Chef Jessica Catalano Has a Talent For Pairing Brilliance With Inspiration

. . .to recognize unique connnections. When red wine and dark chocolate are paired, they are transcendent. Meet Chef Jessica Catalano of The Ganja Kitchen Revolution. Through her vision, and extraordinary sensibilities, she presented the world with the gift of pairing cannabis with food by blending specific terpene flavors with the flavors of foods to create an unforgettable dining experience.

Interviewed by David Brickley

Hello, Jessica. Thank you for joining us this afternoon, so nice to have a chance to get to know you better.

Absolutely. Thank you.

As I understand from when we spoke earlier, you are from Buffalo, New York. Were you born and raised there?

Yes. I was born and raised there. And I lived there until about 23. And then I moved west.

May ask how old you are now?

I’m 32.

Am I right to assume that your last name “Catalano” suggests an Italian heritage?

Yes, it does. Absolutely. My father is Sicilian and Northern Italian, and my mom is Irish and a hodgepodge of European descent. But yes, that’s what the last name stands for.

Are either of them first generation?

I’m actually third-generation on my dad’s side. I believe, fourth or fifth on my mom’s. My mom’s family has been here longer than my dad’s.

So as a child, was food a big part of the Catalano family?

I grew up where food was definitely a way to show people that you love them and expressing your love for them.

Absolutely. My grandmother always had supper on Sundays. And that was always a big deal. And so everybody would go over to her house to have all sorts of Italian dishes as well as other things. I grew up where food was definitely a way to show people that you love them and expressed your love for them. So I’ve learned a lot from my grandmother and my father.

My father is a really good cook as well. But my mother, unfortunately, she tries her hardest. She’s come a long way. She’s way better now. But in the earlier days, cooking wasn’t her strongest suit. So I learned more from my father side.

That means that you learned how to cook Italian, or you learned how to cook whatever, American cuisine?

I definitely learned Italian for sure. That was a big part of dinner, the usual dinner. But I also learned other American cuisines from my father and my grandmother that they liked. My parent’s friends came from many different backgrounds, their one friend was a Sikh for example. So I learned different cooking styles from him when he would come over to the house.

I grew up in a kind of a melting pot type of area. Buffalo is a melting pot for sure.

Do you still cook the dishes you grew up with?

Oh yes, absolutely. My mom taught me a lot of Irish dishes, she has a lot of great recipes, where she actually made delicious food.

I make a lot of traditional Irish food, Italian food, food that I learned from my mom and her friends, as well as the things that my sister taught me. My oldest sister, Nikki, actually taught me a lot about baking and things like that, as well as my grandmother.

So yes, I still make a lot of traditional foods, especially with the big holidays like my family did and things like that.

When you came through the front door as a child, what food did you most like to smell from the kitchen?

Definitely any kind of pasta sauce, like a red sauce, is one of my absolute favorites. And when my mother would bake bread. She was really good at baking bread, but it took her a while. I think my dad said, when they first married, she was really learning how to cook. But when I came around, she definitely had that under her belt. And I really enjoyed her Irish soda bread that smelled so amazing.

I think I had an inclination (that food would be a career) when I was very young. So I knew that was probably my first love. Because I remember begging my dad when I was three or four years old, four years old to help him cook, you know, eggs or even ham.

Are you married?

Yes, I am. I’m married to my husband Erik.

Did you woo your man with amazing food?

Yes, I did. I sure did. (laughs)

I love that. When did you first know that food was going to be a career?

I think I had an inclination when I was very young. So I knew that was probably my first love. Because I remember begging my dad when I was three or four years old, to help him cook, you know, eggs or even ham. And I think by the time I first started college, I was seriously thinking about it. But my parents didn’t think that was a good direction to take.

They were discouraging you from pursuing a career in food?

Yeah. So when I first graduated high school, I went right into college that summer. And I was able to get into the clinical psychology program at Buffalo State College. That usually doesn’t happen as a freshman. You usually have to wait until your sophomore year. But because I had the grades for it, I was able to be accepted into the program.

Nice.

And my parents felt that clinical psychology was a better choice for me than becoming a chef because they thought I would make more money and be happier.

So it wasn’t about what you preferred to do, or in your nature to do. It was about choosing money-producing career.

Correct. And don’t get me wrong, I think psychology, the aspects of the field of psychology are beyond fascinating to me. But long term, if would had stuck with that, I don’t think I would’ve been very happy.

Okay.

Since I was a little child, I’ve always had the pull to come west. I didn’t know what state in the west that would be, but I ended up here in Colorado. And when I had the opportunity to come west, I switched my degree program to an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) certification.

So what attracted you to an EMT certification? Did you like the action, and chasing through the streets in an ambulance?

First and foremost, it was an interest in taking care of people and saving lives. But I absolutely loved the action and intensity of the calls.

You mean you switched your major from Psychology to EMT after moving to Colorado?

Yes, and I graduated from that and then enrolled directly into culinary arts. Because I figured, if I’m alone out here, I can do whatever I want.

You mean away from the scrutiny of your parents?

Exactly.

Then so you pursued a formal culinary training once you arrived in Colorado?

Yeah. So as soon as I graduated from EMT school. I immediately signed up as a double major in culinary arts and pastry arts. At the same time, I was making a transition from working at a detox center to working in a bakery in Denver.

That’s quite a big transition.

Oh yes.

Was the culinary school you were attending in Denver?

It was actually in Colorado Springs. And it has one of the best culinary programs in the area. It was a program that was certified by the ACF, which is American Culinary Federation. I thought that was the best choice. Because at that time, schools like Le Cordon Bleu and places like that weren’t certified. So it was a big deal.

Really?

Yeah. And the reason I know that is because the Dean for our school was the guy who gave the certifications to the schools in Colorado Springs and Denver area.

Long periods of intense training can have a profound effect on a person. How do you think that your education changed you?

To be able to take my own path was very exciting for me. I think being in college for so long, from making the transition from the three years at Buffalo State to the EMT schooling to culinary, I definitely feel like I picked up a lot of education for sure.

That’s not a bad thing whatsoever. And it made me more acutely aware of the world and how it works. And also, that really spurred and stimulated my creative side in the sense of seeing cooking as an art form.

It is an artform – especially pastries.

Being in Colorado when cannabis finally went legal gave me the strength – after a while – to get my medical red card. And that opened the door to actually sharing the healing properties of cannabis edibles with the world and not being ashamed of it or be as afraid of coming out of the cannabis closet, so to speak.

Nice.

It’s a little more culturally accepted here in Colorado. And then finally being able to put it out there in a blog, basically getting the strength to share my journey with the world and see if it clicked with people. It did and so this is a very cool moment in my life for sure.

So you, along with a lot of people, were finally able to openly say you were interested in cannabis for a variety of reasons.

Yes, absolutely. And granted it was just medical marijuana at that time.

Right.

And there were a lot of gray areas and loopholes. And unfortunately, some places were being raided. So there was that scare. But as long as you were doing what you’re supposed to be doing, you wouldn’t really have a problem.

It was great to finally be able to experience the cannabis culture for the first time where it’s belief systems and ideas were embraced versus having to hide like I did in New York. It’s very liberating for me.

When did you tell your parents that you were using cannabis regularly?

I told my parents right around the time I was blogging about it and was in the process of a book contract with Green Candy Press.

What was your first experience with cannabis?

It was the summer of my seventh grade and I was with my girlfriend and we were just hanging out in her room, listening to “Tool,” a 90’s alternative rock band. And she asked me if I wanted to smoke. And I said, “Sure” – I’d always been curious. She couldn’t find her pipe, so she made a pipe out of a pop can and we smoked out of that.

I had been having migraines since I was 10 years old and I was having a migraine that day. For the first time in my life, something actually stopped my migraine. Finding relief like that was very intriguing to me and quite a revelation. And so my love affair with cannabis pretty much snowballed from that moment.

I had been having migraines since I was 10 years old and I was having a migraine that day. And for the first time in my life, something actually stopped it. Finding relief like that was very intriguing to me and quite a revelation. And so my love affair with cannabis pretty much snowballed from that moment.

That’s an amazing story. And having migraines at 10 years old is serious.

Yes, it is.

And quite by accident, you hit upon a treatment.

Yes. And so I grew up in New York, basically using cannabis with my friends. And I did that through the years, into high school and then on into college. But I was using it more medicinally. I didn’t tell many friends I was using it at all because I was afraid to let them know. Again, it’s the culture – if you have it, you share it – with everybody.

For me, this was my medicine. For my friends, it was just recreational. So if I told them I’m an avid smoker or edible eater, they’d want my stuff. And so for me, I had to protect that. That might sound kind of selfish, but really, I didn’t want to get caught either.

Because I lived in Buffalo, which was a big city in upstate New York, but still, everybody knew everybody and talk traveled very quickly.

When I was younger, I had a lot of friends who were getting in trouble weekly and getting sent to juvie. They’d get community service or went to rehab because they were using cannabis and other drugs. And I was deathly afraid of that. So to be able to hide it, or to have a select group of friends I could share it with was really critical for me at that point in my life.

So cannabis been your best friend ever since?

Pretty much. If you like to put it that way, absolutely.

Well, something that would take that kind of pain away would automatically be your best friend from day one.

Yes, absolutely. My migraines have always been pretty severe. Most people would end up in the emergency room and want morphine or would end up addicted to opioids to help them with their pain.

Some people would get Botox injections for treatment. It’s even so bad that some people might want to stab themselves in the head with an ice pick just to relieve the pain. It’s pretty intense. So to have something that helps like that and is not addictive is amazing. Through my pregnancy, I didn’t use it. So obviously I was not addicted to it. I can stop whenever I want to.

When I was pregnant, I had the worst migraines of my life – they were horrific. But I dealt with it without cannabis because I knew it was just a phase, a transition point. But yeah, cannabis is something natural from the earth that I view as a gift from God. Cannabis is a wonderful thing.

When I was pregnant, I had the worst migraines of my life – they were horrific. But I dealt with it without cannabis because I knew it was just a phase, a transition point. But yeah, cannabis is something natural from the earth that I view as a gift from God. Cannabis is a wonderful thing.

I was seeing neurologists especially back in Buffalo. And then when I came to Colorado, I was still exploring other treatment options just to make sure I didn’t have a tumor or something.

Yes, that’s a fair question.

So before I got my medical card, I was buying my cannabis black market. Even still, it was a wonderful thing.

So you were buying cannabis off the street at that point?

Yeah. From my friends.

And did you have any way of knowing what exactly you were buying?

No.

Was it chopped plant matter or was it the bud?

It was the bud. I had one friend that could tell me what it was, like Kush or True OG or whatever. But then I bought cannabis from other friends or acquaintances or a friend of a friend that I trusted. Sometimes they couldn’t tell me what strain of cannabis they were selling. So it was kind of a guessing game.

Because I was buying on the black market in Colorado, I had a little more range of people to go to. It was illegal and I shouldn’t have been buying it black market, I should’ve gotten a card to be able to buy it legally.

You must have had a reason to keep buying cannabis black market – even after it was legal?

Correct. Because I was afraid if I went to the doctor and got a medical card, I would be put on some kind of list. So that really freaked me out a little. And as the years progressed and I worked in the bakery, I had a friend who sold me black market weed. But she was the one that could tell me what strains she had for me.

She finally told me just to get my card, “Get your freaking card, because I’m tired of being worried about you. And I don’t want you to die. So just go get it, please.” And so I was like, “Fine, I’ll go get it,” and I did.

So were you smoking it or were you making edibles?

In New York, I was doing both. But when I got to Colorado, I started having more edibles than smoking, for the most part. But it was exciting though, because coming to Colorado, and buying on the black market, it was a little easier to get cannabis. Whereas in New York, it was hit or miss really.

Right, and again, I imagine even in New York City the people selling it didn’t really know what strain it was.

No they didn’t. But there were people in New York who grew it themselves – they knew what they had. I remember there would be dry spells. Basically, a certain area would be dry, no cannabis at all. And we would have to wait for the next shipment from the west coast, Mexico, or we’d just go over to the local growers. But the people who grew it, their prices got pretty high; it was ridiculous, you know.

You mean the asking price?

Yeah, the asking price. So when I was in Colorado buying cannabis on the black market was definitely a start. And then when I got my medical card it was just quite a revelation because I could walk into a dispensary and have all these different strains out on display like, “Oh my God, this is amazing.”

So when I was in Colorado buying cannabis on the black market was definitely a start. And then when I got my medical card it was just quite a revelation because I could walk into a dispensary and have all these different strains out on display like, “Oh my God, this is amazing.”

Yeah, Right? And you walk in relaxed and look around. And with professional people there to help you who knew exactly what’s in the jars and so forth.

Exactly. And it was different back then. Because in 2009, when I first got my medical marijuana papers (that lasted a year), I got my card eight or nine months later in 2010. And being able to talk to the people there to see what they’re selling, it was phenomenal. It was a very relaxed environment – it was pretty common to find dispensaries setup to feel like someone’s home.

And there was even a dispensary selling cannabis online. It was a very relaxed environment – like it was pretty common to find dispensaries setup to feel like someone’s home.

Oh, okay.

Or there were dispensaries in a brand new building, with lounge areas where you could hang out. There were no laws at that time against public consumption on site.

Oh wow, not anymore.

Yeah and so, it was a different culture than it is now. That was all so very new and exciting to me.

When you graduated from the culinary school and you got your degree, as you look back on that journey, is there anything that you would do differently?

I really don’t think so. I think everything unfolded the way it was supposed to. And the beautiful thing is that after that time period, I enrolled back into college to get a third degree in that same culinary arts program – and I’m actually three classes away from graduating again.

Congratulations in advance. What degree will this be?

This degree is going to be for culinary management. So basically, if I open up a business, I will have the skills to operate either a bakery or a restaurant as a business. Things like the books, planning, the financial aspects. The other degrees are more, hands on, food oriented.

This degree is going to be for culinary management. So basically, if I open up a business, I will have the skills to operate either a bakery or a restaurant as a business. Things like the books, planning, the financial aspects. The other degrees are more, hands on, food oriented.

Practical food skills.

Exactly. For me, this is really exciting. Maybe in the future I’ll go back and maybe finish my clinical psychology degree – or maybe not, I don’t know. But it’s been quite a journey so far and I truly believe everything was laid out the way it was supposed to be.

All of which brings you to the point you are at now?

Yes.

What was your first job, professionally, while you were in school?

When I enrolled in the culinary arts program, I was making the transition as I mentioned, from working at the detox center to working at the bakery in Denver. I was commuting from Colorado Springs to Denver, which is about an hour. I was a newbie at that point and I was hoping to learn production skills.

I wanted to learn how to decorate cakes professionally, which is way different from baking cakes at home. Then learn how to bake in large orders at the plant, as they would call it. So I was going back and forth, to culinary school and then the plant where I was learning how to make production style foods.

I was learning all these different skills in the bakery and about producing foods and things like that. So yeah, that was my first real official job.

Did you learn things in that job that were not taught in school?

The school covered pretty much everything except how hard the work really is. Because at school, you have like a five-hour lab class where you’re baking stuff. Whereas, it’s a lot different if you’re working 40 hours a week, you know what I mean? I was doing that plus going to school.

I was exhausted. But again, it’s something I love, so I just did it, you know?

Did it change your mind in any way about what you were getting into?

No, it didn’t. For me, it’s just kind of added more fuel to my fire.

Hard work was encouraging then?

Yeah. It was encouraging for me. I’m kind of like my father in that way. As he always said, “you have to be like a shark, if you stop moving, you die”. For me, I like that fast pace. I like pushing myself to do it.

I can totally relate.

Well, it’s exhausting, I’m not going to lie. But still it’s fulfilling and it’s exciting.

Well, it’s hard work that you love.

Exactly. So it’s not bad. I mean if I were working that hard at some another job with that many hours and also going to school, I would probably burn out really fast.

I don’t know what it was, but I got hit with a ton of bricks and full of this inspirational energy. It came to me that I have to start a blog. The thought just overwhelmed my mind. I have to start a blog and write about it. Write free recipes, just do it.

When we talked before, you mentioned you wrote a blog. What was the initial inspiration that made you decide you wanted to share your ideas?

I’m very into the whole spiritual aspect of life. And I had been rolling this idea of a blog around in my head for a while. Knowing that edibles really helped me and that I know they can help other people.

“Is this something I should talk about publicly or not?” And first thought was, “Okay, well maybe I can just go and essentially work at a dispensary – at their bakery and make edibles for patients or something.” This was my thought process. So one day I was in my room in my apartment in Littleton (a suburb of Denver), kind of looking out the window, at a reservoir.

I don’t know what it was, but I got hit with a ton of bricks and full of this inspirational energy. It came to me that I have to start a blog. The thought just overwhelmed my mind. I have to start a blog and write about it. Write free recipes, just do it.

And I literally started working on the blog that night, writing code and getting it organized and started posting recipes once a week. And it was such a success that within three months, I got picked up by a publisher.

They said it was so unique, that no one was doing that – preparing specific cannabis cuisine where you’re pairing terpene profiles of each strain with the flavor profiles of the ingredients of the dishes.

Is this what lead you to the idea of pairing the flavors of cannabis with the flavors of food?

In 2009, I had access to a diversified range of cannabis through the black market and then later through dispensaries. So I would experiment privately. It all came together in my head in 2010 and that’s when I launched the blog.

Okay. So experimenting with this idea inspired the blog?

Yes.

Do you have mentors, people you turn to with questions?

Absolutely. I definitely have a wide variety of mentors for different aspects. My parents, because they always will listen and offer guidance and they both have a very good head on their shoulders. My sister. Some of the chefs at my school that I’m really close friends with who are certified executive chefs in the industry for over 30 years.

Yes, I would say they definitely qualify as mentor material, certainly.

I have friends who’ve been in the industry for so long. When I find myself in a weird situation or I have a question, it’s great being able to turn to these people, because I trust them. They’ve been in the game for a very, very long time.

What were your early attempts at making edibles like?

It was just the classic brownie recipe where you have dried up cannabis and you throw it in and there you go. That was me – that absolutely happened. And I’ve come a long way.

When you make edibles now, are you making a canna butter or canna oil? Or are you infusing oils of any kind to make edibles?

Yeah. And they have different applications for different recipes depending on what I’m feeling or specifically inclined to do.

Okay.

But anything from just using coconut oil, butter oil, avocado oil, or other types of oil.

Oh, this is the first time I’ve heard of infusing avocado oil. This is interesting.

Oh yeah, it tastes wonderful. And also doing alcohol tinctures, there are different baking applications with that. As well as just decarboxylating weed or hash and using different textural components in the dishes.

Nice. Is there some overriding principle that you draw upon to do your work?

I’ll usually get cannabis either from a dispensary or from my friends who are growing it. And just choose something that obviously interests me. And I’ll take it home to smell and feel it then kind of mentally take a note of the aromas that I’m inhaling while vaping, as well as note the way the bud looks, the colors of it. And then that transfers into baking it.

I’ll usually get cannabis either from a dispensary or from my friends who are growing it. And just choose something that obviously interests me. And I’ll take it home to smell and feel it then kind of mentally take a note of the aromas that I’m inhaling while vaping, as well as note the way the bud looks, the colors of it. And then that transfers into baking it.

Smoking, you can do. But I prefer vaping to really get the flavors of the terpenes. Because vaping cannabis lets you taste the terpenes clearly. Whereas I feel like when you’re combusting, it kind of muddles the cannabis as far as tasting the terpenes. And vaping feels good on my lungs anyways.

I will smoke now and then. But as far as tasting the terpenes, I want to do vaporizing. And so I’ll take a note of the flavors that are present in the vapor, and then that just transfers in my brain and just helps me get creative. I mean I could be just sitting somewhere and start medicating then let my head fill with ideas.

I would think, “Okay, it tastes like this on the palette. So what food will be similar in taste or opposite but complimentary, that would work with this dish?” And just kind of get creative with playing with the different flavors between the two components.

So you take a very artistic approach to pairing cannabis with a cuisine.

Yes, absolutely.

Now that you’re a trained chef, are you catering meals for anyone?

So, before I got pregnant, I was working at Cultivating Spirits which is a cannabis tourism company in Breckenridge, Colorado, run by my friend, Philip Wolf.

And basically I was teaching cooking classes, on how to cook with cannabis and then also doing rotational sensational fusion classes. Or I would cook at the kitchen that we had and do several course dinners as well as do just a little demo on cannabis cuisine. Or I would do private functions with them like we did at the X Games.

We were the first to serve a cannabis paired dinner at the Crystal Palace for the 2015 X Games.

And then I cooked for Snoop Dog the next day with Chef Ryan at Cultivating Spirits. And we do private events like that or we could do dinners where you go over to someone’s house and actually infuse cannabis into the food for these people and then give them little lecture.

Nice. So dinner and a show.

Yes, exactly.

So, let’s take a moment to paint the perfect picture of Jessica’s life. What would you devote yourself to if you could choose to do anything you wanted?

I would continue on this path, see what happens, and just keep doing what I’m doing. Because it’s working and it’s helping people. And it’s causing people to talk and get conversations going. So I figure if bringing some normalization to cannabis cuisine is what I’m about, then I hope that it could continue and blossom.

So, you’re living a perfect life?

So far. I mean it could be more perfect, I suppose. If cannabis was legal everywhere in the world that would be amazing, but we’ll get there right?

I believe that people have the legal born right to try cannabis if they want to. That I hope cannabis legalization continues to spread so that people would have safe access to cannabis and can use it as an alternative to pharmaceuticals, so that they can stop feeding that money-driven machine [pharmacutical industry] and that people can really start taking care of themselves in a healthy manner.

Yes, I think we will. I really do. Any big plans for the future?

Not right now. Other than staying on the path I’m on. I plan on continuing to stay at home with my daughter, Mary Jane, for the first year. So that she can grow up with her mom being around all the time. And really start thinking about working on my second book. So that will give me enough focus, for sure.

As soon as I get to Denver in the fall, just trying to get back onboard with Philip Wolf and doing events with him.

Is there anything you’re dying to share that we haven’t talked about yet?

I believe that people have the legal born right to try cannabis if they want to. I hope cannabis legalization continues to spread so that people would have safe access to cannabis and can use it as an alternative to pharmaceuticals, so that they can stop feeding that money-driven machine [pharmacutical industry] and that people can really start taking care of themselves in a healthy manner.

I agree completely. Jessica, you have been fabulous. Thank you so much for spending the time to share a little bit of yourself with us.

Of course, thank you!