Torres Strait Islander chef Nornie Bero during filming for Island Echoes with Nornie Bero on Mer Island, Torres Strait. Photos: AAP/Supplied by SBS
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Growing up on a tropical island means being able to catch and harvest your own food, and for Nornie Bero, it is these practices, closely tied to culture and community, which inspired a culinary career.
Nornie Bero is from the Komet tribe of the Meriam people on Mer Island and said her family instilled her love of food when she was a child.
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“My dad made half of our house into a tuck shop and he used to make pumpkin dampers and pumpkin buns and make fish burgers and stuff to keep the lights on for us, to get money for the generators,” she said.
“When you grow up in a a family on an island you’ve got so many aunties and uncles that are hunting and gathering all the time and food is a big conversation in island households.
“It’s always been part of my life and I’ve always loved the traditional foods that I grew up with.”
The celebrated chef founded native food business Mabu Mabu, and flagship restaurant Big Esso in Melbourne with plans to expand to Sydney.
“I love being Australian because we have our own flavour here, we just don’t utilise it to the best that we can,” Nornie said.
“We’re such a multicultural country and we have so many different cuisines here so I’m just putting island cuisine on the map too and showcasing Australian food that comes out of the soil.”
Nornie Bero and Hans Ahwang during filming for Island Echoes with Nornie Bero on Mer Island, Torres Strait.
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Her mission to put the foods of her childhood on the map has taken her back to her home, where she recently filmed a cooking show, Island Echoes with Nornie Bero.
As host, Nornie travels across the Torres Strait, meeting with local community members, showcasing the landscape, making traditional foods and sharing the stories behind them.
“It was so nice to be able to do a lot of outdoor cooking ... cooking on the beach and people inviting us into their backyards, or even front yards, which is usually a beach,” she said.
“As a chef that’s a dream right, to be able to go back home and showcase how beautiful your home is.”
Nornie Bero with some Mer Island locals during filming.
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Not only is Nornie thrilled to bring island cuisine to the forefront, she said it was just as exciting to return to her home and share new ways to prepare traditional foods with her family and community.
“It’s part of our lifeblood, the food that comes out of the ocean and in their backyards.
“It’s so great to be able to be someone like myself who’s come all the way down here to the city and create the stuff I’ve been taught along the way from many different places and then take it back home and showcase what they could do with traditional foods that we already have.”
In the midst of writing a new cookbook, Nornie said there were a lot of things on the horizon for her and Mabu Mabu.
One thing is certain, she’s determined to continue her mission to champion native ingredients and the flavours of her home.
Island Echoes with Nornie Bero premiered on January 9 on NITV.
