Jules Mitry is the owner of Balinese Spice Magic. I spoke to her about her upbringing in Bali, her passion for food and cooking and how she is carrying knowledge, love and kindness from her Balinese mum to her children and the Illawarra community through her restaurant and charity work.
This is her story.
"Me and my mum were a team. We didn’t have much, living in a hut or a friend’s house. We were hungry a lot. We’d go into the bush and pick up taro, leaves and things people never thought of cooking. We looked for ways to survive.
"She is the biggest influencer on my cooking style, a very creative women who was always able to make something out of not very much. We lived as nomads for the first nine years of my life, sourcing food from the forest. My mother would make delicious sweets from taro or sweet potatoes, crackers from wild spinach and I would then sell them in the morning before school or at the building sites where I used to work as a young labourer.
"I started working on a building site from around five years old, putting sand in bags and carrying them to a truck. From an early age I appreciated money because we could buy rice and spices, which were for rich people. I went to school and worked before and after to help our family.
"I got a scholarship at the age of 13 to attend school in Denpasar. I lived with my aunty for a while but I preferred go on my own and work. I lived in a room in a small compound with a communal kitchen and worked before school and after school to support myself. My mum said ‘make sure you cook’, because I am allergic to red meat so I can’t just go out and grab anything. But it didn’t taste as good as my mum’s.
"I came to Australia after Year 12 through a sponsorship. I started my education at TAFE and then studied economics at UoW. My foster family knew about my red meat allergy and took me to Asian grocers to find ingredients so I could cook vegetarian food.
"I was always fascinated with how Mum used spices, and how adding or missing one type of spice changes the flavour of the whole dish or how the heat of fire changes the texture of the meals and so forth. Most importantly, how your attitude and respect to the ingredients changes the essence of the meal.
"Now I have three children – Mahuni, 17; Louie, 14; and Lando, 10 – who are artistic and creative. The children watched me cooking for them since they were babies. My middle child, Louie, is very interested in cooking. He says he can’t eat the same thing over and over again. He has the confidence to go to the pantry and throw ingredients together, making a stir fry or whatever. He loves to cook meat and he plates it the way a chef would. We are very proud of him.
"I’ve always loved to eat but never envisioned myself as a chef or running a food business. My parents and those who knew the tomboy girl from Bali, who preferred using tools on the farm or building site, chasing dragonflies and climbing trees, are still quite shocked that I became a self-trained chef.
"I am proud of my mum and appreciate her hard work to make a better life for us. Now she runs her own shop in Baturiti and she is still looking after people, always thinking the best of people. I remember when I was little and mum was cooking for people in our community, I would hide some fried rice under my pillow so we would not go hungry. I was so proud of myself but she would say: ‘What you have you can always share.’
"She did it for me and now I do it for my family and community.
"Many in our community are struggling with the increased cost of living… as well as the negative remnants of Covid era.
"My industry (hospitality) is also highly impacted by the economic downturn. It saddens me that I cannot meet the demands for support out there. I feel like I should do more, but realistically if I want my business to survive, I need to find another way.
"Instead of taking all the costs myself, I work with Homeless Hub to use up some of the pantry goods that they have. This week, I picked up 25kg rice and 50 cans of beans from Homeless Hub and I bought 20kg chicken and 20kg of mixed veggies.
"From that, I am able to make around 250 packages of healthy nourishing meals that they can distribute to their centres around the Illawarra and their mobile services, where they provide laundry services and hot meals to our community that live rough on the streets."
Jules also works with an Australian charity called Project Nasi, which raises money to support the Balinese people while they recover from effects of the pandemic.
Her restaurant, Balinese Spice Magic, is at 130 Keira Street, Wollongong. For bookings, phone (02) 4227 1033 or visit the website
You can support Homeless Hub here.
