2019 Foodies of the Year: Joe and Blessing Obirai

When the pair moved to Saskatoon in 2016, they both began to miss the fresh bread they remembered from home.

The Rising Stars: Joe and Blessing Obirai

Owners/Bakers, BeeRain Bakery, Saskatoon

Blessing Obirai was born in a bakery. Her husband, Joe, grew up selling bread on the streets of Nigeria. Joe took a detour from these humble, bread-centric beginnings to pursue a career in science, which led him all over the world and found him working with NASA.

But when the pair met in the U.S. and moved to Saskatoon in 2016 for Blessing’s physics and engineering studies, they both began to miss the fresh bread they remembered from home. So they put Blessing’s baking history and Joe’s chemistry background to work, and fired up the oven.

BeeRain’s selection includes traditional Nigerian buttermilk bread, but the duo has grown creative as well, crafting loaves with swirls of green tea, chocolate or purple yam from locally sourced organic ingredients whenever possible. A little taste of home away from home, right here in the Prairies.

WL: What’s your most memorable meal?

JO & BO: Fried ripe plantain and beans (a Nigerian delicacy).

WL: What’s your go-to breakfast?

JO & BO: Coffee and mocha bread.

WL: Favourite nightcap?

JO & BO: Hot chocolate.

2019 Foodies of the Year ▸▸▸