Creature
comfortsxuryWildlife Retreat has
edat Sydney’s Taronga
with 62 rooms in fi ve
ndly lodges set in the
grounds of the zoo. A
ayincludes an afternoon tour
of the retreat’s sanctuary,
dinner with harbour views at
fi ne-diner Me-Gal, breakfast
and general admission to the
zoo. All profi ts go to the
Taronga Zoo Conservation
Society. From $790 per
night, taronga.org.auNornie Bero, Mabu Mabu
You grew up on Mer Island in the Torres
Strait. What are some of your memories?
Every morning before school, I’d go out on
the reef, get fresh octopus and pickle it. Then
you’d eat the one you got the day before
for breakfast. I come from that era where we
owned spears and used them to get octopus.
I remember the mango trees; you’d eat the
fruit and play knuckles with the seeds.
What’s a quintessential Torres Strait
Islander dish? Sop sop. It’s made with
di erent types of yam and pumpkin,
and braised in coconut milk. It’s usually
served with damper, wrapped in coconut
and banana leaves, then cooked on
the ground. Ladies sit around, skin the
yams, chat, put it all into the big pot
and let it stir away.You recently opened your Indigenous café
Mabu Mabu. Dishes like wild boar with
saltbush chimichurri previously appeared
at the pop-up version you ran at South
Melbourne Market. What else have you
brought over? We’re making chai with
wattleseed and pepperberry. We make our
own ricotta cream, which we put into our
cannoli with strawberry gum. Strawberry
gum is a cousin of the eucalyptus: it’s a
green leaf and has an intense fl avour. Kids
love it, because they think it’s strawberry
when they eat it, but it’s actually green.
You can drink it as a tea as well.
We hear you’re serving crocodile, too?
We deep-fry it, because it’s got quite a
strong fl avour – like swordfi sh. We use
our desert herbs: dried saltbush, thyme,
native basil, thyme, lemongrass. It’s a bit like
if you were to have salt-and-pepper squid.
And your seasoning at Mabu Mabu isn’t
the typical kind, right? We don’t have
regular salt or pepper; we use mountain
pepperberries in the table grinders and as
salt, we use a tropical lemon-aspen salt mix.
You stock Indigenous producers, too?
We like to support Indigenous businesses.
We’re a sober café, but we o er native
non-alcoholic beers by Sobah. And Lore
does kombucha, but it doesn’t taste like dirt
because it’s been fermented way too long.
It’s still tremendous; it’s just a subtle fl avour.
You make the wild boar bacon yourself.
Does it go with eggs in the morning?
Breakfast of champions!
Mabu Mabu, 13 Anderson Street, Yarraville,
Vic, mabumabu.com.auON THE PASS ON THE PASS ON THE PASSNews
GOURMET TRAVELLER 27