Are you ready to take your cooking up a notch? If you’re ready to try something new in the kitchen, then you should consider incorporating Australian indigenous cuisine into your weekly meal plan.
You don’t have to be a master chef to enjoy native Australian flavours at home. Here are just a few ingredients of classic Indigenous bush tucker and food sources that can easily be incorporated into your everyday cooking:
Lemon mrytle: A spice similar to lemon, lemongrass and lime, it is often brewed into tea or used to flavour food.
Honey: Found in the honey ants nests under mulga trees or from native bees.
Wattle seeds: Known for their complex nutty flavour, these are eaten whole or milled into flour.
Davidson or Kakadu plums: Both contain 100 times more Vitamin C than an orange.
Kangaroo meat: High in protein, low in fat and high in iron.
Quandong: This sweet and tangy native peach is often enjoyed raw or used in pie fillings.
Gooseberries: Like blueberries, small in size and high in antioxidant content.
River Mint: Similar to peppermint or spearmint, river mint is great for adding extra flavor to sauces, salads, desserts, or cocktails.
Finger Limes: These small, tart citrus fruits are used to garnish oysters, salmon and other seafood.
Bush Tomatoes: Kutjera, the most common type of bush tomato, is a dried fruit that pairs well with cheese, eggs and salmon.
Saltbush: Saltbush leaves can be paired with lamb, tossed into salads or used as an alternative to salt.
To get you started, take a look at SBS Food's 13 ways to bake with Indigenous Australian herbs and spices. You can purchase Indigenous products such as Rainforest Plum Conserve, loose leaf native teas, superfoods, Vital C with Australian Kakadu Plum and Desert Lime, Warndu Salt & Pepper (Murray River Pink Salt, Native Pepper and Saltbush), and more from Yarn Marketplace*: Food & Spices. Perhaps you may fancy a Red Hills Hand-painted Wine and Coaster Set; or want to create a relaxing Sunday morning mood with a cuppa tea or coffee in one of their Pure Ochre ceramic mugs and a Pure Ochre Lemon Myrtle, Lemon and Lime Candle (Sunday Morning Bundle); or simply browse their collection of Drinkware featuring Indigenous designs and Aboriginal Art NAIDOC 2022 Coffee Mug Ceramic**.
If cooking doesn’t interest you or you prefer to get out and about, there are also a plethora of restaurants across Australia that serve indigenous cuisine, such as:
• Mabu Mabu: Victoria (Indigenous owned).
• Kawul: New South Wales (Indigenous owned).
• Charcoal Lane: Victoria (both a restaurant and social enterprise of Mission Australia).
• Fervor: Western Australia.
• Mirritya Mundya | Indigenous Twist: New South Wales. For your next catered event, local indigenous-owned Australian businesses to consider include:
New South Wales
South Australia
It's All Native.
Victoria
Queensland
*
Yarn Marketplace is a collective of Indigenous business owners and artists in support of Indigenous employment and training as well as showcasing 100% Authentic Indigenous artwork, and ethically and sustainably sourced Indigenous art.
**
NAIDOC Week (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) occurs annually in July, and celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by many Australians all over the country and overseas.
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