Australia Travel Story PART 3 – Rockstar Pigs

On my route through Western Australia, the area around the town of Busselton, which is part of the famous Margaret River wine region and lies south of the Western Australian capital of Perth, is on the agenda for the next two days. I will be accompanied by Dennis Mifsud, who specializes in food tours off the beaten tourist track.

Our first destination is the Jindong Free Range Farm . Here pigs are bred that do not eke out their lives in dreary stables but are allowed to roam freely across the meadows. Here we meet James Taylor, a fourth generation potato farmer and quite unconventional pig farmer with his brother. He broke away from his predetermined life for ten years and tried to make his fortune in the big city of Perth. There he met his current wife Katie and together they dared to make the leap to Europe to get to know the country and its people through “work and travel”. And to think about what the future might look like for both of them. In 2010 the couple moved back to the farm in Western Australia. Primarily to lead a self-determined, independent life. James explains: “They say that to be truly self-sufficient you should own a pig. So we got three pigs. The three lived with us in anticipation of a delicious Christmas ham. Although we were surprised why two of them got so fat.

Above: The diversity of pig breeds is clearly visible
Below: A special grain mix for pigs is produced in a mill 15 km from the farm.

The secret was revealed just in time for Christmas - the two sows were farrowing. That was the beginning of our pig breeding and one of the original sows and two of the first gilts still live on our farm today."
James and Katie do not breed purebred pigs and James calls his pigs – almost affectionately – little bastards. But the meat tastes fantastic, as I will see for myself later. There is a bit of everything in the animals. There are Berkshire, Duroc and Saddleback, which are the original boars, and a few bush pigs, which make for a good mix. James also increased the breeding stock with a Edelschwein and a Landrace boar and crossed these with the gilts from his first generation to achieve better feed conversion and a larger body shape. "All of our sows farrow outside wherever they want. We only bring them mobile shelters to disturb them as little as possible. There are always nine to ten piglets in a litter, which suits our sows' small stature perfectly," explains James. The piglets are weaned at six to eight weeks of age, but this depends on the sow's condition. Each pig has access to a pasture of around 100 square metres, and they graze like dairy cattle in our country. Only in the dry summer months may it be necessary to feed them hay, a grain mix or silage. In this way, 150 pigs reached slaughter maturity last year, and this year James and Katie are expecting twice as many. At the moment, the pigs are slaughtered at 24 weeks old and weigh around 50 kilograms. In future, the animals will only be slaughtered after 28 to 30 weeks, when they weigh 60 to 70 kilograms, as the costs for the butcher are the same up to a weight of 100 kilograms. "We are very happy that the meat from our pigs has made it onto the menu of some of the best restaurants in the area. We are planning to expand our presence at local farmers' markets shortly, as more and more people want to know where the meat for their roast comes from and how the animals were raised," James concludes, explaining his philosophy.
And now I'm really curious to see how the meat tastes and look forward to Dennis's grilling skills.

Recipe: Grilled Pork Scotch Fillet with Dens Yellow Curry Paste and Eggplant Sprout Chili Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 kg pork neck
• 150 g Dens Curry Paste
• 500 ml olive oil

For Den’s Yellow Curry Paste:
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 7 dried chilies, roughly chopped
• 5 dried very hot chilies, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp lemongrass, chopped
• 2 tbsp shallots, chopped
• 3 tbsp garlic, chopped
• 1 ½ tsp fresh ginger, chopped
• 1 tsp galangal, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• 1 ½ tsp curry
• ½ tsp turmeric

For the salad:
• 1 large eggplant
• 1 bunch of spring onions, cut into thin strips
• 2 mild chili peppers, chopped
• 2 cups bean sprouts
• 1 cup fresh coriander, basil and mint, mixed
and chopped
• ½ red onion, cut into rings
• Peanut oil
• Salt

For the curry dressing:
• 2 tbsp of Dens Yellow Curry Paste
• 200 ml coconut milk
• Juice of 2 limes

Dennis Mifsud, food tour guide from Busselton

Preparation:

For the curry paste, heat a frying pan over low heat. Add the cumin and coriander seeds and cook for a few minutes until they release a nice fragrance. Set aside. Now add the chillies, lemongrass, shallots, garlic, ginger and galangal to the pan and roast for 5 minutes until everything turns a light brown. Remove from the pan and set aside. Grind the cumin and coriander seeds in a mortar. Then add the remaining ingredients and process everything into a paste.
Cut the meat into thin steaks and marinate in a mixture of olive oil and curry paste for 1 hour. Cut the aubergine into large cubes and season with salt, then leave to stand for 30 minutes. Heat peanut oil in a large pan and fry the aubergine cubes in it. Remove, pat dry with kitchen paper and set aside. Remove the neck steaks from the marinade and grill on an open grill. To serve, first distribute the fried aubergine pieces on the plates and then add the remaining salad ingredients - well mixed - and drizzle with the curry dressing. Place 2 neck steaks on each of them.

At the Goose Restaurant

While I'm here, I want to feel the fresh sea breeze blowing around my nose one more time. And that's especially good at the "Busselton Jetty" . On this wooden pier with its characteristic little blue houses, you can walk almost two kilometers out into the sea. It was built in 1865 as a pier for supplying ships, and later also seaplanes. It's an idyllic place to take a breather. Right on the beach is "The Goose" , a restaurant that impresses with its location and also serves good, regional cuisine. You should definitely stop by there if you're ever in the area!

Your Elmar Fetscher

SEQUEL FOLLOWS…