His Crazy Caribbean Style definitely shines through his music selection, his energy, and his food.

DJ Nasty Naz’s professional career in the music industry as a tour chef, tour hype man and a tour DJ has allowed him to work with artists like the Black Eyed Peas, The Game, Akon, Wyclef, Danny Fernandes and Sean Paul, to name a few. This attitude of continuously being on the grind has pitched this Trinidadian-born entrepreneur into a class of his own, with not only being a top DJ in the East Coast, but to having an award winning restaurant in Fredericton “Caribbean Flavas”.

His skills in the kitchen have allowed him to cater for a number of groups, including Akon, Sean Kingston, Girlicious, Hedley, The Trews, and even rock and roll legend, Leonard Cohen.

DJ Nasty Naz Flava of the Week will be a weekly column where Naz takes readers inside his world of cooking, performing and rubbing elbows with the stars.

For more information on DJ Nasty Naz, visit

www.djnastynaz.com,

Join the “fan page”

www.facebook.com/djnastynaz

Follow him on Twitter

 www.twitter.com/djnastynaz.

 Or, to taste d’island life, visit Caribbean Flavas on 123 York St, Fredericton.

Last week I have had a lot to be thankful for…and this week has been a big one for me. Not only do I have an amazing family, to always help (cover) my shifts when I go touring (shout outs to Johnny and Mama), but they always help keep me grounded.

Today, I was named one of the hottest DJ’s in the US (on a skill level…not on looks…we all know there aren’t many points to be won there…ha-ha). This prestigious hip hop magazine is an Atlanta based magazine – Ozone Magazine – with not only distribution in Atlanta, but in Miami and NYC as well. They surveyed all across the US, for the nations most influential DJ’s, who have continuously been on their grind and hustle. I was actually fortunate to attend their major music awards show in Miami, 3 years ago. It seems they have been following my path since then, and decided I would be THE ONLY Canadian DJ to grace the pages, with the likes of platinum selling artist – Pitbull ( yup that guy who sings that – 1, 2, 3, 4 I know you want me – song). They asked everything from “what’s my most embarrassing moment as a DJ” to “who’s my favourite artist to work with”

So in sticking with the ATL feel of things, that whole “Southern Hospitality” vibe just took over my senses. I had to do something for the vegetarians out there.

Southern food is comfort food, Creole, Cajun, soul food – Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers and Gladys Knight type food. There is quite an array of corn dishes (like corn bread, or corn muffins, even the famous Grits are always tasty, which Britney Spears eats for Breakfast by tha way. Not forgetting the fresh seafood like catfish and prawns. This made me remember a promoter out in New Orleans I met while on a show out there, instead of having dinner at the hotel, he just brought two very large cardboard BOXES of steamed prawns, and said I had to experience that southern hospitality vibe. I had never seen anything like that before. It was definitely an experience & messy, but good ha-ha. Some favourite Atlanta dishes include barbeque, black-eyed peas (nope not the artists…but the same name though 😆 , biscuits, okra and sweet potatoes.

• 1 banana pepper
• 1 small jalapeno chilli pepper
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 celery chopped
• 1 carrot diced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 green bell peppers, chopped
• 1 quart vegetable broth (store bought or made from scratch)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 cup fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 2 lbs wild rice
• parsnip, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup canned red kidney beans, rinsed and drained (which are a BIG favourite in (Caribbean / Creole culture)
• 1 cup canned black-eye peas, rinsed and drained (a reminder, if you’re a parent trying to be cool here, please DON’T SING one of their songs to your kid while making this dish especially when their friends are around 😆 )
• 2 cups frozen cut okra, thawed

1. Preheat oven to broil.
2. Arrange the banana, and jalapeno chilli peppers on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Watch carefully and broil just until the skins blacken and blister, 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the peppers (with gloves or tongs – TRUST me, I used my fingers, and 2 days later, put in my contacts. Even after washing, I am just a DJ, but I was SINGING some pretty high notes, with the pain). Continue broiling until all sides are blackened. Remove the peppers from the oven and place in a sealed bag to steam. After 15 to 20 minutes, peel off black skin. Coarsely chop, and place in a bowl.
3. Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over a medium temperature until a pinch of flour sprinkled over the oil just begins to bubble. Whisk in the rest of the flour and cook, whisking continuously, until the mixture is well blended and dark brown, about 10 minutes. This in cooking terminology is called a Brown Roux. Once it becomes dark brown, remove the roux from the heat.
4. Place 2 tablespoons of canola oil into a deep soup pot and heat over medium-high heat. When the oil is just about to smoke, stir in the celery with half of the onions and the carrots. This is called a mirepoix. Cook until the vegetables are tender and the onion is transparent. Stir 1/4 cup of the vegetable broth into the pot. Cover, and simmer until almost all the liquid is evaporated, 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Stir the banana, and jalapeno chilli peppers, along with the bell peppers, onions, garlic, Cajun seasoning, smoked paprika. Stir the roux and 1 cup of stock into the vegetable mixture until the roux dissolves. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, sweet potato, wild rice, parsnip, red beans, okra, remaining stock and black-eyed peas (yeah yeah I know, you just cant resist the feeling to sing, okay fine, but let me tell you, with all those hott peppers you threw in, everyone will be saying “they heard it through tha grapevine” that you have tha best gumbo 😆 ).
6. Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, Serve in soup bowls while hot.

Tags: Akon, atlanta, Canada, DJ Nasty Naz, gumbo, ozone magazine, pitbull, Sean Paul, soul food, southern cooking, vegetarian, Wyclef