Bursting Bush - Native Foods

With all the wonderful names such as lilly pilly, spiny-headed mat rush, finger lime and quandongs, our native produce sound like creatures from a Dr Seuss book. Sydney offers a plethora of international cuisines, but when it comes to our wild foods, Australians are left dumbfounded.

Our taste buds can no longer ignore the unique flavours of our native produce and the $14 million indigenous food industry is on its way up as it finds its place in local and overseas Australian eateries (e.g. Kakadu Café in Shanghai and Almaty in Kazakhstan), home-cooking and industrial food production.

Vic Cherikoff who pioneered the use of Australian indigenous foods in the 80s says, "Every one of them has something of (nutritional) interest." Cherikoff says wild foods such as herbs, spices, berries and nuts have been "locked in a climatic evolution" and although Australia is a tough place to grow foods, our wild foods are highly active and compact with nutritional value. Indigenous foods have become instrumental in health and research into diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Kakadu plum juice, made from fruit which looks like a green olive and tastes like an apricot, has the highest level of vitamin C in the world and can assist with the treatment of allergies and chronic migraine.

Cherikoff says that the native food industry is growing uphereas in the 1980s "it used to be gimmicky - witchetty grubs and bush tucker - authentic Australian cuisine has reached a critical mass...". So how do we enjoy our native produce? Cherikoff says you can experience Australian produce by integrating it into your own cuisine and cooking.

Tuck into the Bush

Cherikoff This website is a first point of call for info on bush foods and their properties. Cherikoff suggests a rosella fruit confit over yogurt, alpine pepper on scrambled eggs and wattleseed in pancakes.

The Essential Ingredient These are the culinary nomads and after traveling all over, Australian native produce makes the cut. Try coffee-chocolate-hazelnut scented Tumbeela Wattleseed in your dessert, 75g for $9.25; Taste of the Bush Lemon Myrtle is a robust herbal substitute for lemon, 20g for $6.30; Tasmanian Mountain Pepper is a tangy, spicy powder made from ground leaves, 10g for $6.99.

The Bush Tucker Shop This online store may carry a gimmicky name, but a browse the products will prove why Australian native produce is all grown up. The must-buy is the Wild Hibiscus Flowers in syrup, 250g for $10.

Berri Native Blend Juices Hop down to Woolies and pick up a carton of Berri's Apple & Mango Juice with a hint of lemon myrtle or Apple & Strawberry with a hint of rosella flower.

Bush Berri Cafe & Art Gallery  Debra Beale is a graduate of the Yaama Dhiyaan School which specialises in indigenous cooking.
137 Redfern St, Redfern 2016. (02 9698 4784).

Royal Botanic Gardens - Aboriginal Heritage Tour  Once the stomping grounds of Sydney Aboriginal clans and home to the Cadigal clan, Aboriginal education officer Clarence Slockee uncovers the indigenous heritage of the gardens' site through music, dance, artifacts and bush foods.
Fridays. Moore Room, Royal Botanic Gardens 2000. (02 9231 8134). 2pm-3pm. Adult $25; student/child $13. Bookings essential. Tucker lunch available by request.

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