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Short filmTranscript
00:00my dad had just died and I was running away from my old life what I found in
00:10Australia changed me but I can remember saying this is me I've escaped this is
00:17my life today Australia is so much more than just another travel destination to
00:22me my wife is Australian Thank You Ricky romptious scrumptious a and this country has become my
00:31second home rather to bitch so after a lifetime of food journeys I'm finally retracing some of
00:38that first trip I want to discover how Australia and its food is changing this goat curry is really
00:46special after exploring Sydney and the coast I'm traveling west into the outback great this is
00:55that yeah she's one of my favorites and I'm bringing my inspiration home to create new recipes I have
01:02used extra virgin olive oil here I really want the flavor to come through I suspect it's gonna
01:09be another journey of a lifetime I'm leaving the coast behind and traveling into the open plains
01:28and enormous skies that for me are the first signs that I'm heading inland I've never been to this part
01:36of New South Wales before but I did go inland during my first teenage adventure and it left a strong
01:44impression on me the thing I remember most was the vastness of everything coming from a small island
01:50like Britain and faced with these enormous distances I'm 400 kilometres inland heading west to the town of
02:06Moree this is some of Australia's best farming land with fertile black soil above one of the world's largest
02:18freshwater reservoirs but it's the remoteness out here that most intrigues me there are just 72 people for
02:28every hundred square kilometres I'm curious to find out if this isolation makes people more traditional when it comes to food and farming or if it makes it easier to pioneer change
02:42I've reached Moree the largest town on these plains I'm here for the biggest event of the year the annual Moree show
02:55Generations of locals have grown up with this gathering for more than 150 years like the county shows I'm used to in Britain it's a chance for people to show off their prized animals machinery produce cooking and farming skills
03:11It's still quite early so it's still quite early so it's not particularly busy but I must say I really like a county show and
03:17It's just you meet so many interesting people my name's Rick I love the dog what kind of dog is it Australian Kilby
03:26You have really good conversations I suppose it's because I was born and brought up on a farm I still have a great affinity with with cattle with sheep with chickens you name it
03:36So as I meet locals at this first stop I want to find out if celebrating tradition is actually the main event here
03:44or if the show looks to the future of farming if I'm not mistaken that's a Hereford we used to have them on our farm
03:52First up I'm meeting Moree's chief cattle steward Lisa Wibley
03:56Good morning Rick very nice to meet you nice to meet you in Moree well it's very nice to be here I'm just familiar with shows back in the old country but I don't know whether they go into all this
04:06Well these are your English breeds this is a Red Pole which is a heritage English breed oh is it okay yeah it's actually dual purpose so you can eat the meat and milk it
04:18Right
04:20Red Pole cattle are known for their rich red coats and natural hornless or polled heads
04:26This is Daffy Daffy Daffy Daffy Daffodil oh and she's one of yeah she's one of my favorites
04:34Lisa is getting Daffy ready to compete in the show ring shortly and she's pulling out all the stops
04:42We start off three months out three to four months out from a show and we feed them a high protein special mix to get as much fat on them as possible
04:50Yeah then you sort of go through get them quiet enough to come to a show and then on the day like today usually they'll hit the wash bay first
04:58Then after the wash bay they will blow dry and then they'll clip and put some hair spray in just to make them look that little bit more special
05:07You say hair spray
05:11Skin and hair conditioner
05:14Wow
05:15So what she'll do is spray
05:20And then brush it
05:25You can see the difference in the hair coat coming up now
05:29Smells nice too
05:30I know they do
05:31I wonder if she feels better with that nice scent
05:34With the blow dry
05:38Yeah
05:39It removes the dead skin cells
05:43Yeah
05:44It also removes the hair to make them look fatter
05:46Because you know fat's flavour
05:48Yeah
05:49So we want our cattle being prime beef cattle to look as fat and juicy as possible
05:55What do you love about the show?
05:57My favourite thing is the kids
05:58Yeah
05:59Watching the kids learn
06:00Watching them have fun in the show ring
06:02The kids are our next generations of farmers
06:05So if we don't keep them interested we won't have more farmers
06:09So you know my biggest drive is for the kids and to let them have a great day out in the show ring
06:14It seems Lisa is all about keeping Maury's farming heritage alive
06:19And with Daffy all dolled up it's show time
06:22So this morning we're starting with the red poles
06:25There are only two cows in the red pole field
06:28Because red poles have become a rare breed in Australia
06:31First one
06:33The judge is looking for signs of a good breeder
06:38It looks like our judge has made a decision
06:46And she's done it
06:47First place goes to Daffy
06:54With her bigger frame, bovine femininity
06:57And beautifully coiffed coat
07:00Congratulations Lisa
07:02Thank you very much Rick
07:03They're like kids just proud if they get this far
07:06And you know to get them to the show sometimes is an achievement
07:09Well done
07:13There are hundreds of competitions going on here
07:16And Lisa's got her eye on another prize
07:19Tomorrow she'll be competing in the classic country art of whip cracking
07:24So she's keen to squeeze in some practice
07:27They look a bit dangerous are they?
07:30Um no they're not really at all
07:32Don't ask me to have a go
07:34It's actually a really good workout for your whole body
07:37And your brain as well
07:39So if I keep whip cracking I won't get the fat-tack shot lady arms
07:43And I also keep my brain thinking because one arm's doing one thing
07:47And one arm's doing the other
07:48Well I thought that's what women did all the time isn't it?
07:51You know?
07:52Multitask
07:53Exactly
07:54That's it
07:55Anyway I'll do some little ones
07:56Anyway I'll do some little ones
07:57Yep okay
07:59Lisa's picked up the bullock whip
08:02Traditionally used by stockmen driving cattle through the bush
08:05Even her practice run draws a crowd
08:17I'm leaving Lisa to hone her skills while I head to an event for which I'm eminently more qualified
08:24Hi Rick I'm Mel I'm one of the judges of the cooking
08:28Oh great
08:29I've agreed to help judge the finals of one of the cake shows
08:34Country show cooking is an institution so it's one of those things you'll always find a fantastic fruit cake
08:41There's bread as well
08:42Bread yeah we've had a great showing of sourdough this year
08:44Yeah
08:46Our decorated cupcakes and the kids always put in such a fantastic effort
08:49Oh that's lovely
08:50And scones or scones which what do you call them?
08:53I'm scone
08:54Same with me
08:55And so many chocolate cakes this year and so many different varieties
08:58Yes look at the chocolate cakes
08:59Yeah
09:00That's what I call million dollar shortbread but you call it something like caramel slice
09:05Caramel slice
09:06I'm a bit of a sucker for a caramel slice
09:09It's pretty good
09:10What lamingtons were going to do weren't we?
09:15We've had quite a bumper entry into the lamingtons this year
09:18I have to confess I didn't start off as a great fan of lamingtons
09:22But it's a bit like you know Vegemite
09:24I'm now actually beginning to like them
09:27Yeah they're a great little treat and perfect with a cuppa
09:29Well let's go
09:31Lamingtons are a vanilla sponge cake cut into squares
09:35And covered first in cocoa icing glaze and then in desiccated coconut
09:41They were created here in Australia around 1900
09:45And by the time I came here in the 60s the lamington was a culinary institution
09:51Found in almost every bakery, school, canteen or cake stall around the country
09:56You could say they're Australia's national cake
10:00And today I'll decide the winner from Mel's shortlist
10:04Just looking at them
10:05Yeah
10:06Is there any spec for the way they look?
10:08So I do aesthetically whittle it down a little bit first
10:13I'll look for four to five centimetres square
10:16They can be a little rectangle
10:18Okay the other thing is some are much darker than others
10:22Is there anything to be read into that then?
10:24I think that's probably down to your quality of cocoa
10:28It's actually not chocolate
10:30It is cocoa in an icing
10:32That's a common misconception
10:33Right
10:34With all that in mind it's time to get tasting
10:37Just take a slice
10:38I think so
10:40And for the finalists the pressure is mounting
10:45Sponge is good, nice and light
10:47Nice and light
10:48Yeah
10:49Farm eggs, it's nice and yellow
10:51Farm eggs too
10:52I think so
10:53Last point
10:54And the coconut's very nice
10:55If we were splitting hairs
10:57We really are probably looking for desiccated coconut
11:00It's shredded
11:03Right
11:04They're all very uniform
11:05Yeah
11:06So I do want to see equal lamingtons
11:08Okay, another good sponge
11:10Beautiful sponge
11:11Yes
11:12But this is definitely desiccated
11:13Yes
11:16Very good flavour in the sponge
11:19Nice vanilla flavour
11:20Mm-hmm
11:21Slightly less flavour in the chocolate
11:23Okay
11:24But
11:25Not bad
11:26Not bad
11:27Yeah, okay
11:30Nice looking sponge
11:37That's a good one
11:38That's a good one?
11:39Yeah
11:40Okay
11:41I think I'd like to try that one too
11:46It's a very light sponge
11:48They're really good
11:49They are
11:50Do you think you can pick our winner?
11:55Ladies come on over
11:57Hello
11:58Hello
11:59Difficult choice I have to say
12:00But there we go
12:01That was so great
12:02Third place today was Georgie
12:03Wow, thank you
12:04Congratulations
12:05They're all lovely
12:07Our second place today was Kim
12:09Well done Kim
12:10Thank you
12:11Thank you
12:12Great
12:13Rick would you like to do the honours?
12:14Yes
12:15Our winner today
12:16Was
12:17Rihanna
12:18Thank you so much
12:19Well
12:20I think the reason was
12:21It just was particularly
12:22The sponge was really nice
12:24Really lovely flavour
12:25Very moist
12:26And lovely dusting of desiccated coconut
12:30Thank you
12:31Good job
12:32Well done
12:33Thanks boys
12:37I know Farmers Hope
12:39The Maury Show
12:40Is keeping traditions alive
12:42For the next generation
12:43And wandering around
12:45It seems to be working
12:46I see people of all ages competing
12:49Jensen Braswell
12:51Is that you?
12:52Yeah, that's me
12:53Well done
12:54Thank you
12:55And what type of chicken is it?
12:56This is an Australian game
12:58Australian game?
12:59Yeah
13:00The Australia's breeder chook
13:03Which is pretty cool
13:04It's a very lovely looking chicken actually
13:06I've never seen one with such long legs
13:08Well back in their day
13:10They used to be a farm chook
13:11So they could drink out of troughs and that
13:13Yeah
13:14That's why they were so tall
13:15Is that right?
13:16Yeah
13:17And you do seem quite young to be breeding chickens
13:19Yes, yes
13:20Do you mind me asking how old are you?
13:2116
13:22Fantastic
13:23My family's been doing it for a long time
13:25I was just brought up into it
13:26Yeah
13:27I love my chickens
13:28Yeah
13:29Well, congratulations
13:30Clearly the Maury community is proud of its strong farming roots
13:40I've read that the town was founded as a pastoral station and by 1862 it had grown into a thriving rural hub of about 7,000 people
13:57But it's not just farming that's put Maury in the spotlight over the years
14:02This town is also famous for its local swimming pool
14:10I'm very pleased about this
14:12Actually I love a swim and having left the coast
14:14I thought there'd be nowhere to swim
14:16But of course virtually every town in Australia has a pool
14:20And 60 years ago this pool thrust Maury into the national headlines
14:25Oh, this is really interesting 1965 it's the year before I first came here
14:30Freedom ride
14:32In February 1965 a busload of university students with Aboriginal activist Charles Perkins as leader
14:40Set out to visit country towns in New South Wales to expose the unacceptable living conditions of Aboriginal people
14:47They were also determined to end the widespread segregation of Aboriginal people
14:54They targeted Maury pool because entry here was reserved for whites only
15:00The Freedom Riders pressured the council to allow a group of local Aboriginal children to enter the baths
15:07Angry scenes ensued
15:09However, the mayor signed a motion to rescind the colour ban
15:12For the first time First Nations children were free to swim in Maury's pool
15:23This hard-fought victory helped ignite a successful referendum that recognised Aboriginal people as equal citizens
15:42It's wonderful to learn that this little town was at the centre of such pioneering change across the whole country
15:54This is really lovely and that's great to see the whole community using the pool
16:12From its history in the struggle for Aboriginal civil rights
16:19Maury is forging a new legacy as a research hub for First Nations knowledge
16:25I'm leaving town and heading through the traditional lands of the Gomoroi people
16:31My destination is a wetland known as Whitaker's Lagoon
16:35I'm meeting an agricultural pioneer, a Gomoroi woman, called Kerry Saunders
16:42Kerry is helping drive a community-led research project with Sydney University
16:48Into native grasses as a mainstream food
16:52And I found that really interesting simply because the native grasses surely should be more adapted
16:58To the climate and the soil in this country than they introduced European species
17:05It seems long before wheat was grown here
17:08These native grasses produced edible seeds that the Gomoroi people harvested as grains
17:14Good morning, Kerry, I'm Rick
17:17Hello Rick
17:18I'm looking forward to talking to you about grass
17:21Welcome, thank you for coming along
17:23These native grains, they've been eaten by my old people for thousands of years
17:30They keep the soil healthy, they keep the biodiversity healthy
17:34And they also bring carbon down
17:36Can we have a look at some of them?
17:38Let's go
17:39I wouldn't know one from the other to be honest
17:41OK
17:46I have to say, coming from England, I mean this landscape is just so special
17:52Yeah, the native grasses have been here for, you know, since time began
17:57A lot of our native grasses, they've got long root systems
18:02Uh-huh
18:03So they touch the moisture in the ground way down
18:07They have survived through droughts and floods
18:09The grasses are here
18:12Oh, they're here?
18:13Yeah, so they're on both sides
18:15And there's a particular species Kerry wants to show me
18:20The common name is called native millet
18:23Yeah
18:24But the gamilarae language is called ghoulie
18:26What does ghoulie mean?
18:28So ghoulie means river grass
18:30River grass?
18:31Yeah
18:32They're just tiny seeds, aren't they?
18:33Yeah, so seeds might be small, but you do get a lot of them
18:37Traditionally they were gathered just for the seeds
18:40So the whole plant stays
18:42Yeah
18:43And then you get the top part that produces the seeds
18:47So how often do they seed in the year? Just once or?
18:49No, you can get two or three harvesters of the one plant
18:52Really?
18:53To taste everything
18:54Yeah
18:55Very tasty
18:56Yeah, they are
18:57But can you mill that then?
18:59Yes
19:00They can be milled in the flour and you can cook with it, bake bread
19:06I can show you
19:07I can make something today
19:08Far
19:09As she harvests native millet, Kerry is reviving a 60,000-year-old food tradition
19:21One that might be making a comeback as a crop for the 21st century
19:27She's offered to make me an unleavened bread with native millet and water
19:36It's traditionally baked in the coals of a camphor
19:39A bush method that's known in Australia as damper
19:43And I'm eager to see how it works
19:48That's the ghouly grain, is it?
19:49That's correct
19:50It's sitting in the coulamon
19:52Coulamon?
19:53A coulamon is a dish
19:54Yeah
19:55Made out of bark from the tree
19:57And I have threshed it
19:58So I've separated the seed from the husk
20:01And now I'm going to rely on the wind
20:04And if it's not windy enough, we'll winnow it
20:07You winnow it
20:08I know about
20:09We had a winnowing machine on the farm I was brought on
20:11So I know it's just blowing the chaff off the grain
20:14Yep, that's right
20:15So now that I've got the clean seed, they get grinded into flour
20:32My old people have been harvesting and processing the ghouly into flour for thousands of years
20:43They would have just used grinding stones
20:51Once it turns into flour, add water, make a paste, and then we can cook it near the fire
20:57Looking forward to it
21:00I think that this is right now to add water
21:04I'll just stir it
21:10Can you smell?
21:11Yeah, I'd love to
21:12Smells like sweet cake batter
21:14It does
21:16Now we're going to put the dough into the camp oven, place it on the coals
21:21Yeah
21:22And let it cook
21:23Okay
21:29So did you grow up learning these techniques?
21:32No
21:33When I was a small child, I used to run along the river, run in the paddocks, run along the swamps
21:40You didn't know about this then
21:42When I started learning about the native species that's growing around here
21:48Then I realised that I've been smelling ghouly all my life
21:53Who did you learn it from then?
21:54Curiosity about being Aboriginal and the oldest living culture in the world
21:59And what do we eat?
22:01I went to my local TAFE
22:03And then it led me into, you know, the University of Sydney
22:06Finding out the scientific side of the value of
22:10How, um, these grains are so good for you
22:14Well, when you think of people who lived here for 40, 50,000 years
22:16They probably knew a thing or two about what to eat
22:20And how to stay healthy, really
22:22Yeah, I think so too
22:25In fact, university research shows that ghouly contains significantly more fibre than wheat
22:32Wheat
22:33A major plus for one of the grains that made First Nations people here the oldest bakers in the world
22:42And after 15 minutes on the coals, our damper is ready
22:47Okay, so the damper is like a little kind of a flat cake
22:52Yeah
22:53Because it's all gluten free
22:54Yeah, so it's not going to rise
22:55This is 100% ghouly
22:57Kerry's brought along some olive oil, saltbush and purslane or pigweed seeds to sprinkle on top for added flavour
23:06Thank you! Cheers! Cheers!
23:08I like it
23:15It's a lot lighter than I thought
23:18And nutty
23:19Very nutty
23:20Well, you said it smelt of cake dough before and I could tell that but I can't taste it in there
23:26And I would like something like some honey with it I think
23:29The honey would go really nice
23:30I've got a lot of friends who are gluten intolerant and I think this research into native grains is really important for all of us
23:40I just find it really interesting the way these ancient traditions are now being revived
23:48Maury's plains have seen a lot of change
23:57With the arrival of the British, these grasslands became wheat and sheep country
24:03By the time I was travelling through Australia in the mid-60s, the North West Plains were on the cusp of another big shift
24:11The cotton boom
24:12New dams and irrigation spurred massive cotton planting, lured by high returns and plentiful water
24:24But drought and tighter water allocation soon challenged that promise
24:31One farmer did the maths and took a bold leap in a completely new direction
24:36Well, I'm off to see Dick Estens and interestingly, I've been driving on his property for about the last ten minutes
24:44He owns one of the biggest farms in Maury
24:48He used to grow cotton and he switched to citrus
24:52He now supplies the majority of fresh orange juice in Australia
24:57And a global orange juice shortage has seen Dick continue to expand his citrus empire
25:03I'm keen to know how he went from farming a traditional crop to becoming a pioneer
25:11Dick, how are you going? Nice to meet you
25:16Welcome to the Tonga Farms
25:18Well, it's quite big here, I've noticed already, you've got a lot of plains
25:24Each one of these beauties earns its keep on the farm
25:28Including six air tractors
25:32Is this how you get around?
25:34Absolutely, this is my farm ute
25:36This is your farm ute
25:38Others might know it as a Cessna 210
25:41But Dick and his beloved farm ute have clocked up plenty of flying hours together
25:47It takes me something like ten hours to go across Australia
25:50Have you done that?
25:51Yeah, I've done it a few times
25:53Fabulous
25:54We're always in a hurry and the cops can't put us in it
25:57Dick, I want to talk about oranges
26:03So how come you've ended up with so many oranges?
26:07Started here in 1980 growing cotton
26:11Cotton's been a really good crop for us and it's been really good for the district
26:15But yeah, with the 1990s and the mining boom
26:18I was worried about the profitability of cotton in the longer term
26:21So we spent years looking for an alternative crop
26:25And it boiled back to pecans or oranges because of the high summer rainfalls and summer storms
26:32You don't want a soft skin product that can take damage
26:36Yeah, so we decided on oranges
26:38Fantastic!
26:39You get a better look from the air
26:41Hop in the farm ute
26:43Great, which side do I get in by the way?
26:44Do you want to fly up?
26:46No!
26:47You hop in this side
26:48Ready to go?
26:52We get airborne here. About 70 knots
27:05We get airborne here, about 70 knots.
27:15Now we're kicking sideways because of the wind.
27:21And from up here, the size of his orange empire is staggering.
27:27When Dick first started replacing cotton with oranges,
27:30many of his fellow farmers thought he was mad.
27:34And in fact, for many years, he lost money.
27:38You plant your tree, then you go two years
27:41pulling your oranges off the trees
27:43because they're little, you want them to grow.
27:45Third year, it's like two tonne a hectare,
27:48four tonne to five tonne a hectare,
27:50to 12 to 25 to 32, then you get 45 plus.
27:57Generally, you want to break even around six years,
28:01so that's eight and a half years after you order your first tree.
28:05So we took a few hits.
28:07It's taken 20 years, but his gamble is certainly paying off.
28:11When I look back at my life, it's always been about challenges.
28:15I think I love a challenge.
28:18I really enjoyed that.
28:19It was really exhilarating.
28:20It's almost the part of Australian outback life.
28:25It's flying around in planes.
28:26It's what they all do.
28:27So now I've seen the whole farm from the air.
28:31I really like to now get in amongst it.
28:40Well, I have to say,
28:41I don't think I've ever seen more oranges on a tree in my life.
28:45Can we try one or two?
28:47Let's try a few.
28:48OK.
28:49We'll get some nice coloured oranges.
28:52I think that one up there.
28:53Yeah, that would be good.
28:54Can I give you a leg up?
28:56No, you're taller than me.
28:57You can have a go.
28:58Let's get ourselves an orange.
29:00Get this one over here.
29:05What's the difference between a Valencia and a navel orange, then?
29:08Well, the navel at the bottom of the orange here
29:10have a big round navel.
29:12Oh, yeah, I see.
29:13Sort of a bit like a Christmas cake.
29:15Yeah.
29:16These don't have a navel.
29:18This is a bit smaller, this one,
29:19but you should be pretty good eating.
29:21Looks good.
29:26They're not too bad.
29:28They're brilliant.
29:31I've got a lovely round flavour,
29:33lots of acidity, lots of sweetness.
29:38Delicious.
29:39Try the orange.
29:40Can I try the juice?
29:42Absolutely.
29:44With pulp.
29:47With pulp, great.
29:52That's really good.
29:53It's got a really deep flavour.
29:55It's really fully flavoured, I'd say.
29:58Excellent.
29:59And sweet, but not too sweet.
30:01It's real orange juice.
30:02It is.
30:03And on that note...
30:05Jeez.
30:06Good health there, didn't they?
30:07Good health.
30:08I just love talking to him, because in a way I feel the same way as him,
30:13that he sort of didn't start out meaning to be a massive orange grower, but he is.
30:21He's somebody who's prepared to take risks.
30:23And in Dick's case, those were big risks in the early days.
30:27And finally, he hit gold in oranges.
30:34Dick's oranges have inspired me to update one of my favourite desserts.
30:39An orange, almond and olive oil cake.
30:43Having visited Dick Eston's orange orchards, I now know that navel oranges are better for making a sweet.
30:49How do you tell a navel orange?
30:52Well, I now know that it's because it has a little navel on the bottom.
30:56I have to say that I thought it was something to do with a navy, but how wrong I was.
31:02But the importance about these particular oranges for this recipe is you need two oranges, each weighing about 200 grams.
31:11And I'm going to now boil them.
31:12Boiling the oranges gives a richer flavour than if I just use the juice and zest.
31:20I'm going to simmer them for 20 to 30 minutes until the peel is tender, so I can puree the whole fruit.
31:27So they should be done by now, it's about half an hour cooking.
31:31They are knife through butter.
31:34So I'm just going to take these off the heat and let them cool down enough to handle them.
31:40So these are nice and cool now.
31:45Just cutting off the ends like that.
31:50Now I'm just going to cut them in half to check for seeds, but being a navel orange, it's unlikely that I will find any.
31:59So I'm just going to put these in the food processor and blend them until smooth.
32:04Good.
32:14Now to make up the mix.
32:17Four eggs.
32:21160 grams of caster sugar.
32:24And the zest of one lemon.
32:25The lemon just adds a bit more citrus hint, I suppose, to the orange cake.
32:32I often put a bit of lemon juice in with an orange drink ready.
32:35It just gives it a bit of a lisp.
32:37There we go.
32:39Now I'm just going to beat all that together.
32:41I'm not looking for any sort of voluminousness here.
32:43It's not one of those cakes with, it's not like a Genoise or a sponge.
32:48But I do want to magnate the egg yolks thoroughly.
32:54And now, the all-important olive oil.
32:58And I have used extra virgin olive oil here, I really want the flavour to come through.
33:10Right, now the paste.
33:15Smells gorgeous, that.
33:17Stir that in a little bit.
33:18Now a little bit of baking powder, which is very important because we haven't got a lot of natural volume there.
33:28This will give the cake plenty of aeration.
33:36And now, the almond.
33:39And this is why it's a flowerless cake.
33:43Because the almond is adding the structure to it.
33:46Just going to fold that in now.
33:51And that is it.
33:54Ready to put that into my cake tin.
34:00So, in goes the batter, I suppose you'd call it.
34:04And I'm using a springform cake tin.
34:08It's non-stick, but I have just put some baking paper in the bottom.
34:13Sort of belt and braces-wise.
34:16And I should have added that I've set my oven to 180 convection.
34:22That would be 160 fan.
34:25And that's going to go in the oven for 50 to 60 minutes.
34:32Traditionally, this cake is served quite plain.
34:34But I'm giving it a delicious country twist with vanilla icing.
34:40That looks great.
34:43I'm just going to leave that to cool down while I get on with the icing.
34:47I'm going to make a pouring icing.
34:48And that means that it'll run nicely over the edge of the cake.
34:52So, first of all, some melted butter.
34:55I'm just going to stir that into...
34:57This is just icing sugar.
34:58Nothing but icing sugar.
35:01I will just add a little bit of vanilla now.
35:03About a teaspoon of vanilla essence.
35:04And now I'm just going to stir this all in and then decide how much milk to add.
35:11I don't want to add too much.
35:12And as soon as I start adding milk, it will go enormously quickly into a liquid.
35:18So, we'll start with about a teaspoon.
35:23And then I'm just going to work a teaspoon at a time.
35:27Until I've got my pouring consistency.
35:30It'll take another.
35:32So, that's five.
35:36Yeah, I'd be tempted to leave it at that.
35:39Of course, if you go any longer, it'll just run off the side of the cake.
35:42But it'll still look nice.
35:44Because you'll see the orange coming through the icing.
35:48So, that looks very nice.
35:54All ready to go with the icing.
35:59And I hope this is the right consistency.
36:02Never quite know.
36:08I'm just judging it.
36:09I'd like to pour it all over there, but I don't want to go mad.
36:12That's all I want to do.
36:13I just think it looks nicer when it's sort of not covering everything.
36:27So, this is the bit I love, afternoon tea.
36:40A nice piece of orange and almond cake with olive oil.
36:44It's lovely.
36:45The thing that most pleases me is the icing.
36:51Because normally I use water to make my icing.
36:56But this time I've used milk.
36:58And it's creamier and more luscious.
37:01There's something lovely about a long drive that sets your mind free.
37:12I'm heading five hours west towards the town of Bourke.
37:17Because it's the gateway to the outback.
37:20Which is where I want to end up.
37:22When I was 19, I headed into the outback for the first time.
37:32I did odd jobs and met some real characters working in an abattoir.
37:37And later maintaining railway lines in very isolated places.
37:41I was trying to grow up, but I came from a very close family, very protective of each other.
37:54Finding myself in this strange, wide open country was quite unusual for me.
38:03But also I had this tremendous sense of freedom.
38:06Much as I love the beaches and coast, it's this landscape that really speaks to me.
38:24Just stopped off for a cuppa of British tea as it happens.
38:30Should be Billy tea, but British tea's alright.
38:32I'm a great fan of Australian poetry actually.
38:37Particularly of poetry of the outback.
38:40And I found this poem which I particularly like.
38:42The famous My Country by Dorothea McKellar.
38:47I love a sunburned country.
38:50A land of sweeping plains.
38:52Of rugged mountain ranges.
38:54Of drought and flooding rains.
38:57Excuse me.
38:58It's called The Country Salutes.
39:00Too many flies.
39:02Got one up my nose then.
39:04How does that ruin a poem?
39:05I love her far horizons.
39:09I love her dual sea.
39:11Her beauty and her terror.
39:14The wide brown land for me.
39:16I mean what she's saying is she's a 19 year old in the UK.
39:22And she's homesick.
39:23And she's comparing the sort of orderliness and the greenness of England with her lovely sunburnt country.
39:35I do think remoteness can be a great driver of inspiration.
39:40And I do believe that landscape has an enormous effect on us.
39:43My route to Berk is taking me past the Barwon River and one of the oldest human-made structures in the world.
39:56The Berwarrina fish traps were built by the Negemba people tens of thousands of years ago.
40:06Their stone walls were designed to channel fish into ponds where they could easily be speared.
40:11Cleverly they were built to work in low water and after the rain when the rivers ran high as they are now.
40:20We arrived last night in Berk and I was expecting just a few houses and maybe a bar, a couple of shops and lots of dust.
40:42It's not like it at all.
40:43It seems there are dusty, dry years and then there are years of flooding rains like this one when the land turns green.
40:53And as I've just learnt, water has played a big role in this town's history.
40:59Last night I was in the pub, right?
41:02And this is exactly how it happened.
41:04And I said, what's this pub called? It was a nice pub.
41:07And they said, it's called the Port of Berk.
41:10And I thought, well, this is some sort of joke.
41:11I mean, there's no port in Berk, it's in the middle of Australia.
41:16But in the 1800s, all the wool from all the sheep farming around here was transported from Berk down the Murray-Darling river system.
41:27And this was where everything was loaded.
41:30So right where I'm standing now is the old port of Berk.
41:33From 1862, Berk thrived for 50 years as a bustling frontier town.
41:40At its peak, its population was two to three times what it is today.
41:46But by the early 1900s, fortunes here had started to change.
41:52Global wool prices tank and road trains began taking over from this inland port.
41:57I love places like Berk.
42:00It just speaks of the sort of fragility of isolation.
42:04I'm fascinated to find out how this impacts people, especially those living beyond the back of Berk.
42:13It's a phrase that's synonymous with the most remote parts of Australia.
42:16Out here, there are just six people per every 100 square kilometres of country.
42:27This is the outback I remember.
42:29Everything red.
42:31And the vegetation very sort of sparse and scrubby.
42:36Generations ago, this part of the country rode high on the sheep's back.
42:41I'm curious to see how these pastoral families are faring today.
42:46So I'm driving another 70 kilometres west to see for myself.
42:51I've been invited to stay at Rose Isle Station.
42:55A sheep station at the back of Berk.
43:01Rose Isle is a family-owned grazing property run by farmers Gary and Samantha Mooring.
43:09Welcome. Welcome to Rose Isle. I'm Samantha.
43:12I'm Rick.
43:13Pleased to meet you.
43:14Well, it's really stunning. I'm loving all this red country.
43:18It's beautiful, isn't it?
43:20But it's all about sheep. How many sheep are you running?
43:22In a really good season, we might run 8,000.
43:25But at the moment, probably 4,000 or 5,000.
43:27And how big?
43:2960,000 acres.
43:31Which isn't that big for out here.
43:33It's 11 acres to one sheep.
43:34It's unbelievable compared with, you know, back home.
43:39Yeah, it is. Yes, where you're 11 sheep to half an acre.
43:42And how is sheep farming? Is it prosperous, successful?
43:46No. No, wool isn't very prosperous.
43:48Why?
43:50Everything has gone up except the price of wool.
43:52So a bale of wool you might get $1,200 for.
43:55Yeah.
43:56Plus $500 just to shear that wool to put it in the bale.
43:59And another $500 to run it.
44:01So you get $200?
44:03Yeah, for a bale of wool.
44:05But you might take 80 fleeces to make a bale.
44:08So we've diversified.
44:10So we have sheep that are not only wool.
44:13They're also, you can get a lamb, a fat lamb out of them as well.
44:16But you can still get a 19 micron wool off them.
44:20So presumably the demand for wool is still there.
44:24What about the demand for lamb?
44:27It is declining.
44:29It's expensive.
44:30It's expensive to produce and it's very expensive to bite the butcher.
44:33And we have a lot more people who don't eat meat at all.
44:35And their children have never tasted meat.
44:36When I was young, as a late teenager, I spent some time out near Alice Springs.
44:42We used to have mutton chops for breakfast with gravy.
44:46Delicious.
44:48Delicious, I agree.
44:50Samantha has invited me to join her, rounding up the rest of the sheep she needs in this yard.
44:56Let's go.
44:58Let's go.
45:01Interestingly, the first flock of sheep in Australia arrived on the first fleet.
45:06In 1788, destined to be eaten as mutton.
45:12Mutton refers to sheep meat that is two years or older, whereas lamb is younger.
45:19The secret is to give them time to turn.
45:22Don't push them and push them.
45:32The dogs will work in the middle, so he'll push them along.
45:34Good-bye, Colt.
45:40Colt, you're right.
45:41Go on, Colt.
45:47Walk up.
45:48Well done.
45:56Thank you for your help.
45:58Well, I didn't help.
45:59Good-bye, Colt.
46:02My accommodation at Rose Isle is in one of the small shearers' huts on the station, and I've offered to earn my keep by cooking dinner for my hosts while I'm here.
46:12I've always thought of roast lamb as Australia's national dish, but I'll defer to my trusty old A to Z of Australian facts, myths and legends.
46:24Until the arrival of immigrants from southern Europe in the 1950s, and the subsequent waves of migrants from Asia and the Middle East, Australian cuisine was notable for its very British awfulness.
46:38Hang on.
46:40The quintessential Australian meal, particularly in the 19th century, was a piece of mutton, which had to be cooked for hours and hours, so it was tender enough to consume with two vegetables, which were usually potatoes, peas and pumpkin.
46:56I think that's three, actually.
46:59When I arrived in the 60s, most people were eating lamb, but tastes have changed again, and today chicken and beef are more popular.
47:10Still, in honour of my hosts, I'm serving lamb tonight.
47:14So I'm going to roast a couple of racks of lamb, and I'm going to serve it up with some carrots, some glazed carrots, with a little bit of star anise and olive oil.
47:27And I'm going to cook the lamb in this oven.
47:35It's actually an old steam engine that used to drive the pumps in olden times.
47:42It's beautiful.
47:43It's chunky.
47:45And most importantly, it came from Birmingham.
47:49There we go.
47:50So the first thing to do is to colour up my lamb.
47:57So I've got two racks of lamb, and actually a rack of lamb is one side of the loin of lamb.
48:03These have been French trimmed, which just means this part of the fat and the meat has been taken off just to make them look attractive.
48:12But I'm just going to season these racks of lamb first of all.
48:16I do like to put quite a lot of salt on my lamb.
48:18Now to colour my racks of lamb before they go into the oven.
48:23So in they go, like that.
48:25And just because it's a sort of habit of mine, I always like to put a bit of rosemary with my lamb.
48:29It's almost, the flavour does come through in the gravy a little bit, but I just love the smell of rosemary when I'm roasting lamb.
48:39So unfortunately, because I haven't got a boiling top, in other words, a burner, this will take a while.
48:46But it's a lovely afternoon.
48:49We've got plenty of time.
48:50And so I'm going to take plenty of time.
48:55So interestingly, I've got some really nice fresh carrots here.
49:00When I was thinking about cooking beyond Burke, the back of Burke, I think, well, they won't have decent carrots, but they have.
49:06They're really nice.
49:08So I'm just going to cut them like that and leave the tops on because I really like carrot tops.
49:14They look nice and actually they taste nice.
49:16The other thing I'm going to do when I finish off the dish is just serve a bit of a carrot top as what we call garnish in the trade.
49:25So I've already got a roasting dish in this magnificent oven.
49:31But what a lovely roasting dish that is. It's an antique.
49:35I don't know where it came from, but I crave one myself.
49:41So this is just very simple.
49:44Roasted carrots.
49:45So in there I'm going to put some olive oil.
49:48Copious amount of salt.
49:50And a couple of star anises.
49:52I just like the flavour of star anise with carrots.
49:55It doesn't taste like sort of Indian spices.
49:58It's just got this very nice aniseedy flavour and it works with the sweetness of carrots.
50:03And a fair bit of sugar.
50:05I just find that sweet carrots, slightly salty as well.
50:10It's very much to my taste.
50:11So now to stop them burning I'm going to add some water.
50:15And those will all cook down to a nice shiny glaze.
50:20So back into the oven.
50:21I'm going to leave that in the oven now until the water's all boiled away and the carrots will be cooked.
50:30Now back to the raxalaam.
50:32It could still do with a bit more browning but I'm noticing the skin is beginning to catch on the bottom of the roasting tin.
50:40That will flavour the gravy very nicely.
50:42So that will take a little bit longer.
50:45But I'm in no hurry.
50:51I like cooking like this.
50:52I mean here's one of the great things about Australia.
50:54You get plenty of mild afternoons like this.
50:58Lots of sunshine.
50:59Why wouldn't you want to cook outdoors?
51:02Time to check the lamb.
51:04That's much better.
51:05Much better.
51:07So into the oven.
51:09Carrots are looking good.
51:15I need a hot oven about 200 degrees Celsius and I'll roast the lamb for 12 to 15 minutes as I light my lamb quite pink.
51:25One of the things about using an oven like this is you don't know your oven.
51:28Back home I know what the oven how it works and how long I've got but this is really really pumping out the heat now.
51:39Being out here reminds me of a poem by bush poet William Ogilvie.
51:43Where the Mulga paddocks are wild and wide.
51:48That's where the pick of the stockmen ride.
51:51At the back of Burke.
51:56That's where the skies are brightest blue.
51:58That's where the heaviest works to do.
52:01That's where the wildest floods have birth.
52:04At the back of Burke.
52:05Where poor men lend and the rich ones borrow.
52:10It's the bitterest land of sweat and sorrow.
52:13But if I were free I'd be off tomorrow.
52:17Out at the back of Burke.
52:19The carrots are ready so I'll cover them with foil.
52:33And I think the lamb is too but best to check.
52:38So that is quite firm now so I think that would be like medium rare.
52:41But here's another tip.
52:42Take a small knife and put it into the side like that.
52:46Take it out and test it on your bottom lip.
52:49If it feels warm as this does you know that it's medium rare really.
52:54If it feels hot it's medium to well done.
52:57So now all I'm going to do is just rest the racks like this.
53:02And this is so important you want to rest meat.
53:05I mean like a rack of lamb for probably 10-15 minutes.
53:08And the reason for doing that is it relaxes all the tissues in the meat.
53:13And the juice which is sort of forced out towards the surface returns.
53:19So they're ready to be sliced in about 15 minutes.
53:23Now I'm just going to make the gravy.
53:25There's quite a lot of oil left in there and lamb fat.
53:30So I'm just pouring most of that off.
53:33Now open the little barbecue.
53:36Get that heated up.
53:38Now the first thing I'm going to put in there is a little bit of flour to thicken the gravy up a little bit.
53:43Good strong red wine.
53:46And also some red currant jelly.
53:50The reason for that is to give a little bit of sweetness to the gravy to offset the sourness of the wine.
53:58Now some stock.
54:01About 300 ml of stock.
54:04And the last thing I'm going to do is put some soy sauce in.
54:07And that just gives it a bit of colour.
54:10So about a teaspoon of soy sauce.
54:12Just to stir that in.
54:14And finally, to make it nice and glistening and rich, some butter.
54:22I'm just going to taste.
54:25And what I'm looking for is the right amounts of seasoning in there.
54:29At the moment, it's just not quite deep enough.
54:32So I'll achieve that by reducing it more.
54:34But I just want to put a tiny bit more salt in there as well.
54:38The gravy's coming down nicely.
54:40I'm just going to make a little salad now.
54:42And I mean a little salad.
54:44And there's no big deal about a salad like this.
54:47It's the freshness.
54:48And just adding the ingredients at the last minute.
54:50There was some olive oil.
54:51And just a tiny little bit of vinegar.
54:53So just a bit of salt.
54:55Perhaps a little bit of sugar as well.
54:57And that's my salad.
54:59And now to slice the lamb.
55:01So here we go.
55:12Gary and Samantha have joined me at the Shearer's Cottage.
55:16Hope it's still piping hot.
55:18Roast lamb with carrots and a leafy salad.
55:22That's great lamb.
55:23It's local.
55:24Beautiful Australian lamb.
55:26Very tender.
55:27Lovely.
55:28And lots of flavour.
55:30And I must say, cooking it in that oven, the fat is really nice and crisp, isn't it?
55:36It's almost smoky.
55:37Yeah, almost smoky.
55:39What you've done to the carrots has made them beautiful and sweet.
55:42And the tails on them I haven't had before.
55:45But it adds a little bit of fibre into the...
55:49Fibre, Gary, yeah.
55:51That lamb is just why we breed lambs in Australia.
55:54It's nothing like it would cook like it was now.
55:57That's not...
55:58In the old oven.
55:59It's absolutely beautiful.
56:01I'd love an oven like yours, but, you know, they don't come that way anymore.
56:05When we were discussing about making this series, it was people like Gary and Sam and Dick Estens and Kerry Saunders that I was really wanting to meet.
56:22I mean, there's something about their resilience and their connection and love of the land and actually the timeless splendour of the land itself.
56:31Join me next time as I head south.
56:46Beautiful.
56:47To the once dry plains of the River Eda.
56:50Amazing, eh?
56:51So nice.
56:52It might be messy.
56:53Maybe I am on the way to becoming a proper Aussie after all.
56:56Now the nation's food bowl.
56:58Quite a lot bigger than I remember in the 60s.
57:01They do look prehistoric.
57:03A bit like sort of dinosaurs, really.
57:05Hey!
57:06Just stop it!
57:07Whoa!
57:08Get off my belt!
57:09Gente.
57:10Çaà!
57:11ettiain
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