Vincentians in Brooklyn celebrate cooking matriarch’s 100th birthday

Cooking has always been at the center of Ilka Browne’s, affectionately known as “Granny Tounce,” existence.

It was how she provided for her family as a young mother, and evolved over decades into a unifying, open space for Vincentians in New York who long for a taste of home: all served up by a feisty, rum-sipping, larger-than-life personality in a tiny body, who will be celebrating her 100th birthday on Nov. 26.

“Whatever she does, whatever she puts in it, makes it taste like a meal cooked right in St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” said Oxley Lowmans, a founder of Friends of Sion Hill, a Brooklyn-based Vincentian community organization that honored her with a “Pillar of the Community Award” in 2017.

Lowmans, who migrated to Brooklyn in the 1980s, said that “back then, we couldn’t find our pastries and treats, like groundnut sugar cakes and fudge in stores.

“But we could go to Granny Tounce on Saturdays to get food and treats that taste just like in Vincy, and there’s always a reunion with other Vincentians,” he said.

According to the family, Granny Tounce started cooking from a young age, as a family tradition, from her childhood home in Paul’s Avenue in the Vincentian capital, Kingstown, in the 1940s.

Her skills landed her catering jobs and, eventually, she was cooking at Olive’s Hotel, then a major hotel in the heart of Kingstown, whose clientele included visiting dignitaries.

In addition, she was heavily immersed in the local cultural festivals, including carnival. She led her band, The Slave Girls, to win the coveted Band of the Year title in 1950.

After having six children, she migrated to Curaçao for some years, where she worked at various establishments.

In 1969, she moved to Brooklyn and, shortly after, started her home business of cooking on Saturdays to supplement her income as a home attendant for geriatric patients.

Granny Tounce’s cooking, popularity and open-door policy evolved into a community hub for Vincentians and other Caribbean nationals in Brooklyn to meet up, socialize and procure her specialties, like pelau, stew fish and assorted treats on a regular basis.

On Saturdays, she typically served several hundred people who travel from all over the tri-state area, as well as local residents who attend netball and soccer tournaments and other community activities in the area.

She was also a constant fixture at Vincentian cultural activities, running a booth at Club St. Vincent, Inc.’s annual exhibitions. Club St. Vincent, Inc. is a leading Vincentian cultural and educational group in Brooklyn.

Fern Dopwell, an honorary member of Club St. Vincent, Inc., said Granny Tounce is “a very committed person,” who one can always count on to show up, offer advice, or to answer any question.

“Aside from all the marvelous contributions she made over the years, the organization honored Granny Tounce because she was always one of the first people to get her stall going every year,” said Dopwell, who is also public relations officer of Vincentian-American National Charities, Inc. (VINCI), another Vincentian group in Brooklyn.

“There would always be a line of people patiently waiting around to purchase her tasty dishes, homemade drinks and traditional sweets,” she added.

Dopwell said Granny Tounce continues her family tradition by involving her children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren in her food-making business, which is now primarily run by her son, Othniel “Attie” Biddy.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Consul General to the United States, Rondy “Luta” McIntosh, also a renowned soca artiste, recalled meeting Granny Tounce, as a visiting entertainer, 15 years ago, prior to his post.

“It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with the infectious and bubbly personality of Granny Tounce,” he said. “Her sense of humor and recollection of her days growing up in SVG (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) was captivating.

“To our newest centenarian, I salute you on behalf of the Consulate, the Government of St. Vincent & the Grenadines and our Diaspora population on achieving this rare milestone of 100 years,” he added.

Granny Tounce’s family is planning a community celebration at the Friends of Crown Heights Educational Center, 671 Prospect Pl., Brooklyn, on Nov. 26.