Today we’d like to introduce you to Martin “Oki” McCabe.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
1985 I was “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.” A multi-racial adoptee in a multi-racial family. My first memories are of running through Michigan snow naked as an infant. I have always had an affinity for obscure animals, big-picture thinking & intuition. If you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up at five, I would have told you a genetic engineer. My father was a physicist who worked as the director of peace and justice for the archdiocese of several states, and my mother was a writer and teacher with a master’s degree in classical literature. Always taught to live with serenity, value knowledge, and learn God growing up in the ’80s & ’90s was still wild! As an internet cafe kid, I reveled in laser tag and arcade games & reading, first and foremost, was my greatest escape. Then it was Dance Dance Revolution. I was relatively quiet and reserved until my junior year of high school. I survived and graduated. Somehow my first year as a religion and philosophy major ended poorly with me running back to the streets of Atlanta from the University of Dayton, making music, roughly scrubbing adolescent naivety away, and becoming a father.
I moved to St. Louis for love in my early 20’s. Life, tough love, the law, and my tenacity led me back to school at 26. I completed dual B.A. degrees in history and psychology from the University of Missouri St Louis and an M.Ed. in clinical mental health counseling. Along the way, I met my biological family, which centered me; in hindsight, I had some identity & attachment issues. I have always loved lyrics and poetry, music and literature, endurance running and physicality, diversity and culture, and I’ve always had this natural affinity for anything Japanese and Rocket League. I’m an existentialist at heart and enjoy swimming through worldly philosophy. Another passion of mine is eating. I see myself as a big-time foodie; that was part of the foundation for starting my business. Every once in a while, I get a feeling.
Mid-pandemic, after being laid off and only being able to drive rideshare intermittently, I got the distinct urge to buy different types of spices & salts and try mixing full-body seasonings. I also got the urge to buy a piano, but that never really went anywhere. I tapped into nostalgic memories of favorite meals thought my life and around the city, like panang curry, cooking wild-caught trout in the Colorado Rockies, Tibetan & Indian cuisine, Miso soup, and cajun/creole flavors. It took me about two weeks, but I worked around the clock to develop my signature seasoning – Oki’s Two Step! I remember pouring myself into weighing out the increments of spices, trying my hand at graphic design, and finding new flavor combinations. Within a month, I had a business license, a lease at the Historic Soulard Market with an awesome little space, a website, an organic plan for business growth, and three amazing full-body seasonings!
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I can only speak for someone that makes seasonings. But there have been some pitfalls and triumphs!
- Number one, if you are a one man band – bottling, marketing, and logistics prove to be a beast. It takes time, but you find a balance between suppliers, materials, and innovative ways of getting things done. Time management is key.
- Two. As an individual, performing hard sales with an artisan product can be daunting. But if you believe in your product and let your muse run through it, that healthy pride flows through you and piques the consumer’s interest. Sometimes, for example, I messed up a recipe, ruining a large batch of seasoning & because it did not taste right, and I was not proud of it. I could not bring myself to sell it at the market. These are learning experiences making you more efficient in the long run.
- Three. Because of my shop’s appearance and the new age, mystical or holistic nature of some of my products, I have sometimes encountered religious, spiritual, and cultural intolerance. You have to laugh and keep moving forward; never let anyone knock you off your square! Plus, occasionally, someone asks me if I am a warlock, and that’s pretty cool.
As you know, we’re big fans of BattleCreek Spices. What can you tell our readers who might need to be more familiar with the brand?
BattleCreek Spices specializes in full-body seasonings! “Seasoning Salts” are fighting words around these parts. While the body does require salt for many different bio-molecular functions, it rarely comes close to being a main ingredient. When making seasonings, I try to find the perfect blend between holistic herbal remedy benefit, taste/flavor & lastly, mystique.
Oki’s Two Step, for example, is a Cajun/Asiatic fusion that is extremely versatile and great on pretty much any kind of meat or vegetable; you can bake with it, saute with it, grill with it, smoke with it, dry marinade or finish with it. It has a beneficial dose of turmeric & black pepper alongside nine other spices – salt, sugar, and garlic. Imagine a savory heat that never takes you over the edge, excellent opacity, and flavor that perseveres. I find affirmation in repeat customers who tell me Oki’s Two-Step is their family’s “special sauce” or that their grandmother has been hatching a special ops reconnaissance plan to illuminate my secret recipe. It is on the website Granny; put the night vision goggles down.
Walk the Plank Sea Scrub is like a simple curry that is excellent on anything with flippers, fins, tentacles, or a beak. Bring the ocean back to the fish. It is exotic, buttery, and umami, boasting Japanese fuero wakame, black Hawaiian sea salt, cinnamon & even butter alongside a myriad of other complimentary spices; even the name is fantastic, “walk the plank, sea scrub” Harrr ye landlubber. You cant hear me, but I am giggling.
Pixie Dust, my take on chai, was initially birthed as a fruit finish. The spice evolved into a spicy chocolate chai mix and coffee/tea additive, working wonders on French toast, sweet potato pie, yams, and other fun, sweet culinary treats. Along the way, I incorporated my passions into my inventory. Aside from seasonings, I started offering cool resale items; I call the hunt for these treasures “Good Will Hunting” in honor of my past, the venue & Robin Williams – such a good movie. I have natural crystals from around the world; Madagascar moonstone, five & six-pound rose quartz towers, dragon septrians, or “dragon eggs,” as I like to call them. Did you know modern science quantifies life as anything that remains naturally homeostatic, follows a set pattern, and can create more of itself? Crystal envelops all of these qualities, and because it takes them millions and millions of years to grow, they may be one of the oldest living forms of life on Earth. Wow! I carry natural resin incense! Benzoin (a sweet vanilla/clove-smelling tree) sap from Sumatra! North American Pine! White copal from Central and South America. Bibical frankincense and myrrh did you know burning myrrh is scientifically proven to kill a high percentage of airborne bacteria? Did ancient people know this?
I specialize in international teas such as Sri Lankan Blue Lotus, Chinese Jiagulon, American Catmint, or “Catnip.” to mugwort and camomile. After about 2 years, I started making wondrous small-batch soaps. The Heart of the Winter Sage soap is a goat’s milk coconut oil base with mint sage menthol, eucalyptus lemon lavender, and tea tree oils. I grow the mint & the sage that I put in the soap! Hesperium blush is chock full of cinnamon and ginger used as an exfoliant -and alongside vanilla and sweet orange oils helps turns you into a smooth dreamsicle!
I love to psycho-educate people regarding the phytonutrients of plants and herbs. I love sharing the knowledge I gain along the way. And I appreciate being a safe space for people of all creeds, cultures, and ideals to congregate, ask questions, and philosophize. As I said, I deal in the obscure, and one thing I always offer my customers is the ability to request a special item on a Monday (like barberry root or saffron, milk thistle, or bahkoor) and pick it up in person on a Saturday. It is wild how much my business and I have grown and how much I have learned. I am excited for the rest of the journey! Like I said. Sometimes I get these feelings.
Who else deserves credit for your story?
Friends and family were gravid forces in getting this thing going. I had to have differing palates to bounce ideas and flavors off of. The greatest amount of love and appreciation goes out to my parents, who tried their best to show me the honest face of the world through words and action, experience and travel, empathy and affirmation. And as cliche as it sounds, small business owners like me could not do it without the incredible cities that we live in. Sweet St Louis! She’s like that Aunt who drinks a little too much but always brings an equal amount of joy and drama to any barbecue. You’re always glad she’s there, a little wary when she gets her bottle – and you know she’s going to show up with her world’s famous cheesecake occasionally.
Pricing:
- 4oz artisanal seasoning $7
- 1/2lb artisanal soap $7
- International Tea $7-$10
- Natural Crystals & Gemstones | By Weight
- 1oz Natural Resin $7-$15
Contact Info:
- Website: www.battlecreekspices.com
