--- airs at 7:30pm Tuesdays on SBS and SBS On Demand starting 21 June. You can watch restauranteur Matt Moran in Episode 6 (July 26) as he discovers his connection to the land and the secrets of his mother's family. to catch up on previous episodes of (with subtitles available in Arabic and Mandarin). ---
When celebrity chef, , in the quiet town of Rockley, just south of Bathurst in NSW last year, questions circulated.
Why was a from the big smoke blowing into a small town he had no connection to, with plans to redevelop the heart of a place he didn’t know?
As it turns out, Moran was no blow-in celebrity from the city. Drive a short way out of Rockley’s centre and you’ll reach the Moran Family Farm; land with cows, pigs and sheep that’s been in the family name for years, that is now owned completely by the farming chef.
“When I bought the pub, I could see that I could actually bring something to a town that doesn’t have a lot of services,” Moran tells SBS. “I thought, ‘if I buy the pub, I could probably buy next door and put in a bakery and general store’. That’s what started it. But then, for the life of me, I found out that my great grandfather was married in Rockley.”
There was just this bizarre gravitational pull to the area. I mean why did I buy a bloody pub in Rockley? I could have bought one anywhere.
The coincidence was surreal. It got Moran thinking – did he have other ancestral connections to the town that he had been unaware of?
“There was just this bizarre gravitational pull to the area,” Moran reflects. “I mean why did I buy a bloody pub in Rockley? I could have bought one anywhere. Before I , I had no idea that my great grandfather was married there or know about all the historic connections I have to the area.
"Just by talking to the locals [since], it turns out that I am related to a lot of them in some way shape or form.”
Earlier this year, the chef went on SBS’s to learn more about his family history, wondering if the show could explain his love of quality produce or uncover a deeper link to Rockley and surrounding towns.
During the show, discoveries about Moran's convict past were uncovered. There were tragic tales of poverty, hunger, theft, violence and more. Until one ancestor - Moran’s great grandfather, Charles Moran - changed the trajectory of his family's fate with a more positive story.
Charles was raised in harsh circumstances and neglected as a child. But through sheer determination and hard work, he made a life for himself and eventually bought land around Rockley. It was there that Charles owned a farm and became a respectable pioneer in the area.
“I see how Charles did it tough as a child and how he came out of it all being an incredible man – someone you can’t help but respect and look up to.”
Paddock-to-plate: an innate link
Moran, who grew up around farms, has always felt an innate link to the land. This connection was demonstrated nationally when he pioneered the ‘Paddock to Plate’ philosophy in restaurants throughout Australia and created the TV show of the same name in 2013 to document stories about produce and the farmers behind it.
By looking into his family's past, Moran discovered that his interest in farming is ancestral. On both sides of his family, there are stockmen, farmers and people who worked the land.
“There's no question about it - knowing more about my family connections has helped to explain why I've always been so passionate about farming. It's just something that's instilled, that I love so much. I'm drawn to the land: now more than ever.”
My grandmother used to bake. Whenever I visited, she would make date scones. They were the most amazing things. I have great memories of eating her beautiful date scones, served fresh out of the oven.
Moran now hopes that the SBS show will help Rockley locals to understand a little bit more about who he is. “Rather than thinking that I'm just this hospitality guru that came into town to reap the rewards of [redeveloping the local pub], [I hope they see] that I have a much more meaningful connection to the area.”
A new future, knowing the past
The first stage of Moran’s ambitious plans to revitalise was completed earlier this year. Part of the pub will stay open for business, as future phases of development progress throughout 2022.
Moran explains his vision for the new-look Rockley Pub will feature a bar named after Charles Moran and a memorial plaque dedicated in his honour. It will also have a restaurant and a boutique hotel attached. There’ll be a general store next door and a bakery serving Moran’s grandmothers’ date scones as a tribute to his more recent family history.
"My grandmother used to bake. Whenever I visited, she would make date scones. They were the most amazing things. I have great memories of eating her beautiful date scones, served fresh out of the oven."
I want the locals of Rockley to be able to come into town and be able to buy a loaf of bread or scones from a bakery on a Sunday morning and not have to travel half-an-hour to Bathurst to do so.
Although scones and tea are traditionally British, Moran believes that in some way Australians have made them our own, especially in rural locations like the NSW Central Tablelands region.
"I want the locals of Rockley to be able to come into town and be able to buy a loaf of bread or scones from a bakery on a Sunday morning and not have to travel half an hour to Bathurst to do so.
"I'm a person who is very passionate about what I do. But I'm very also passionate about the area," Moran adds, revealing a strong certainty about who he is based on knowing his family's past. "I'm a chef and a farmer who is very committed to preserving the history of Rockley.”
Matt Moran shares his nan's date scone recipe
Serves 8
Ingredients
- 350 g self-raising flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 30 g castor sugar
- ½ tsp mixed spice
- 40 g unsalted butter, chilled
- 1 egg
- 175 ml milk
- 180 g dried dates, cut into quarters
- 1 orange, grated zest
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
2. Sieve the flour, salt, sugar and mixed spice together into a bowl.
3. Dice the butter into small cubes and add to the sieved flour.
4. Using your fingertips rub the butter into the flour. Once the butter is incorporated, make a well in the centre of the flour. Mix the egg, milk, dates and orange zest together then pour into the well of the flour mixture.
5. Mix together to form a dough then turn out onto a floured surface. Roll the dough with a rolling pin to a 5 cm thickness then using a 7 cm round cutter cut out 8 scones.
6. For a glossy finish to the scone, brush the tops with a little beaten egg yolk then arrange the scones on the baking tray. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
7. Remove the scones from the oven and cool on a baking rack. Once cool, serve with jam and clotted cream.
