast or lunch and tweaked them “with what was available to make something delicious.”
That desire to know more about cooking led him to become a self-taught chef. First by devouring the French Culinary Institute’s “The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Cuisine” when he got home at night after work, and then graduating from The Institute of Transformational Nutrition. “I believe food is more than just what feeds you,” he says on his website, www.chefmarcusanthony.com. “Cooking is a simple formula of knowledge, what food does and how.” It’s also about gaining confidence, he says, “stepping out of your comfort zone and rewarding you with a new kind of power.”
Rose grew up in an artistic family in New Hope. From her mother, she also learned the love of cooking and the value of sharing food at the table. Rose eventually moved to New York City where she worked as a body psychologist, massage therapist and a corporate wellness and digestive health coach. It’s also where the two met.
When I asked Rose for details, she laughed and said “How all New Yorkers meet. Online.” After becoming phone friends where their conversations centered around food and nutrition, they decided to meet for dinner. When Marcus arrived at her apartment, Rose says, instead of bringing her flowers, he brought rabbit secured in a cooler bag, saying, “What should we do with it?”
They’ve been cooking together ever since. In early 2020 they decided it was time to not only seal their relationship (they married), but to put their passion into a reality to help others eat flavorful food while having fun making it. They bought an old farmhouse in New Hope and started their Wah Gwan™ spice line.
Though Marcus had been experimenting with spices and herbs for years, it wasn’t until he met Rose and she had gifted him with the Spanish spice Pimentón de la Vera dulce (sweet smoked paprika) and dried Scotch bonnet powder for their first Christmas together that he had embraced them as key spice ingredients.
Pimentón and Scotch bonnet powder still play key roles in the Wah Gwan™ spice blends along with other quality sourced herbs and spices. Nutritional value of the spices is also key, says Marcus. “The first act of sourcing quality seasonings is one of the most important health considerations. When seasoning is improperly sourced or old, it can actually have negative effects.” For example, his Dry Brine has bay leaves blended into it, he says, which has medicinal properties such as anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal. It can also help with cancer prevention, diabetes and support for the respiratory system.
In creating their line of spices, versatility and ease were also key. Says Marcus,“I like to find ways to cook dishes with a complex flavor while keeping a simple execution in order to keep cooking fun and inspiring while realistic for every day.”
Of Wah Gwan™, Eli Kulp, executive chef at Fork restaurant in Philadelphia and host of “The Chef Radio” and “Delicious City Philly” podcasts, said, “The herbaceous seasoning is really prime for any sort of meat … or a cauliflower if you’re vegetarian … or even [on] a blackened fish, it works great for that.”
Selmelier Mark Bitterman writes in his book “Salted” that sel gris is the one salt you need to cook well. Marcus’ G Salt is quality sourced sel gris from France and is 100 percent natural and certified kosher. His Scotch bonnet powder, a traditional ingredient in Jamaican cooking, “gives flavor and heat to a dish without the natural oil so there is less of the continual burn,” Marcus says. “I think it livens a dish up with an overlying kick or underlaying warmth that keeps diners guessing and coming back for more even if they’re not sure why.”
His Dry Brine does double duty as both a dry or wet brine as well as raises the bar when used in cooking. With grilling season upon us, Marcus says, the Dry Brine is perfect to marinate in or use throughout grilling. “To get flavor right out the gate, I like to blanch vegetables using Dry Brine before as well as sprinkling on proteins before applying Wah Gwan™. I find it gives depth of flavor on each level which results in delicious food every time.”
The couple, however, isn’t stopping at creating a spice line. They also have the websites www.wahgwan.com and www.chefmarcusanthony.com where you not only can order their spices but also access Marcus’ recipes and techniques. In addition, Marcus is featured on his YouTube station where he shows you step-by-step how to make his recipes. And if you’ve ever doubted that you can cook (or even if you can), I urge you to check out Marcus’ You Tube episode “Who I Am,” where he asks you “If you can boil water, you can ….”
And when seasoning with one of his spices or G Salt, sprinkle (the meat, chicken, fish or vegetables) from high, holding your hand above what you want to season, Marcus says. “The higher you go, the wider the surface you’ll cover evenly. You can even sprinkle the spices using a sieve.”
So, this spring, tell Alexa to play Bob Marley, pop open a cold Red Stripe, reach for Wah Gwan™ and, like Marcus says, “Hold your hand high and make it rain. [For] Everyone needs a little spice in their life, you know?”