Cooking school and food studio in Mirboo North, Gippsland.
Eat
Open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for meals, coffee, cake or High Tea. Every meal is made fresh on site from local or seasonal produce from Jacican's kitchen garden. Long Lunches and seasonal dinners held throughout the year.
Learn
Skills-based cooking classes. Pastry classes, restaurant skills at a long lunch, or summer and winter preserving.
Share
Seasonal dinners, long lunches, gift vouchers, private classes and team build inquires welcome.
Ten years ago ...
... myself and Building Maintenance brought our house and moved into our home in Mirboo North, Gippsland. The two of us working very hard over that period to build our dream and create our happy place!
But, it all started before that. We meet at work, just before the 2000 Olympics, when he was building OB trucks and I was working in them. Jump forward a year and apart from work, we are rarely apart.
When I announce that it was time to follow my dream, he was there backing me up. It was Building Maintenance that pushed me to train as a chef. I remember him saying ‘that we could follow the dream – to grow and cook our own produce’ on the condition that I worked from the ground up and trained as a chef.
So, I took a job washing dishes in a Richmond café, then a catering company, got my certificates in catering and commercial cookery, worked in hotels, all before moving to Mirboo North. Through this, he supported me, never once either of us asking for government support for training or a wage.
Fast forward to now. We have built our business – Jacican. This includes renovating the house, the dairy, putting in the kitchen garden and teaching kitchen. Now there is staff (with room for some more) and I get to do what I love every day.
Thanks for reading.
Wattlebank Park Farm - Roast Pork
This is the continuing story of Nadine, from Wattlebank Park Farm, taken from the Winter 2018 edition of Gippsland Magazine. The article was put together by me, using Nadine's recipes ...
... Before Nadine could cook the pork, we were interrupted, by a piglet visiting the back door to say hello, creating a farming interlude. This is the real meaning of free range farming.
Nadine free-range farms, Wessex Saddleback Pigs. A black and white pig, that are known for their placid nature and natural mothering skills. At Wattlebank Park farm the pigs roam freely (in a large fenced paddock), living on a lower protein diet, without any commercial feed. All piglets are raised by their mothers, before weaning at 12 weeks.
To get your pork to cook to the optimal result, it is a good idea to have a meat thermometer handy.
1 kg boned rolled pork loin
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Method
- 1. Preheat oven to 220c
- 2. If your pork has not been scored by the butcher, you will need to do this first. Dry pork skin. Massage olive oil salt and pepper into the dry scored pork skin.
- 3. Place pork on a baking tray and into your preheated oven bake for 20 mins then turn down to 180c. Cook for 40 min per kg of pork or until internal temp reaches 71c.
Nadine served the pork with a jar of pickled quinces from my pantry.
