This week we interviewed Tamisha Heacox–Jackson, owner and executive chef of Mishjacks Catering. Mishjacks Catering is one of the few catering businesses in town that is market-driven and uses fresh, local ingredients to meet every occasion’s needs. Mishjacks was born in LA after catering a bar mitzvah in 2012 and moved to Eugene in 2017. While living in LA Tamisha visited Eugene frequently and would shop at the farmers market in order to bring PNW ingredients back home. Her cuisine is described as “technique-driven with a beautiful, rustic feel”.
Tamisha grew up going to the farmers markets in San Francisco as a young child with a chef as a father who would buy his ingredients straight from the market. Her family would rarely buy veggies or meat from a grocery store so the farmers market is all she knows. She has traveled all over the world as a chef, using locally-grown ingredients and lives to tell capitvating tales of what other farmers markets are like in places such as Italy, Germany, Morocco and the U.K. What makes LCFM special?
“You get everything here in the Pacific Northwest,” she says.
For some of our vendors she has been a customer for 17 years. These vendors include, Groundwork Organics, Upriver Organics, the Mushroomery, Mountain View Farm, and Sweet Leaf Organic Farm. The reason why she keeps coming back is the stand-out produce.
“No one grows key lime cucumbers like Upriver does,” she says. “The melons from Red Hat are the sweetest you’ve ever had in your life.”
Currently, she is most excited for tomatoes and purple basil, which she uses to make vibrant salads, salsa verde, focaccia, bruschetta, tomato confit, and much more! Some of Tamisha’s staple dishes are her smokalicious, mouth-watering brisket and her sensational gumbo; a dish that is at the heart of her family’s culture and cuisine.
“Gumbo is a serious thing in our family, you must use only the finest ingredients including fresh, Dungeness crab!” she says.
A gorgeous, nutty brown roux enhanced by gumbo filé is the crux of the dish, and as they say in New Orleans, “It ain’t gumbo without da roux!” Considering the lack of fine dining options in Eugene, Tamisha is a trailblazer in paving the way for chefs who offer a catering business model while using fresh, local ingredients. Learn more about Mishjacks Catering through her website or stop by and say hello to her at the market!