Chetia Hurtt of Mana Meals combines food, healing and wellness

Chetia Hurtt doesn’t just cook food — she crafts an experience, layering flavors and textures with the same intentionality and warmth that she brings to every aspect of her life. As the founder and owner of Mana Meals Catering and the kitchen manager at Braddock Public House, Hurtt, 46, has turned her passion for vegan cuisine into a celebration of nourishment, healing and community.

Mana Meals Catering is a vegan catering and personal chef business. Because Hurtt is also vegan (for the most part), she knows the cuisine well.

For example, when it comes to making vegan Italian food, it’s all about the cheeses. She uses a nut base, primarily cashews, to recreate the texture — soaking them until they’re soft is key. Hurtt said cashews make wonderful ricottas, and their color can be altered to resemble cheddar cheese. For mozzarella, she uses a base of oat milk and agar agar, a plant-based gelatin substitute, to achieve the pull and elasticity of traditional mozzarella.

Hurtt’s cooking process is intentional and spiritual — she meditates before she begins cooking, sources the best ingredients and uses organic and local produce whenever possible.

“I want to make sure that I am in the right headspace and the right spiritual presence to put my love into the food. It is really important to me,” she said.

It’s crucial for Hurtt to project positive energy into her food. “It’s not just the seasonings; it’s not just the ingredients — it’s the whole scope of it. I think people can tell when someone has just made some slop and didn’t care,” Hurtt said.

Hurtt’s husband, Saul Wells Jr., gives her monthly cooking challenges using random ingredients, like their own version of the Food Network show “Chopped.”

“The flair she puts on it is incredible and so unexpected,” Wells said. “She’s amazing. She has taken everything she has gone through and used it to help others, and she has thrived. She is a light. Food is healing, but it’s also the energy she puts out into the world.”

The word mana means “integrity, spirit and fire that feed you and produce love. Mana is giving all of that to my food,” Hurtt said.

She collaborates with East End Food Co-op, where she recently participated in its annual meeting with employees and shareholders. She also provides maternal nutrition insights and has served as a wellness advocate, catering meals for a maternal health program at the University of Pittsburgh Community Engagement Center.

“I started Mana because I have a mixed household of people who eat meat and people who don’t,” Hurtt said. She didn’t want anyone to feel left out. Her husband is vegetarian, and she is mostly vegan, though cheese is still an occasional indulgence.

“I wanted to build on that and say everyone should be able to eat together and feel like they’re not being left out, while also bringing cultural relevance, health, healing and community through food,” she said. “There are a lot of things people discuss over a dinner table. If you could just bring them together to talk, so many things could be resolved. In the Black community, a lot of decision-making has happened at the dinner table.”

She infuses her Nigerian ancestry into her dishes with layers of flavor, herbs, spices, textures and preparation methods.

“Our people are so multi-layered, and you can taste that in the food,” she said.

Mana Meals is approaching its third anniversary — the company launched on Jan. 6, 2022.

“I’m super excited,” Hurtt said, adding that she hopes to expand soon, perhaps with a food truck and more travel opportunities for Mana — earlier this year, she catered a bachelorette party in the Bahamas.

“There’s so much sadness and darkness in the world, but I feel fortunate and grateful to have a little light. I’ve got to keep pushing. I’m healthy and happy, and my family is healthy and happy. I feel light,” she said.

Reaching a place of lightness and wholeness has been a journey for Hurtt. In addition to catering and wellness advocacy, Hurtt does public speaking, including for the State of Pennsylvania’s Office of Victim Advocacy. She is a survivor of a violent crime — 25 years ago, her brother and mother were murdered by her stepfather, who had also molested her.

“It was really hard. Keeping quiet and carrying this huge secret for years took a toll on my self-esteem and identity. In high school, I turned to theater because I could be someone else completely, I didn’t have to be the girl who was hurting so badly,” she said.

Esther Min-Palazzolo, who considers Hurtt a sister, said Hurtt has always been a source of strength.

“She shows so much kindness and resilience. It’s proof you can overcome the worst,” Min-Palazzolo said.

Hurtt’s healing began with therapy and reframing her perspective.

“I had to realize I’m not a victim. I’m a survivor. Once you shift your perspective, you understand those things happened to you, but they don’t define you. They’re just a part of who you are,” she said.

Her wellness journey wasn’t linear. “You have to knock things down piece by piece, figure out where they fit and keep working on yourself,” she said.

Hurtt grew up in Garfield on Pittsburgh’s East End, attending Catholic school before switching to Peabody High School (now Obama High School). “It was a culture shock, but I got through. Being different is something I’ve always embraced, and now I cherish it,” she said.

Cooking has always been a part of Hurtt’s life. She attended culinary school at Goodwill Training Academy in Pittsburgh nearly 22 years ago, while pregnant with her oldest son. Now a mother of three sons, 21, 19 and 17, Hurtt reflects on motherhood as a learning experience. “I was OK with saying, ‘I’m sorry’ when I made mistakes. An apology from a parent can make a big difference,” she said.

Her most cherished culinary memory was inspired by a Christmas debacle. Hurtt and her sister decided to make Christmas dinner for the family.

“The turkey was stuffed with a chicken stuffed with a duck … it was a disaster. The pies were made with the paper still on the bottom of the pie shells. But our mom, she tried it and encouraged us to keep doing it,” she said.

They ended up having Chinese food that Christmas.

“We went to this restaurant that happened to be open. We had wonderful sushi, we gorged ourselves on all this food, it was amazing. So the day wasn’t a disaster,” she said. This Christmas, she and her husband also went to a Chinese food restaurant in Squirrel Hill. It’s become somewhat of a tradition now.

That’s how Hurtt tends to look at life.

“Just because there was a moment that was negative, there’s still such a large percentage of your existence that can be great.”

On a day when she is just relaxing, you might find Hurtt indulging in her favorite meal — a simple one that reminds her of home and makes her feel good. It’s hot rice with a fried egg and Maggie’s African seasoning — something her mom often used growing up, — over chili crisps, and that’s it.

“It’s my favorite meal in the whole wide world. I can eat it every single day,” she said.