serves
6-8
prep
10 minutes
cook
40 minutes
difficulty
Mid
serves
6-8
people
preparation
10
minutes
cooking
40
minutes
difficulty
Mid
level
Ingredients
- 1 wallaby, cleaned but whole
- Seawater or heavily salted water, to cover
- 200 g honey
- 10 g ground pepperberry
- Kunzea (or other fragrant foliage)
Brining time: 24 hours
Instructions
Take the wallaby and cover it completely in seawater from somewhere clean and unpolluted (or heavily salted tap water). Place it in the fridge and leave it to brine for 24 hours.
Take the wallaby out of the brine, dry it off and leave to air dry while you build a fire.
Mix the honey and pepperberry together and keep aside.
Once you have a bed of coals, place the wallaby down flat on a grill and proceed to let it colour and slowly cook through. It will not need to be seasoned due to the brine, about 10 minutes. Slowly is the key here.
Once browned, place a bed of edible plants such as kunzea underneath it to protect the meat from the harshest heat.
At this stage, start basting the meat periodically with the honey and pepper-berry mixture and cook through, around 15-30 minutes. It's recommended to serve wallaby to medium-rare but because of the brine it can be taken a little further. Cooking time will also vary depending on the size of your wallaby. Test the thickest part of the thigh to tell when it is done to your liking.
Take off the grill, allow to rest 10 minutes then carve.
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Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
