An American woman decided to open a food truck in Northern Ireland after making a drastic change in her lifestyle after her husband became ill. Emily McCorkell moved to Derry Island in 2005 to work on her one-year internship in youth work across her community, and she never left after that.
The 41-year-old from Glenside, Pennsylvania, met her husband Norman, 45, a project manager, during her second year here, and they went on to have two children, Elsie (13) and Lewis (11). In 2014, Norman traveled to Dublin to oversee the construction of a rehabilitation center, but their lives changed forever when Norman became seriously ill.
Norman was diagnosed with adult-onset epilepsy and lost his job and home as his family lived on the property. The couple were also forced to give up their car and returned to Derry Island.
A “traumatic” experience in which she thought her husband was “dying in front of her” caused Emily to rethink her entire life. She opened Lo & Slo, an American barbecue business, in 2018 due to her long-time passion for food. She said the business allows her to explore new ways of living and cooking in a “culture of over-stress and under-nutrition.”
Emily told IrishStar.com: “I came home from a yoga class around 10pm and heard Norman vomiting in the bedroom. He was having a grand mal seizure at the time and I thought he might have died from suffocation. I thought so,” he said.
“He was face down on the bed, blue and bleeding from the mouth. I tried to move him but couldn’t.
“I called an ambulance and screamed out the window for help. The children were crying and screaming too. They were there the whole time. After what seemed like an eternity, the ambulance arrived. Did.
“Norman had 19 seizures in one year and the children continued to have night terrors wondering what had happened, so he underwent trauma therapy. After a year of medication, we returned to Derry. When we moved in, Norman was able to get his seizures under control, but we realized that nutrition had a huge impact.” Connecting with people through food also contributed greatly to his recovery.
“It was all a perfect storm that led us to Lo & Slo. We wanted to get people in touch with their food, where their food came from, and the slow pace of agriculture and animal production. We want them to know what a difference our care makes to their food.
“We don’t really share what happened to Norman, but I thought I was watching my husband die. At his funeral, me and the kids were dressed in black. I didn’t want anyone else to have that experience and that’s what we’re promoting.” I fell in love with Derry’s potential for healing and growth. That is the essence of low and slow. ”
Emily became involved in catering at a construction site in Dublin managed by Norman, and her cooking was highly praised by her loved ones back in Derry.
The former youth worker applied for and was approved for a product development grant for his homemade sauce. This has allowed Emily to scale up her products and translate her family’s recipes directly into bottled products that are ready to hit the shelves.
A year later, Emily purchased a food trailer to tour food festivals before introducing her cuisine. Since then, Lo & Slow has won big awards at the Irish Food Awards and the Great British Food Awards. The business’s upward trajectory is further fueled by the Wild and Fired BBQ School, a group or private cooking class that Emily teaches.
“People were asking us to start selling the food we made with the sauces, so I started selling them, even though I’m not a trained chef and had no idea what I was doing. I did!” Emily continued.
“We are always asking ourselves how we can make the world a better place through food. BBQ School is very rustic as it is located in a tractor shed on a friend’s farm.
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“We run monthly classes and every Friday we have a food truck. We love the idea of people eating local food and championing the beauty of Irish cuisine. Ireland is currently… It is recognized as a region of excellent gastronomy with produce from farms – a folk culture that we believe to be a part of. Despite everything, I am eternally optimistic.”
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