Mangrove crab magician: An interview with chef Joe Junior from Oravae Cottage
Cheffing can be dangerous work when you’re competing with crocodiles for fresh produce. I catch up with chef Joe Junior in a tiny resort kitchen he’s created that punches well above its weight.
Chef Junior Joe commuting home from a day’s cooking at Oravae Cottage, Solomon Islands (image by Jacqui Gibson).
For 27-year-old chef Joe Junior (Junior), cooking has always been a scary endeavour.
He won’t break a sweat hunting crocodiles, free-diving among hammerheads or wielding a machete. He’s totally non-plussed recalling the time he escaped the tsunami that struck the Solomon Islands in 2007.
But the memory of his first week in the modest, one-room kitchen of Oravae Cottage, a family-run resort in the Western Province, still gets his tummy turning.
“I wanted the opportunity,” the self-taught chef explains, looking back. “But cooking for four or five people with so little experience on my part was probably one of the scariest things I’ve ever done.”
That was 2015.
Junior’s aunty, Naomi Baea, Australian-born resort owner and the primary cook, had to return home, leaving Junior in charge of the kitchen.
He can’t have been too bad.
The guests keep coming (and raving about the food) and three years later Junior beat 14 other contestants to win the Solomon Islands’ first-ever cookery competition, the Lagoon Cookoff, in Munda.
The win boosted his confidence and put $2,000 in his pocket.
Better yet, Junior scored a month’s work experience, cooking under the head chef of Honiara’s Heritage Hotel, learning the basics of Western and Asian cuisines.
“It was a really busy kitchen. I worked all the stations, including the buffet. I talked to guests from all over the world; people from all kinds of backgrounds. I learned about food preparation, recipe planning, plating up and the importance of presentation.
A cooking scholarship to New Zealand followed in 2019.
Under the guidance of Wintec tutors, based in Hamilton, Junior learned the ins-and-outs of harnessing the best from local ingredients.
“There’s very little red meat in the Solomons’ diet. And basic items such as spices can be really hard to find. We rely on fresh fish straight from the ocean. It’s our staple — I’m talking fish like trevally, Spanish mackerel, sweet lips, tuna and parrot fish.
“But I’m learning that’s a strength in our cuisine. People travel from around the world to enjoy fish straight out of the ocean in a unique island environment like ours,” says Junior.
“Food plays a particular role in Solomon life. You have to work hard for it, but once you have it, it’s to be shared.
“It also forms the basis of so many of our stories. I love mangrove crab. But to eat crab you need to know how to get it safely. It’s the food of the crocodile. To be a crabber is to move between a crocodile and his food source. Here, crabs and crocodiles live side-by-side in the mangroves. So, we’ve all got crocodile stories. Talk to my uncle Patson, who’s from Malaita, and he’ll give you practical tips on how to actually wrestle a crocodile with your bare hands and stay alive.”
Usually, tourists come from all over the world to Oravae Cottage to enjoy Junior’s food (and hear resort owner Patson Baea’s dinnertime tales of wrangling Malaitan crocodiles).
Visitor numbers have dropped off completely due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. The team at Oravae Cottage have their fingers crossed global travel will return again soon — and with a stronger-than-ever focus on supporting small-scale, family-run operators.
Junior says: “We look after guests differently here. We’re not your everyday resort. We want people to feel connected to this place by getting to know us, hearing our stories and enjoying Solomon Island hospitality. I like to think my food is an important part of that.”
Chef Junior Joe, Oravae Cottage, Ghizo (image by Jacqui Gibson).
Sunset at Oravae Cottage, Solomon Islands (image by Jacqui Gibson).
CHEF JUNIOR’S RECIPE FOR MANGROVE CRAB
Ingredients
mangrove crab
onion
garlic
curry powder
salt
sugar
chillies (finely chopped)
red peppers (roughly chopped)
fresh coconut milk
lime juice.
Directions
Fill a large pot with water and boil the crab for 20 minutes.
Lower heat to medium and add onions and garlic.
To the pot, add curry powder, salt, sugar, finely chopped chillies, roughly chopped peppers and the milk of a fresh coconut. Stir it all together and bring to the boil.
Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add fresh lime juice 10 minutes before serving.
This story was first published in Get Lost magazine.