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As a Moroccan native, Mehdi Boujrada was keen to bring the most authentic part of the Kingdom’s cuisine to the farthest corners of the world. After immigrating to Seattle, USA, he had the idea of importing spices from Morocco and distributing them in the West coast creating later in 2011 Villa Jerada, a company that ships artisanal products of the Moroccan repertoire.
It all started for Mehdi, who was born in Casablanca, when he was a teenager fascinated by the sea trips that he used go on with his friends, the fish dishes and the summery ambiance related to it. Astonished by the American culture, Mehdi had the chance to visit Seattle when he was 18 accompanied by his father to check on his two half-brothers living in the city.
Shekshuka dish by Villa Jerada./Ph. Facebook. old world deli
A few years later, he managed to join his relatives in the land of opportunities where he started working as a busboy at his brother’s Belltown Italian restaurant «La Vita è Bella». «I always felt like our culture and food was poorly represented», Mehdi told the Seattle Times, the Pacific NW magazine explaining that : «when you see what people are doing, you are like, ‘Oh my God, this is not right'».
Moroccan Harissa sold in the USA
Based on that idea, Mehdi decided to introduce the traditional and artisanal version of Moroccan spices. He started by importing «one of the best olive oils in the world, not just Morocco», Mehdi recalls in an interview conducted by the same source. It happened that the oil belonged to a neighbor in Casablanca who was planting «600,000 olive trees» back home. Starting small, he would grab his scooter and knock on the doors of every restaurant in Seattle to promote his goodies. «At the beginning, I was just a hustler. I had my Vespa; I was going places, doing it the hard way, you know?», Mehdi stated.
Seasoning by Villa Jerada./Ph. Facebook. Martha's Vineyard
Distinguished chefs liked his award-winning olive oil such as Seattle-based Renee Erickson and Matt Dillon. «As fate would have it our neighbor in Morocco happens to be members of the Aqallal family, the most award-winning olive oil producers in the whole of Morocco», Boujrada declared on the official website of Villa Jerada.
Things however got a little bit challenging for Mehdi as importing goodies from his homeland had to match the standards of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human services. Mehdi finally found a supplier for harissa, oil, vinegar, spicy and sweet chili paste. A kick start for «Villa Jerada» which works now as a supplier for ethnic restaurants in the American city providing chermoula, ras el hanout for instance.
Now, Villa Jerada is famous for its shakshuka recipe, a dish inspired by Boujerada’s family, «I think of it as a very cheap, easy, no-brainer dish», Mehdi told the Seattle Times. The 35 year-old entrepreneur managed to impress lovers of ethnic cuisine providing what Morocco has to offer combined with his family’s heritage and love for food. He is making Harissa with the help of his mother bringing the best ingredients in the world.
