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| − | The word '''Bushfood''' refers to any [[Australia]]n native food, although it sometimes is used with the specific connotation of "food found in the [[Outback]] while living on the land". It is also called '''bushtucker'''. It includes both animal and plant foods native to Australia.
| + | '''Bush bread''' refers to the traditional [[bread]] made by [[Australian Aborigines]] for many thousands of years. [[Image:Aboriginal grinding stones.jpg|thumb|250px|Aboriginal grinding stones - a pestle and mortar - vital in making flours for breads.]] |
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| − | More recently the food industry refers to gourmet bushfoods as '''Australian native foods'''.
| + | With the arrival of Europeans and pre-[[mill]]ed white [[flour]], this traditional bread-making process all but disappeared, although the tradition of cooking bread in hot coals continues. |
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| − | Examples of Australian native animal foods (meat) include [[kangaroo]], [[emu]] and [[crocodile]]. These meats are not uncommon in Australian restaurants. Other animals, for example the [[Goanna]] and the [[witchetty grub]], were eaten by [[Aboriginal]] Australians and thus qualify as bushfood in every sense of the word. [[Fish]] and [[shellfish]] are culinary features of the Australian coastal communities.
| + | Bread-making was traditionally a women's task. It involved collecting seasonal [[grass]]es, roots or [[nut]]s, and preparing these into a [[flour]] or a [[dough]]. The process was generally carried out by several women at once, due to its labour-intensive nature. |
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| − | Examples of Australian native plant foods include the fruits: [[quandong]] (''Santalum acuminatum''), [[Australian desert raisin]] (''Solanum centrale''), [[muntries]] (''Kunzea pomifera''), [[riberry]] (''Syzygium luehmannii''), Davidson's plum (''[[Davidsonia]]'' spp.), and, [[Finger Lime]] (''Citrus australasica''). Native spices include [[lemon myrtle]] (''Backhousia citriodora''), mountain pepper (''Tasmannia lanceolata''), and, [[aniseed myrtle]] (''Anetholea anista''). A popular leafy vegetable is [[warrigal greens]] (''Tetragonia tetragonoides'').
| + | ===Bread-making from grains=== |
| | + | Seeds of grains were collected. Seeds varied depending on the time of year, and the area in Australia. In [[Central Australia]], [[native millet]] (''Panicum decompositum'') were [[spinifex]] were commonly used grains. [[Wattleseed]] was also often used in the mix. |
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| − | Nuts include [[bunya nut]] (''Araucaria bidwillii''), and the most identifiable bushfood plant harvested and sold in large scale commercial quantities is the [[macadamia]] nut (''Macadamia integrifolia'').
| + | In north [[Western Australia]], around the [[Kimberley]] region, Aboriginal women observed that, after the dry season, many seeds would gather around the opening of [[ant]]s' nests. The ants [[husk]]ed the seed for them, and the women were able to collect this seed. |
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| | + | ====Making the flour==== |
| | + | The grain was then [[winnowing|winnow]]ed, often using the [[coolamon]], the multi-purpose carrying vessel used by women. Once the grain was winnowed, it was ground using a [[millstone]], to create a flour. Millstones have been discovered which prove to be as old as 50,000 years. The flour was then mixed with water to make a [[dough]] and placed in the ashes for baking. The results could be small buns, known today as [[johnny cake]]s, or a large loaf, known as [[damper (food)|damper]]. Damper appears to be a mix of this traditional style of breadmaking and European breadmaking. |
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| − | =='''Traditional Aboriginal use'''==
| + | The dough could also be eaten raw. Cooking was a good way to prepare the bread if the group were about to travel for some time. [[Image:Damper (food).jpg|thumb|right|250px|[[Damper (food)|Damper]] is cooked in hot coals in the way traditional Aboriginal bread has been for eons.]] |
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| − | [[Australian Aborigines]] have eaten native animal and plant foods for an estimated 60,000 years of human habitation on the Australian continent. | + | ===Bread-making from other plant products=== |
| | + | Bread could also be made from roots and [[corm]]s of plants. In the [[Top End]] of Australia, people such as the [[Yolngu]] used the [[lotus root]] and [[wild taro]]. These were ground, then mixed to a paste to make the bread. |
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| − | Various traditional methods of processing and cooking are used. Toxic seeds, such as [[Cycad]] (''Cycas media'') and Moreton Bay Chestnut (''Castanospermum australe'') are processed to remove the toxins and render them safe to eat. Many foods are also baked in the hot campfire coals, or baked for several hours in ground ovens. ‘Paperbark’, the bark of ''Melalauca'' species, is widely used for wrapping food placed in ground ovens. [[Bush bread]] was made by women using many types of seeds, nuts and corms to process a flour or dough to make bread.
| + | [[Water lily]] seed bread was also popular in the [[Top End]]. The two species of water lily used were ''Nelumbo nucifera'' and ''Nymphaea macrosperma''. During the early part of the [[dry season]], teh water lilies are an important part of teh diet, with seed pods eaten raw or groind into paste. |
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| − | Aboriginal traditional native food use was severely impacted by the invasion of non-indigenous people, via displacement from traditional lands, destruction of native habitat, and the introduction of non-native foods.
| + | Women also had expert knowledge of how to "de-toxify" certain plant foods. The [[cycad palm]], ''Cycas media'' are highly carcenogenic when raw and require elaborate treatment includuing shelling, crushing, leaching in running water for up to five days, then cooking. They are finally made into small loaves, which can keep for a nubmer of weeks. |
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| − | The recent recognition of the nutritional value of native foods by non-indigenous Australian’s is assisting in a renewal of native cuisine. However, there are intellectual property issues associated with the commercialization of bushfood.
| + | In [[Queensland]], the people of the [[Mount Tamborine]] area, used the [[Bunya Pine]] cone, endemic to the area, in this way to make bread. |
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| − | =='''Colonial use'''== | + | ===Some names for Aboriginal bread=== |
| − | | + | * Bunup |
| − | Bushfoods provided a source of nutrition to the non-indigenous colonial settlers, often supplementing meager rations. However, bushfoods were often considered to be inferior by colonists unfamiliar with the new land's food ingredients, generally preferring familiar foods from the homeland.
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| − | The only Australian native food developed and cropped on a large scale is the macadamia nut, with the first small-scale commercial plantation being planted in Australia in the 1880s. Subsequently, Hawaii was where the macadamia was commercially developed to its greatest extent from stock imported from Australia.
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| − | =='''Modern use'''==
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| − | In the 1970s non-indigenous Australian’s began to recognize the previously over-looked indigenous aspects of Australia, including native foods. Textbooks like ''Wildfoods In Australia'' by the botanist couple Cribb & Cribb were popular, and later the author Tim Low published ''Wild Food Plants of Australia''.
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| − | TV shows also made use of the bushfood theme. [[Malcolm Douglas]] was one of the first presenters to show how to 'live off the land' in the Australian Outback. But it was probably Major [[Les Hiddins]] who popularized the idea of bush tucker. A retired [[Australian Army]] soldier, he presented a hit TV series called ''Bush Tucker Man'' on the [[Australian Broadcasting Commission]] TV network in the late 1980s. In the series, Hiddins demonstrated his training and research in combat survival by locating native foodstuffs in the northern Australian Outback.
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| − | Bushfood enthusiasts in regional Australia began to assess the culinary and cropping qualities of bushfoods in the early 1980s. This regional research laid the foundations for the development of the modern bushfood industry (see [[bushfood industry history]]).
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| − | In the mid-1980s metropolitan bushfood restaurants were using native Australian ingredients in recipes more familiar to modern tastes. This provided the first opportunity for bushfoods to be tried by non-indigenous Australian’s on a serious [[gourmet]] level, and lead to the realization that many strong flavored bushfoods have [[spice]]-like qualities. Some of these bushfood ingredients now feature in modern Australian cuisine, and [[Australian spices]] are being increasingly recognized internationally.
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| − | Value-added bushfood products were also developed for the domestic and export market. The raw ingredients are sourced from wild and cultivated sources, with an emphasis on the later to provide sustainable quantities.
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| − | In the last decade, industry groups such as the Southern Bushfood Association, the Queensland Bushfood Association, the Northern Bushfood Association, and many others have been pushing for the introduction of bushfood as genuine cuisine in Australian and international restaurants.
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| − | The term "bushfood" is one of several terms describing native Australian food, evolving from the older-style "bushtucker" which was used in the 1970s and 1980s. The word "bushfood" was chosen to reflect the sustainable nature of the industry's products, and to help exporters with product branding. The term "Australian native food" is another term recently coined to create further seperation from the more rustic bush conatations. However, the term "bushfood" is still used by many industry workers and the Australian [[Government]] and [[CSIRO]] sources and authors.
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| − | =='''Australian native food-plants listed by culinary province.'''==
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| − | Australian bushfood plants can be divided into several distinct and large regional culinary provinces. Please note, some species listed grow across several climatic boundaries.
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| − | '''Top-end'''
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| − | Monsoonal zone of the Northern Territory, Cape York and Western Australia.
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| − | '''Fruit''':
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| − | ''Buchanania arborescens'', Little Gooseberry Tree
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| − | ''Citrus gracilis'', Kakadu Lime
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| − | ''Ficus racemosa'', Cluster Fig
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| − | ''Manilkara kaukii'', Wongi
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| − | ''Melastoma affine'', Blue Tongue
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| − | ''Mimusops elengi'' Tanjong
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| − | ''Morinda citrifolia'', [[Noni]]
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| − | ''Physalis minima'', Native Gooseberry
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| − | ''[[Terminalia ferdinandiana]]'', Kakadu Plum
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| − | ''Syzygium suborbiculare'', Lady Apple
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| − | '''Spice''':
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| − | ''[[Eucalyptus staigeriana]]'', Lemon Ironbark
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| − | ''[[Ocimum tenuiflorum]]'', Native Basil
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| − | '''Nut''':
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| − | ''Semecarpus australiensis'', Austraian Cashew Nut
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| − | '''Vegetable''':
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| − | ''Dioscorea transversa'', Pencil Yam
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| − | ''Ipomoea aquatica'', Native Kang Kong
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| − | ''Lotus nelumbo'', [[Lotus]]
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| − | '''Central Australia'''
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| − | Arid and semi-arid zones of the low rainfall interior.
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| − | '''Fruit''':
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| − | ''Capparis'' spp., Native Caper
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| − | ''Citrus glauca'', [[Desert Lime]]
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| − | ''Enchylaena tormentosa'', Ruby Saltbush
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| − | ''Ficus platypoda'', Desert Fig
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| − | ''Marsdenia australis'', Doubah
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| − | ''Owenia acidula'', Emu Apple
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| − | ''Santalum acuminatum'', [[Quandong]]
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| − | ''Santalum lanceolatum'', [[Sandalwood]]
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| − | ''[[Solanum centrale]]'', Akudjura
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| − | '''Spice''':
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| − | ''[[Eucalyptus polybractea]]'', Blue-leaved Mallee
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| − | '''Seed''':
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| − | ''Acacia aneura'', Mulga
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| − | ''Acacia coriacea'', Gundabluey
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| − | ''Acacia holosericea'', Strap Wattle
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| − | ''Acacia kempeana'', Witchetty Bush
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| − | ''Acacia victoriae'', Gundabluey
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| − | ''Brachychiton populneus'', [[Kurrajong]]
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| − | '''Vegetable''':
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| − | ''Calandrinia balonensis'', Parakeelya
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| − | ''Lepidium'' spp., Peppercresses
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| − | ''Portulaca intraterranea'', Large Pigweed.
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| − | '''Eastern Australia'''
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| − | Subtropical rainforests of New South Wales to the wet tropics of Northern Queensland.
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| − | '''Fruit''':
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| − | ''Acronychia acidula'', [[Lemon Aspen]]
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| − | ''Acronychia oblongifolia'', White Aspen
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| − | ''Archirhodomyrtus beckleri'', Rose Myrtle
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| − | ''Austromyrtus dulcis'', [[Midyim]]
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| − | ''Carpobrotus glaucescens'', Pigface
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| − | ''Citrus australasica'', [[Finger Lime]]
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| − | ''[[Citrus australis]]'', Dooja
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| − | ''[[Davidsonia]]'' spp., Davidson’s Plum
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| − | ''Diploglottis campbellii'', Small-leaf Tamarind
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| − | ''[[Eupomatia laurina]]'', Bolwarra
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| − | ''Ficus coronata'', Sandpaper Fig
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| − | ''Pleiogynium timorense'', Burdekin Plum
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| − | ''[[Podocarpus elatus]]'', Illawarra Plum
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| − | ''Planchonella australis'', Black Apple
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| − | ''Rubus hillii'', Broad-leaf Bramble
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| − | ''Rubus probus'', Atherton Raspberry
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| − | ''Rubus rosifolius'', Rose-leaf Bramble
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| − | ''Sambucus australasica'', Yellow Elderberry
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| − | ''Syzygium luehmannii'', [[Riberry]]
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| − | ''Ximenia americana'', Yellow Plum
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| − | '''Spice''':
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| − | ''Alpinia coerulea'', Native Ginger
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| − | ''Anetholea anisata'', Aniseed Myrtle
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| − | ''Backhousia citriodora'', [[Lemon Myrtle]]
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| − | ''Backhousia myrtifolia'', [[Cinnamon Myrtle]]
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| − | ''[[Prostanthera incisa]]'', Cut-leaf Mintbush
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| − | '''Nut''':
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| − | ''[[Araucaria bidwillii]]'', Bunya Nut
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| − | ''Macadamia integrifolia'', [[Macadamia]] Nut
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| − | ''Macadamia tetraphylla'', Bush Nut
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| − | ''[[Sterculia quadrifida]]'', Peanut Tree
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| − | '''Vegetable''':
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| − | ''[[Apium prostratum]]'', Sea Celery
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| − | ''Commelina cyanea'', Scurvy Weed
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| − | ''Geitonoplesium cymosum'', Scrambling Lily
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| − | ''[[Tetragonia tetragonoides]]'', [[Warrigal Greens]]
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| − | ''Trachymene incisa'', Wild Parsnip.
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| − | '''Temperate'''
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| − | Warm and cool temperate zones of Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria and the highlands of New South Wales.
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| − | '''Fruit''':
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| − | ''Acrotriche depressa'', Native Currant
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| − | ''Billarderia cymosa'', Sweet Apple-berry
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| − | ''Billarderia longiflora'', Purple Apple-berry
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| − | ''Billarderia scandens'', Common Apple-berry
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| − | ''Carpobrotus rossii'', Karkalla
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| − | ''Eustrephus latifolius'', [[Wombat berry]]
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| − | ''[[Exocarpus cupressiformis]]'', Native Cherry
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| − | ''Gaultheria hispida'', Snow Berry
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| − | ''Kunzea pomifera'', [[Muntries]]
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| − | ''Rubus parvifolius'', Pink-flowered Native Raspberry
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| − | ''Sambucus gaudichaudiana'', White Elderberry
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| − | '''Seed''':
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| − | ''Acacia longifolia'', Golden Rods
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| − | ''Acacia sophorae'', Coast Wattle
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| − | '''Spice''':
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| − | ''[[Eucalyptus dives]]'', Peppermint Gum
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| − | ''[[Eucalyptus olida]]'', Strawberry Gum
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| − | ''[[Eucalyptus globulus]]'', Tasmanian Blue Gum
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| − | ''Mentha australis'', River Mint
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| − | ''[[Tasmannia]] lanceolata'', [[Mountain pepper]]
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| − | ''Tasmannia stipitata'', [[Dorrigo Pepper]]
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| − | '''Vegetable''':
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| − | ''Apium insulare'', Flinders Island Celery
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| − | ''Atriplex cinerea'', Grey Saltbush
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| − | ''Burchardia umbellata'', Milkmaids
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| − | ''Microseris scapigera'', Murnong.
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| − | ==See also==
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| − | *[[Bush bread]]
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| − | *[[Bushmeat]], something quite different
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| − | | |
| − | ==External links== | |
| − | * [http://www.bushfood.net/forum Australian Bushfood and Native Medicine Forum]
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| − | * [http://ausbushfoods.com/ Bushfoods Magazine]
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| − | * [http://eataustralia.info Eat Australia]
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| − | * [http://www.bushtucker.com.au/ A Bushfood/Bushtucker resource site] | |
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| | ==References== | | ==References== |
| − | * Bruneteau, Jean-Paul, ''Tukka, Real Australian Food'', ISBN 0207189668. | + | *[http://katherineartgallery.com.au/index.php?page=Rachel_Rennie Bush Bread artwork] |
| − | * Cherikoff, Vic, ''The Bushfood Handbook'', ISBN 0731669045. | + | *[http://www.japingka.com.au/exhibitionView.cfm?exhibitionID=2 Grass seed artwork] |
| − | * Issacs, Jennifer, ''Bushfood'', Weldons, Sydney. | + | *[http://k6.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/linkages/IntegratedUnits/aboriginal/tech_learn02.html Aboriginal Technology] |
| − | * Kersh, Jennice and Raymond, ''Edna's Table'', ISBN 0733605397. | + | *[http://www.sydney-australia.biz/history/ Australian History] |
| − | * Low, Tim, ''Wild Food Plants of Australia'', ISBN 020769306. | + | * Peterson, Nicholas, ''[[Donald Thomson]] in Arnhem Land'', Melbourne University Press ISBN 0522850634, pp168-9 |
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| − | [[Category:Bushfood|*]]
| + | [[Category:Australian Aboriginal culture]] |
| − | [[Category:Australian cuisine]] | + | [[Category:Australian Aboriginal terms]] |
| − | [[Category:Indigenous Australian culture]] | + | [[Category:Bushfood]] |
| − | [[Category:Fauna of Australia]] | + | [[Category:Breads]] |
| − | [[Category:Flora of Australia]] | |
Bush bread refers to the traditional bread made by Australian Aborigines for many thousands of years.
Aboriginal grinding stones - a pestle and mortar - vital in making flours for breads.
With the arrival of Europeans and pre-milled white flour, this traditional bread-making process all but disappeared, although the tradition of cooking bread in hot coals continues.
Bread-making was traditionally a women's task. It involved collecting seasonal grasses, roots or nuts, and preparing these into a flour or a dough. The process was generally carried out by several women at once, due to its labour-intensive nature.
Bread-making from grains
Seeds of grains were collected. Seeds varied depending on the time of year, and the area in Australia. In Central Australia, native millet (Panicum decompositum) were spinifex were commonly used grains. Wattleseed was also often used in the mix.
In north Western Australia, around the Kimberley region, Aboriginal women observed that, after the dry season, many seeds would gather around the opening of ants' nests. The ants husked the seed for them, and the women were able to collect this seed.
Making the flour
The grain was then winnowed, often using the coolamon, the multi-purpose carrying vessel used by women. Once the grain was winnowed, it was ground using a millstone, to create a flour. Millstones have been discovered which prove to be as old as 50,000 years. The flour was then mixed with water to make a dough and placed in the ashes for baking. The results could be small buns, known today as johnny cakes, or a large loaf, known as damper. Damper appears to be a mix of this traditional style of breadmaking and European breadmaking.
The dough could also be eaten raw. Cooking was a good way to prepare the bread if the group were about to travel for some time.
Damper is cooked in hot coals in the way traditional Aboriginal bread has been for eons.
Bread-making from other plant products
Bread could also be made from roots and corms of plants. In the Top End of Australia, people such as the Yolngu used the lotus root and wild taro. These were ground, then mixed to a paste to make the bread.
Water lily seed bread was also popular in the Top End. The two species of water lily used were Nelumbo nucifera and Nymphaea macrosperma. During the early part of the dry season, teh water lilies are an important part of teh diet, with seed pods eaten raw or groind into paste.
Women also had expert knowledge of how to "de-toxify" certain plant foods. The cycad palm, Cycas media are highly carcenogenic when raw and require elaborate treatment includuing shelling, crushing, leaching in running water for up to five days, then cooking. They are finally made into small loaves, which can keep for a nubmer of weeks.
In Queensland, the people of the Mount Tamborine area, used the Bunya Pine cone, endemic to the area, in this way to make bread.
Some names for Aboriginal bread
References
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