Torres Strait islander keeping her culture alive through cooking

Torres Strait islander, Evelyn Billy, is a woman on a mission.

She is teaching traditional cooking, as part of a quest to keep the culture of her region alive through its cuisine, with its roots that run through mainland Australia, Asia, and the Pacific.

"Some of them just come and just watch you cook, and it excites them because that's what they do back home,” she says.

It was a visit to a food court in a shopping centre in North Queensland that inspired her. Billy now manages food trucks and a restaurant dedicated to Torres Strait Island cuisine.

"I stood there in that eatery. We had every culture except ours. I'm thinking to myself 'where's mine?”

And it goes beyond just feeding people. It is also about reconciliation.

“When you sit and eat you start yarning [talking]. Then you ask one another 'yum, where is this from?' Conversation starts, then it just turns into a cultural class,” she explains.

Cook Mona Tamwoy says some customers have become regulars.

"We have customers rock up and ‘Is this ready? Is the vermicelli chicken ready?’ A lot of non-indigenous, they come up and ask and it's great to see that they are coming back for more.”

With ingredients and influences from Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, modern Torres Strait Island food is a celebration of the archipelago’s history.