The indigenous people of
Australia
have used the fruits and plants growing widely on the land for centuries. It
has taken many years, but Indigenous foods are becoming more widely known and
available, being grown very successfully by a group of
farmers in South Australia, giving us the
opportunity to create dishes such as; Calamari seasoned with lemon myrtle,
Lemon myrtle linguine tossed with local scallops and prawns, Native spinach
fettuccine with Springs Smoked Salmon with creamy bush tomato and macadamia
sauce, Kangaroo fillet crusted with Mountain Pepper, and served with a pepper
berry dressing and fresh leaf salad. The aboriginal people have traditionally
ground seeds to make a kind of flour, added water and baked a kind of Damper in
the coals of their cooking fires.
In
Australia
they have a freshwater crustacean that creeps on the bottom of streams, lakes
and in farm dams; they are called Yabbies, and have been enjoyed by indigenous
Australians for centuries. Now the rest of the world is waking up to their
secret delights. Their delicate, sweet flavour and firm texture has won lavish
praise from connoisseurs the world over. They are absolutely delicious, and can
be used in Yabbie Chowder, Yabbie Pate, or Yabbie Stir Fry with Asian
vegetables.
Some examples of Bush Tucker:
Lemon myrtle: fresh leaf, or ground dried leaf of the Lemon
Myrtle tree
Mountain Pepper: ground leaf or berries of the mountain
pepper tree
Native spinach: warrugul greens, a native spinach growing in
coastal areas
Bush tomatoes: small tomato-like fruits, also called desert
raising
Macadamia nuts: a nut, native of
Australia
,
now grown in other places
Wattle seed: A small, oval, black variety of the Acacia seed.
Wattle seed is used in
many foods including rice, soups, meat rubs and baked goods.
