Jess Murphy: Cooking in a refugee camp in Jordan is one of my most memorable experiences

Chef and restaurateur Jess Murphy

Chef and restaurateur Jess Murphy has spent the past 15 years running Kai in Galway, Ireland’s only Michelin Green Star restaurant. Originally from rural New Zealand, she has taken her love of food, people, and place across the world, from refugee camps in the Middle East to bustling cities and quiet rural communities. For Jess, travel is about kitchens, conversations and learning how people really live.

Favourite childhood holiday memory

We kind of never travelled as kids because both my parents were self-employed. I was brought up in rural New Zealand, on the east coast of the North Island, surrounded by two national parks and beaches. White beaches, the whole lot. We were basically brought up in paradise anyway.

I remember saying to my grandmother once, Nana, have you ever thought about leaving New Zealand? And she said, why would we, when we have everything here and it’s so beautiful? That was just our thought process.

Most memorable trip

One of the standout trips I ever did was in 2018, when I was a high-profile supporter for UNHCR and went to Beirut and the Beqaa Valley. That was definitely one of my major highlights. I’ve always loved Middle Eastern food, but actually, experiencing it, and cooking in kitchens with other women, learning the way they made muhammara and hummus was absolutely amazing. India was another huge one for me.

Going to Bangalore and driving around on the back of a moped, going from dhaba to dhaba. All my trips are based around food.

Most surprising destination

Going to Poland, to Kraków, was absolutely amazing. Berlin too. Going into Kreuzberg and getting falafel and realising there’s a huge Turkish community here. That’s when I really started to get interested in food communities and how they’re built.

Like my favourite thing about Greece is, you get served a Greek salad and that’s it, but it’s the best Greek salad you’ve ever had. And you walk in bare feet, and they’re cooking outside, on charcoal. And then you mention you’re a chef, so they invite you into their kitchen and show you bits and bobs they’ve made. It’s people and the way they cook food I’m mostly interested in.

Jess Murphy's Most surprising destination - Greece

Favourite city in the world

I’m a culchie! I prefer rural places, like rural Greece, donkeys, people selling watermelon, not the glam. But one city I really loved was Detroit.

Detroit has this gritty feeling I love. It was once incredibly wealthy, then there was nothing, then extreme poverty.

Now, because the buildings are affordable and reasonable, young creative people are moving in – opening restaurants, chocolate makers, recording studios next to restaurants, printing presses still running. The art and cultural scenes are absolutely alive there, through music, food, and art. It’s almost like Ireland was back in the day.

Jess Murphy's favourite city - Detroit

Favourite hotel

The bougiest, nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in was the Marriott in Nandi Hills in Bangalore. It was absolutely beautiful.

Monkeys and lizards everywhere, frangipani growing wild.

They really kept a strong sustainable edge, which I loved. There’s a stop B&B in Galway too. I generally prefer hotels over Airbnbs because I have big issues with people not being able to live in their own cities anymore.

The Marriott Hotel in Nandi Hills, Bangalore 

Most memorable food experience

Cooking with a family in a refugee camp in Jordan. It was in Zaatari. I joined a family, and we cooked all day together, had the craic, and the kids didn’t want to go to school, and they just wanted to hang around this weird lady cooking in their house.

We sat on the floor and ate simple chicken and rice together. It was such a beautiful experience with the whole family. You know when you wave goodbye to people, and you can’t stop waving because you want to see them again? Another one was eating wild rabbit in the hills of Monte, cooked with Barolo wine and served with just a simple boiled carrot. Probably one of the best food memories of my life.

Most memorable food experience - Cooking with a family in a refugee camp in Jordan.

Favourite thing to do while travelling

I’m a deep diver. Most chefs have lists of other chefs all over the world – the food community is actually quite small. You can put up a message and ask, does anyone know a chef in Detroit or Berlin or wherever, and suddenly you’re eating where the chefs eat, not where the tourists go.

That’s the real deal. In Bangalore, I went back to my best friend, a chef’s house, and his wife was doing Hindi lessons. And so I sat in with like, two six-year-olds learning about all the Hindi gods, and then me and Neeraj went to the butcher shop, bought some goat, made a goat curry in the pressure cooker, all that kind of stuff.

Bucket list trip

Georgia is high on my list, especially Tbilisi. I’d also love to go back to India – I’d go back every year. And Crete is another. My grandfather was rescued by Cretan fishermen during the Second World War. I only buy olive oil from Crete. It supports the local economy, and without them, I wouldn’t be here.

Jess Murphy's bucket list trip - Tbilisi, Georgia

• Jess Murphy is chef-owner of Kai in Galway and author of The Kai Cookbook. She is also a SOOP Mug Brand Ambassador, with SOOP mugs now launched into 61 Maxol stores across Ireland.