WE COULD ALL DO WITH AN AUNT WITH THE WISDOM, GENEROSITY AND COOKING SKILLS OF AUNTY BERYL. TRUE TO CHARACTER, HER COOKBOOK SHARES THESE REMARKABLE TALENTS
Aunty Beryl Van-Oploo OAM is a respected Gamilaroi elder, educator, mentor and businesswoman from Walgett, New South Wales. She moved to Sydney at 16 and, at 31, completed a TAFE diploma in hospitality. She later taught at Petersham TAFE and founded a Home and Work Opportunities for Aboriginal Women course at Eora TAFE in Redfern. Aunty Beryl established the Job Ready program at the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence.
She has run several cafe kitchens and owns a catering business, called Yaama Barrgay, which means “hello, family and friends” in Yuwaalaraay, which employs First Nations staff. She also advises top chefs including Kylie Kwong, René Redzepi and Neil Perry on bush foods.
My family always has pork at Christmas — a hot lunch even if it’s 40°C outside. Once I got older, I passed on the responsibility of the hot Christmas lunch to my daughter. We enjoy a full spread with meats, a seafood platter and vegetables, then we take the littles down the beach for a swim. If you’re lucky enough to have any leftovers of this pork, it makes for delicious cold cuts on a bread roll the next day.
SERVES 6–8
• 2kg boneless pork shoulder, rind on and scored
• Olive oil, for drizzling
• 1 tablespoon sea salt flakes
• Steamed green beans and boiled, mashed or roasted potatoes, to serve
STUFFING
• 2 cups (125g) coarse fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon crushed freeze-dried finger lime
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• ¼ cup (35g) chopped pistachios
• 1 small apple, coarsely grated
• 70g butter, cubed
STEWED APPLE
• 3 large green apples, peeled, quartered, cored, cubed
• ⅓ cup, lightly packed (60g) soft brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
METHOD:
Combine all the stuffing ingredients in a bowl. Open the pork shoulder and make a deep cut to open it out flat. Spread the stuffing down the centre. Roll up firmly and tie tightly with kitchen string at regular intervals.
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Set a wire rack in a large deep roasting pan. Place the pork, rind-side up, on the rack. Drizzle with oil, then sprinkle all over with the salt and rub into the rind. Roast for 25–30 minutes, or until the crackling blisters and blackens.
Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C. Add 1 cup (250ml) water to the pan. Roast for a further 1 hour 45 minutes, adding more water to the pan halfway through and making sure it doesn’t evaporate. Cover with foil if over-browning. Once the juices run clear when pierced with a metal skewer in the thickest part of the pork, remove from the oven and set aside for 10 minutes to rest.
Meanwhile, make the stewed apple. Place all the ingredients and ½ cup (125ml) water in a medium saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer, then cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Uncover and simmer for a further 10 minutes, or until glossy and softened. Remove from the heat.
Carve the pork into thick slices. Strain the pan juices into a serving jug, discarding the solids. Serve the pork with beans, potatoes and stewed apple, drizzling the pan juices over the pork upon serving.
