It’s hard to imagine easygoing, California-born and Hawaii-raised Joe Raffa doing anything except cooking.
An admitted “fanatical cook,” the chef at the flashy new Oyamel restaurant in Penn Quarter comes to this profession quite naturally, considering that even at the age of 12 he was making dinner for his mom.
“I loved food,” Raffa said. “I had a Redbook cookbook, and did the shopping every day to pick up ingredients …. I even made a Davy Crockett mac and cheese from the TV Guide.”
But early on he didn’t consider cooking as a career choice. After earning a degree in international relations from American University, Raffa headed to the U.S. Government Accountability Office to work as a fraud investigator and also earned the College of Naval Command and Staff Diploma from the US Naval War College. His culinary passions languished and he might still be behind a desk if rumors of a pending layoff hadn’t inspired a career change. Fortunately, Raffa followed his heart into the kitchens and classrooms of Maryland’s L’Academie de Cuisine to get a degree.
“I have never looked back, even on the worst days,” Raffa said. That’s a plus for a man who has cooked around town at such top-notch restaurants as Café Atlántico, Morrison-Clark Inn, Equinox and Majestic Café. “It’s a hard change,” said Raffa of his culinary career, “and a very different lifestyle. My wife knew beforehand that I would work long hours.”
Now Raffa is probably facing the most challenging job of his cooking life: Heading up thekitchen of a Mexican restaurant.
“Before I went to work at Majestic Café, I worked with José [Andrés] at Café Atlántico, so I have had some exposure to Latino flavors,” he said. “What I find intriguing is I grew up in Hawaii, and I find some common elements with Hawaiian and Mexican cooking, although the ingredients are used in a completely different way.”
His familiarity with Mexican ingredients and Latino flavors stands him in good stead as he and his staff have fine-tuned Oyamel’s original recipes for its new menu while adding a few new dishes.
“We want to keep the traditional flavors,” Raffa said. “We want this to be a place where Mexican residents would feel comfortable eating.
“It’s been fun to explore the regional differences and to step outside of preconceived notions.”
All this fits into Raffa’s personal cooking philosophy of honoring ingredients’ origins.
“I want food to remain true to its provenance,” he said. “If you are cooking something, you want to know where it comes from. I don’t mess around with ingredients too much, as I try to keep the flavors honest.”
And what about crispy crickets?
Oyamel’s Guacamole with Tomatillo and Queso Fresco
2 teaspoons diced red onions
2 teaspoons diced serrano chile
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 1/2 avocados, peeled and pit removed
Juice of 1/2 lime
2 tablespoons diced tomatillos
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon queso fresco
In a bowl or molcajete, mash together the onion, serrano chile and cilantro to form a rough paste. Add the avocado and mash the mixture to preferred consistency.
Squeeze and stir in the lime juice. Fold in the tomatillo, salt and queso fresco.
Serve immediatelywith tortillas or tortilla chips.
In Raffa’s Own Words
Who cooks at home?
Mostly I do, though now I am not home a whole lot. My first full day of being at home after leaving Majestic Café, I went out and bought $400 worth of groceries. We ate like crazy for a few days.
What is your favorite food?
Probably Hawaiian food, Hawaiian regional food. Alan Wong’s chilled tomato soup or the Hawaiian Kalua pig. And foie gras grilled cheese sandwiches. I also love manapua, a steamed bun with roasted pork in the middle. And I love guava cake. It’s food that I grew up with and it leaves happy memories.
What ingredients are essential for you?
Pork and corn and sweet tea. Pork and corn are common elements in southern and Mexican cooking.
What tools do you need for cooking?
Knives. I can live without anything else except Japanese knives. These are more specialized than French or German knives. They are lighter and sharper.
What’s in your fridge right now?
I haven’t looked for awhile, but probably Dr Pepper, sweet tea and pimiento cheese.
What is your favorite cookbook?
Alan Wong’s “New Wave Luau,” but when I knew I was coming here, I discovered Diana Kennedy’s “From my Mexican Kitchen: Techniques and Ingredients.”
