Meet chef Kevin Joseph

This year is the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Durban’s first Indian immigrants, whose contributions to the country have been so profound. There will and should be countless tributes to these pioneers, and their descendants. And every lover of local cuisine, our bright, distinctive, punchily-flavoured approach to food here on the KZN coast, should give special thanks to those who brought their spices and tarkaris (curries) and kachoomers and achars to the neighbourhood, to create the most interesting regional dishes in the country. No prim pastel plates here! Thank goodness.

A much more recent immigrant – from that other country, the Cape – is Kevin Joseph, executive chef of The Oyster Box hotel. And what a champion of all things local he’s become. He’s worked all over the world, but now he seems entirely at home, celebrating locally-grown and gathered produce, re-inventing local classics, and generally working with other chefs to raise KZN’s food-tourism profile.

The director of South Africa’s Good Food and Wine Shows, Christine Cashmore, says she’s amazed at how co-operatively Kevin, the chef-next-door, Shaun Munro of the Beverly Hills, and other colleagues in Durban work. It’s apparently not like that in other provinces or cities . . .  let us say no more . . .

Sample Kevin’s menus at The Oyster Box, or, if you want to see him in action, look out for his appearances at the Good Food and Wine Show at the Durban Exhibition Centre end-November.

Click here for The Good Food and Wine Show (Durban Exhibition Centre)

Here’s how we describe him in East Coast Tables, our new book showcasing local cooks, ingredients and food traditions.

KEVIN JOSEPH: Local Champion
If Giorgio Armani did chef’s whites, he would want Kevin Joseph to model them.  He is the epitome of suave, as the Oyster Box Hotel’s executive chef ought to be, with the steely edge necessary to keep a brigade of 54 sharp – “knowing there may be consequences if they don’t perform…” Hints here, perhaps, of the master-gunner he once was in the South African Navy? Or shades of Gordon Ramsay, at whose Claridges Hotel restaurant in London Kevin worked, and whose vitriolic tongue seems to keep his crew in check? “No, no!” corrects Kevin. “Gordon would die for his staff. That cursing is only for TV.”

Kevin’s father was a pastry chef for the Bakers Biscuits company; Kevin grew up at home in a kitchen. When his parents died unexpectedly, it was he and his sister who prepared the family meals, after school, for their six older siblings – who were studying or working. “The burning and learning curve,” he recalls.

His own boys of 8 and 10 can already cook anything, especially on the braai, Kevin’s off-duty kitchen. His wife’s chicken curry is his all-time favourite dish. “She’s from Natal, of course,” he says, as if this explains everything. (And it does.) Kevin may have been born and bred in the Cape, and worked there and abroad, but it was at Durban’s Royal Hotel that he did most of his training, and he’s become passionately KwaZulu-Natalian.

“We serve ONLY local oysters,” he says. “We have our own licences. If we run out, well that’s it. We won’t order from Knysna or the West Coast. Our beef comes only from the KZN Midlands. Our veg is local. So is our fish. Local fish is brilliant. I will not serve kingklip however much someone might beg for it. We are making a concerted effort to be socially responsible, to reduce the carbon footprint of our ingredients.” He loves the “unpretentiousness” of East Coast cooking. “We’re not into foam and froth. People here like comfort food. And they really do know their spices.”

Prawn and Oyster Cocktail

Retro is back! Here is Kevin’s riff on a classic starter, adding the freshest oysters, gathered just below The Oyster Box, to Mozambique prawns from just up the coast – a double treat of Indian Ocean delicacies. And, in keeping with the laidback beachfront vibe, no silly dressing-up. Serves 3. If you can’t source oysters, give your fishmonger a stern talk. He or she should be able to make a plan. Otherwise, make this cocktail with fresh mussels.

What you need

12 de-shelled Mozambican pink prawn tails; 6 Tbsp cocktail sauce (see below); ½ lemon cut into wedges; 1 slice of toasted white bread, cubed; ½ head of shredded cos lettuce; Handful watercress; 6 fresh Natal oysters

Cocktail Sauce
3 Tbsp good quality tomato sauce; 4 Tbsp good or homemade tangy mayonnaise; 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice; ¼ tsp finely chopped chives; ¼ tsp smoked paprika; Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together sauce ingredients. Steam prawn tails and oyster meat in liquid that is drained out of the oysters. Set aside to cool. Share lettuce and watercress mixture between 3 martini glasses. Pour cocktail sauce over chilled prawn and oyster meat and mix. Spoon 4 prawns and 2 oysters into each martini glass. Scatter with croutons. Serve with a lemon wedge.

Click here for interview with The Bev’s Shaun Monro