Pop into the new juice bar on Maraval Road, H�mzinger, and you'll probably see 21-year-old chef Brigette Joseph moving in and out of the tiny kitchen or smiling behind the counter. With her bright red chef's jacket and bright smile, she blends right into the juice bar's funky colours and fresh fruit d�cor. Her cooking style is like that too: clean cut flavours that stimulate the palette.
"I know that Trinis like their food highly seasoned," Joseph said. "But that's not me. Sometimes I think we don't know what beef, chicken, pork or lamb taste like because they're always over seasoned." Because of an internship at Joseph's, a local Lebanese restaurant and a three-month stint at restaurants in Greece, Joseph really fell in love with the simple, fresh flavours and textures of Mediterranean cuisine. So she's developing a signature style of cooking meant to educate our palettes. A bite of one of H�mzinger's Whatchamacallit (Greek Lamb Sandwich) started out with a strong, almost sharp mint seasoning that gave way to a moist mouthful of flavourful grilled lamb, garlic sauce and lightly toasted bread. Paired with a glass of chilled mint, cucumber and Granny Smith Apple juice, the overall effect was fresh, delicious and filling without the cloying heaviness that many sandwiches suffer from. "I really love Mediterranean flavours; the mint, rosemary, garlic," she said. "When I went to Greece and they used fresh vegetables and herbs, it really wows your taste buds." Joseph started out cooking in childhood, like many chefs, trying the recipes from television cooking shows on her little brother when she was about ten years old.
"And now he's spoiled and wants me to cook for him all the time," she laughed.
She even got the opportunity to spend a day in the Hilton Trinidad kitchen with then executive chef Debra Sardina-Metivier at age 13: prepping for meals decked out in a real chef's jacket and getting her first serious cut with a chef's knife too. After earning her associate degree in Culinary Management from the T&T Hospitality and Tourism Institute, Joseph hopped around: from two-month internships at the former Occidental Grand Pineapple Resort in Antigua and Joseph's to local sports bar Zanzibar, where she spent two years, to Drink's kitchen. Then she took a leap of faith and flew to Greece on her own to experience Mediterranean cuisine and culture first hand–in all male kitchens. "The kitchen is not an easy place. It's a male-dominated field so women have to work twice as hard to make it. But when they saw how I worked, they accepted me, didn't treat me any differently. Probably because I would shout and yell and cuss with the best of them–in Greek!"
Joseph is enjoying her work in Trinidad for now; H�mzinger will be a new challenge for her, and she's confident that the healthier concept of the juice bar will catch on. But she eventually wants to go back to Europe to work and live. "I really connected with the culture there. They have a different work ethic. Cut-eye and steups do not exist!" she said, laughing.
