When you visit Mama Blu's Kitchen at a small strip of shops in Elwood, Melbourne, the signature jerk chicken comes with a story.
It's one that's put on the plate by chef Stephanie Kamener and told by her partner in business and life, Martin.
With just two sets of hands running the restaurant, Martin is front-of-house. He explains that jerk is the last remnant of the Indigenous Arawak people. Maroons (escaped African slaves) adopted their cooking technique when they fled to the mountains. "Caribbean food is actually extraordinary," he says.
"The more you go into it, the more you go into the flavours that exist and where they come from. It comes from India, it comes from Africa, it comes from the Mediterranean, it comes from Asia.
Steff met Martin when the pair worked at Clarke's Restaurant in London. Source: Sofia Levin
"It's an untold story because no one really cares about it in Australia, but you can taste it. What Steff brings to it is that knowledge of how to cook it."
Steff was born and raised in England to parents who emigrated from Kingston, Jamaica. She met Martin when the pair worked at Clarke's Restaurant in London. After the couple made the move Down Under, where Martin grew up, Stephanie's resume of Michelin-starred restaurants landed her jobs with Stephanie Alexander, Michael Bacash and at the old Stokehouse.
The more you go into it, the more you go into the flavours that exist and where they come from. It comes from India, it comes from Africa, it comes from the Mediterranean, it comes from Asia.
The Kamener's first venue was in Hawthorn: Blue Rhythm Cafe, which they closed to focus on the Babble on Babylon cafe in Elwood. When Steff and Martin adopted a little boy from Ethiopia they sold it to focus on family but Steff continued to make her chilli sauces and chutneys.
While hunting for a kitchen she found the current home of Mama Blu's. The council required the shop to be open to the public (not just a commercial kitchen), which led to Mama Blu's opening on Wednesday and Thursday nights. During the week they lease the kitchen to other small operators, from a ready-made-meal business by a local school mum, to another group who just started a Taiwanese bubble tea store.
Mama Blu's customers are split between locals and those who want to try something different. Martin praises a group that spins a dial, and whatever letter of the alphabet the hand lands on dictates the cuisine of their next dinner – in this case 'J' for Jamaican.
Mama Blu's customers are split between locals and those who want to try something different, like this goat curry. Source: Sofia Levin
However, the Caribbean population is noticeably absent. Martin says it could be because they see he's Caucasian. But he also thinks it's because people from the Caribbean may not go out to eat food from their culture.
"I don't think Caribbean people go out looking for Caribbean food, I think they generally have it at home when there's a family gathering."
It's this share-style of Caribbean food that Steff brings to the table. Although shy at first, once she starts talking about the food she grew up with, she doesn't stop. She reaches for a can of ackee, a staple Caribbean fruit that can be poisonous if the wrong part is eaten. Later she'll serve it with saltfish that has strong, umami flavours reminiscent of South East Asia's ikan bilis.
Steff's shrimp in Creole sauce packs a punch, while a dish called "run down" is a vegan's dream: okra, corn, tomato and kidney beans cooked with chilli, plantain and spring onion in coconut.
Ackee is served with saltfish, which has strong, umami flavours reminiscent of South East Asia's ikan bilis. Source: Sofia Levin
Goat is cooked on the bone in a traditional curry and jerk chicken comes with an array of Mama Blu's homemade chilli sauces.
"Steff cooks, that's what she does," says Martin when she's out of earshot. "If she's not doing it, she's anxious. I always deem that she's an artist and in my mind, she's not just good at it, she's exceptional."
Wednesday & Thursday 6pm – 10pm
