WHEN Shauna Muamba made food for husband Fabrice to take to away games, it soon caught the attention of his Bolton Wanderers team-mates.
The 29-year-old found herself with requests from the players to make traditional Caribbean food and even catered a party for former Whites captain Kevin Davies.
Now, from the beginnings of packed lunches rustled up in her Cheshire kitchen, the mother-of-two has launched a range of authentic Caribbean cooking sauces.
She said: “If he was running late when they had an away game, I would do a lunch for him as Fab is really particular and I know what he likes.
“I love cooking. All the other lads enquired as to where Fab was getting all this food from.
“I got a lot of requests for jerk chicken and barbecue chicken. It was almost like packed lunches for the boys at Bolton.
“I thought, okay, there's clearly a gap in the market.
“I've done a party for Kevin Davies, they had a Caribbean night, I think it was a birthday or anniversary. This was going back two or three years.
“It’s been lovely to see how many people enjoy my food. For me, it’s been a huge confidence boost.
“I don’t pretend to be a chef, I haven’t studied at any fancy school.
“I don’t know how they chop veg really quickly like on the television — I can’t do that. But I can cook wholesome, family meals.”
The Mrs Muamba’s range consists of five sauces — Barbecue, Sweet and Spicy, Caribbean Curry, Brown Stew and Jerk — a selection of which are due to be stocked at Asda, Middlebrook.
Mrs Muamba, who married Fabrice in October 2012, said: “When I see them on the shelves, I will probably cry just because of the way I am.
“I will probably cry first and then I will get Fab to take a picture of me doing a cheesy grin with a bottle.
“Then I might do a little jig in the aisle and see if anyone comes and buys them.”
She has pledged to make a small donation from the sale of each jar to Arrhythmia Alliance, to help make defibrillators publicly accessible to all, following her husband’s on-pitch cardiac arrest in March 2012.
Looking to the future, Mrs Muamba said she would like to open a restaurant but her husband and two young sons — Joshua, five, and Matthew, 11 months — are her priority.
She said: “I considered opening a restaurant. It was a case of how can I have something viable, there's a good cause attached to it and is authentic Caribbean food.
“I think eventually, that's something I'd like to do but, for me, I'm a mum and my family is my priority.”
Mrs Muamba's Caribbean Sauces are also available in all Booths supermarkets and Asda stores in Farnworth, Wigan, Clayton Green and Fleetwood.
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