Recipe extract from the Mabu Mabu cookbook
From Melbourne-based First Nations chef Nornie Bero, Mabu Mabu: An Australian Kitchen Cookbook is filled with simple yet delicious recipes that champion native ingredients and invite you to innovate the way you cook.
Read on to discover a refreshing recipe from this unique soon-to-be best seller.
Spicy Desert Lime and Watermelon Salad
This sweet-savoury salad is power-packed with flavour. The sweetness of the watermelon – one of my favourite fruits – combines with the sharpness of desert lime and the creamy goat’s cheese. This is a great use for Pickled Succulents, which are a tangy, salty flavour bomb.
INGREDIENTS (Serves 4–6)
1 kg (2 lb 3 oz) watermelon, cut into pieces
125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) olive oil
100 ml (31/2 fl oz) red-wine vinegar
80 g (23/4 oz/½ cup) seablite leaves
5 g (1/8 oz) sea salt
80 g (23/4 oz) whole desert limes, sliced
80 ml (21/2 fl oz/1/3 cup) lime juice
1 tablespoon native currants
2 shallots, thinly sliced
100 g (31/2 oz) Pickled Succulents* recipe below
80 g (23/4 oz) crumbled goat’s cheese
80 g (23/4 oz/½ cup) caperberries, sliced
1 spring onion (scallion), sliced
10 g (¼ oz/1/2 cup) sea parsley leaves
METHOD
1. Place the watermelon pieces, olive oil, vinegar, seablite, sea salt, desert limes, lime juice and native currants in a bowl and leave to marinate for 20 minutes.
2. Toss through the rest of the ingredients and eat immediately.
Pickled Succulents
Karkalla is the ocean cucumber, and you can buy it from many markets. Pickling it is a great way to lock in the flavour, as it will suck up all the other flavours in the jar. You can toss this pickle through salads or add it to a cheese board for a different spin on the grazing platter.
INGREDIENTS (
6 cloves star anise
1 tablespoon mustard seed
5 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon whole pepperberries
1 teaspoon whole cloves
250 g (9 oz) caster (superfine) sugar
500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) white vinegar
250 g (9 oz) karkalla
250 g (9 oz) samphire
100 g (31/2 oz) seablite
METHOD
1. In a large saucepan, combine all the spices and the sugar with 1 litre (34 fl oz/4 cups) water and the vinegar, then boil for 15 minutes.
2. Place the sea succulents in sterilised glass jars.
3. Let the pickling juice cool for 3 minutes before adding to the jars.
4. Leave overnight and eat the next day. The pickle will keep for 2 months in the fridge.
