A serving of home

Spearheading the return to native produce

Featured in

  • Published 20221101
  • ISBN: 978-1-922212-74-0
  • Extent: 264pp
  • Paperback (234 x 153mm), eBook

Having worked as a professional chef for more than two decades, Nornie Bero knows her way around a kitchen. But it was growing up on Mer Island in the Torres Strait that taught her the most enduring lessons about food: the value of living in harmony with the land, the versatility of native produce and the creativity inherent in cooking. Now the owner of the Mabu Mabu company and its renowned Melbourne restaurant Big Esso, Nornie continues to spread the word about the bounty of Indigenous ingredients that Australia has to offer – and how they benefit our palates, our pantries and our understanding of who we are.

CARODY CULVER: Your upbringing was central to your relationship with food. Can you tell me what it was like growing up in the Torres Strait with your dad and the role that you played as a kid in nurturing and preparing produce?

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

If you are an educator or student wishing to access content for study purposes please contact us at griffithreview@griffith.edu.au

Share article

About the author

Nornie Bero

Nornie Bero is from the Komet tribe of the Meriam people of Mer Island and was raised in the Torres Strait. A professional chef for...

More from this edition

Recipe for success

EssayFans used to approach my grandmother, Margaret, at events or book signings, professing their adoration and proudly presenting their 1969 yellow-bound original of The Margaret Fulton Cookbook. They’d tell stories about the book’s place in their hearts – it had been given to them when they moved out of home, or when they’d married, or it had been passed through two generations. Margaret would smile sweetly and flick through the pages as though looking for something. Then, often, she would close the book firmly and look mock-crossly up at them (I say ‘up’ because she was usually seated, but was also only just over five-foot-tall). ‘You’ve never cooked from this book. Where are the splatters, the markings of the kitchen, the stuck-together pages?’

Quinoa nation

FictionWe don’t stock Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook. I know this because Amanda thinks Gwyneth Paltrow is goofy, despite Amanda and Gwyneth Paltrow being the same person. Our customers are Gwyneth Paltrow’s target demographic. If Gwyneth Paltrow wrote a novel our book club would ­literally devour it.

The long supper 

FictionNadia herself was unremarkable. She spoke little and staked little claim. She ate in moderation (always in private). She exercised moderately (always indoors). Books were the exception; those, she binged.

Stay up to date with the latest, news, articles and special offers from Griffith Review.