Page 6 - Demo

Page 6 %u2013 Australian Pork Newspaper, March 2025 www.porknews.com.auSEEMS like I have a pork %u2018hangover%u2019 every year post-Christmas.I can%u2019t get enough and keep chasing pork dishes down when out and about, well into February.If not ready, willing and able to cook pork at home, I%u2019ll go out of my way to buy takeaway.Slow-cooked pork belly is a good example. When cooked well, it%u2019s a perfect take-home meal.I also am lucky to have good friend Jamie, who %u2013 having handed his knives in as a butcher long ago %u2013 loves nothing better than putting together pork dishes, and beef for that matter, whenever we catch up.Whether it%u2019s on the barbecue or in the oven, what he plates up is always prepared and cooked to perfection.Both liking our steaks medium rare has continuously given us common ground too.A keen surfer back in the day, he spent a couple of weeks in Hawaii over summer, but interestingly came home disappointed with the waves and the food.While the waves were regular, they were on the small side.And the steaks, while on the big side, were too chewy and typically served with greasy chips. If plated up with salad, they were covered in tacky dressing.Speaking of meat in all its glory, I recently I attended a Perth festival event titled %u2018Killa: Pindan to Plate%u2019 and delighted in an eightcourse menu focused on meat.Killa refers to bush cattle or fresh meat. In the Kimberley, when someone says %u2018killa%u2019, the local Indigenous folk all know what that means. To them it means beef that tastes better than shop meat %u2013 it%u2019s cheaper, bought station direct and they all know where it comes from. They can feed several families and can access cuts of meat not available at the shop. Effectively, it was a west Kimberley saltwater story told over dinner.Seated at an opulent long table set with custom designs by regional Indigenous Western Australian artists and surrounded by a monumental video installation, it was a unique nose-to-tail dining experience.As we enjoyed our meal, the whole journey of the %u2018killa%u2019 %u2013 Kimberley cattle taken straight from the bush and shared among families %u2013 came to life in cultural narratives and life experiences from the west Kimberley coast.While the filmed preparation of the animal unfolded in the projections around us, eight very special dishes %u2013 prepared by head chef of The Rechabite Double Rainbow Eating House kitchen %u2013 told the story of Aboriginal food cultures and how introduced species have become part of the Kimberley diet. Created with a team from the Kimberley, Killa: Pindan to Plate was a literal visual feast. Here%u2019s a sample of some of the meat dishes enjoyed that night, with matching drinks:%u2022 Kidney, heart and soy skewer %u2013 thinly sliced beef heart and kidney marinated in tare sauce (soy, mirin, sake, sugar), woodfire grilled, finished with sesame seeds and chives%u2022 Smoked brisket pastrami %u2013 smoked brisket pastrami thinly sliced, finished with olive oil and mustard with boab powder%u2022 Camp-oven oxtail stew %u2013 slow braised oxtail with carrots and shallots finished with a red wine and thyme sauce%u2022 Beef rib, beef cap and wild garlic %u2013 24-hour slow-cooked beef ribs finished on the wood fire and glazed with wild mushroom jus, beef striploin cap grilled medium rare roasted whole and sliced and wild garlic shoots grilled in embers.At $300 a head, it was not cheap, but an unforgettable cultural and dining experience.Unfortunately, no pork was on the menu, but I am sure the saltwater people of the west Kimberley would be happy if it was available and accessible.Meanwhile, beefing it up was good enough. Enjoyed at Cottesloe restaurant Vans, this pork hock was magically matched with spicy noodles and greens.Slow-cooked takeaway pork belly at $39.99/kg from Gilbert%u2019s Fresh Markets in Hilton is an occasional take-home treat after a long day when time at the stove or oven seems just too hard. They do it well there too. Tender, juicy and succu- lent with a crispy but not too chewy skin.The author%u2019s friend Jamie, a butcher and talented keen home chef, loves his meat. No surprise therefore that his preparation for this pork and beef loaf was spot on.Layers of D%u2019Orsogna bacon on Jamie%u2019s pork and beef loaf complemented the D%u2019Orsogna bone-in leg ham at our Christmas 2024 lunch table.Jamie%u2019s pork and beef loaf, topped with lashings of smoky D%u2019Orsogna bacon rashers, cooked up a treat. Four eggs lay underneath, along with sage, pistachio and cranberry.Just saying, meat matters to mePork cutlet with lentils at Manuka Wood Fire Kitchen in Fremantle just had to be shared. The author%u2019s dining friend, who happened to be a chef, did a good job of separating it three ways. CantComment by BRENDON CANT