--- airs weeknights on SBS Food at 7.00pm and 10.30pm, or stream it free on . Catch Nornie in the 'story time', 'grains', and 'national dish' episodes. Watch her miniseries, Torres Strait at Home, on . ---
"Growing up in the Torres Strait was probably the best start that I could ever have," says head chef and owner of , Nornie Bero.
As a member of the one of eight Aboriginal tribes on Mer Island in the Torres Strait, Bero grew up immersed in the Indigenous culinary way of life. Her entrepreneurial father was a single parent and from an early age taught her "how to make anything out of nothing".
Pumpkin damper was the first thing she learnt to cook. Her father showed her how to make it with fresh produce from the backyard and flour that had been shipped to the island. He sold the damper in a makeshift tuck shop that he'd set up in the family lounge room, along with fish burgers made from that day's catch.
Being able to sustain herself from the ocean was another skill passed on to Nornie. Every morning, she took a kerosene lamp and spear down to the reef and collected fresh octopus and clams to pickle for breakfast the next day.
"You don't go home for lunch; you get a fish, and you roast it down at the beach or you eat natural berries and fruits," she says. "We just went home before dark for dinner."
Bero and her grandparents dug for yams in the backyard, which they would peel and cook to eat for dinner with fresh seafood or wild boar. Her relatives would gather to share this meal. Bero valued these as opportunities to learn about the history of First Nations ingredients and Indigenous cuisine.
The chef is now on a mission to put the cuisine of Indigenous people on the map through her business, Mabu Mabu. The small-batch teas, spices and sauces that Bero makes celebrate Indigenous and tropical flavours.
"We should be eating more native ingredients because it belongs to us," she says. "It's naturally grown here, it's what we were raised on… it's ours."
We should be eating more native ingredients because it belongs to us.
Mabu Mabu has expanded in recent years to open an all-day bar and kitchen called Big Esso and a cafe and social hub called Tuck Shop – both in Melbourne. These are spaces for people to enjoy a communal meal and be introduced to the diversity of Indigenous flavours.
"My love of food is beyond just the food itself," she says. "It's about how we bring people together and how we learn about culture."
She's always been fascinated by how food brings people together. "You can change people's views through eating because everybody loves to eat and sitting down at a table really opens that conversation."
Mabu Mabu is a story of Bero's upbringing and pays respect to her father and tribe. "Our culture has been living for so many generations and it's special to be able to carry that culture along," she says. "I want to show the [upcoming] generations of my culture that.
"You can achieve anything if you put your mind to it, no matter how much you've got in your pocket."
MORE FROM NORNIE BERO
Taste the Torres Strait at Melbourne’s Federation Square
She is proud to bring Indigenous cuisine to Melbourne and encourages everyone to pull up a chair, try the food and hear First Nations' stories.
INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN
How to cook with Indigenous ingredients at home with Nornie Bero
