CLEVELAND — Narrin Noud-Carlberg is a seasoned seller of sauces and spices. 

What You Need To Know

  • Narrin Noud-Carlberg is the owner of Narrin's Spices and Sauces
  • Noud-Carlberg claims to have "Cleveland's largest hot sauce collection"

  • She said she brought her business to West Side Market because it reminded her of similar shopping experiences in Cambodia

  • Noud-Carlberg said she was a victim of communist torture back in Cambodia.

“This is my name in Cambodian," Noud-Carlberg said. "This is my name in English,” 

She runs Narrin’s Spices and Sauces at West Side Market.

“This is my home,” Noud-Carlberg said.

According to her website, she claims to have the largest hot sauce collection in Cleveland. 

“Well, yes, according to many, many of my customers that pass the word on to their friends and family, they say I have the biggest sauce (collection) — hot sauces and spices,” Noud-Carlberg said.

Noud-Carlberg said she brought her business to West Side Market because it offers a similar shopping experience to the markets back in Cambodia. She said she’s going to go back to visit her native country this month. 

“I’m very excited to see my brother, too," she said. "But, at the same time, it's very sad, because they’re still there, they’re still, you know, suffering, and I’m here."

The suffering that Noud-Carlberg refers to is part of the reason why her hands are shaped the way they are. 

“When I was living under the dictators, under the communists, I'm one of those victims (of) torture,” Noud-Carlberg said.

Noud-Carlberg said she was starved and thrown into a bonfire.

“When the leader come, and came, and saw us keep ourselves warm, they said, ‘Oh, (are) you cold? Here you go," she said. "They just throw us, you know, some of them, they hit us in the head, (hoping that we would die), and then throw us in the bonfire."

Noud-Carlberg got treatment for her injuries at a refugee camp.

 “When we're in (a) refugee camp, U.S. is heaven; we don't, we never use the word ‘United States,'" she said. "We use ‘Heaven.' We are interviewing to go into ‘Heaven.’”

She then came to the states as an orphan. 

“I did not learn any English, because, I, one, I don't think I (would) ever (see) Cambodia again," she said. "So, I want to learn my language as much as I could. So, when I come here, I did not understand one word of English. I don't even know what yes mean or no mean. When I live with the people who took care of me, (I) have a dictionary for translating. Back then, you have this paper dictionary, and (you) open (it, and) English (is) in one side, and Cambodian (is) on the other, and that's how we talk.”

Years later, Noud-Carlberg said she feels fortunate enough to have survived. Now, she shares her story with her customers at her spice stand. 

“I just don't want history to repeat because, you know, I still, a lot of times, when I talk to the children here with the tours, with their school tours, when they ask me about my hand and what's wrong," she said. "Kids ask, adults doesn’t. They assume it, that I have arthritis. But kids asks, ‘What's wrong with your hand? What's wrong with your foot or your leg?’ You know? And I tell them, I tell them, this is what war does to people,” Noud-Carlberg said.

Narrin's Spices and Sauces is located at Stand E-11 at West Side Market.