AY Honors/Aboriginal Lore/Answer Key
The word Bushfood refers to any Australian 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.
More recently the food industry refers to gourmet bushfoods as Australian native foods.
Examples of Australian native animal foods (meat) include kangaroo, emu and crocodile. These meats are not commonly found in Australia today, but may be found in special resturaunts. 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.
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 (Syzygium anisatum). A popular leafy vegetable is warrigal greens (Tetragonia tetragonoides).
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).
Traditional Aboriginal use
Australian Aborigines have eaten native animal and plant foods for an estimated 60,000 years of human habitation on the Australian continent.
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.
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.
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 commercialisation of bushfood.
Colonial use
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.
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.
Modern use
In the 1970s non-indigenous Australians began to recognise 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.
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 popularised the idea of bush tucker. A retired Australian Army soldier, he presented a hit TV series called Bush Tucker Man on the ABC 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.
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).
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 Australians on a serious gourmet level, and led to the realisation that many strong-flavoured bushfoods have spice-like qualities. Some of these bushfood ingredients now feature in modern Australian cuisine, and Australian spices are being increasingly recognised internationally.
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 latter to provide sustainable quantities.
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.
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 separation from the more rustic bush connotations. However, the term "bushfood" is still used by many industry workers and the Australian Government and CSIRO sources and authors.
Australian native food-plants listed by culinary province
Australian bushfood plants can be divided into several distinct and large regional culinary provinces. Please note, some species listed grow across several climatic boundaries.
Top-end
Monsoonal zone of the Northern Territory, Cape York and Western Australia.
Fruit
Buchanania arborescens, Little Gooseberry Tree
Citrus gracilis, Kakadu Lime
Eleocharis sp., Mat-Rush, a traditional staple for Yolngu
Ficus racemosa, Cluster Fig
Manilkara kaukii, Wongi
Melastoma affine, Blue Tongue
Mimusops elengi Tanjong
Morinda citrifolia, Noni
Physalis minima, Native Gooseberry
Terminalia ferdinandiana, Kakadu Plum
Syzygium suborbiculare, Lady Apple
Spice
Eucalyptus staigeriana, Lemon Ironbark
Melaleuca leucadendron, Weeping Paperbark
Ocimum tenuiflorum, Native Basil
Nut
Semecarpus australiensis, Austraian Cashew Nut
Terminalia catappa, Sea Almond
Vegetable
Cycas media, Cycad palm seeds (Require detoxification: see Bush bread )
Dioscorea alata, Dioscorea transversa, Pencil Yam, Long Yam
Dioscorea bulbifera, Round Yam
Ipomoea aquatica, Native Kang Kong
Lotus nelumbo, Lotus
Nelumbo nucifera, water lily
Nymphaea macrosperma water lily
Central Australia
Arid and semi-arid zones of the low rainfall interior.
Fruit
Capparis spp., Native Caper, Caperbush
Capparis mitchelii, Wild orange
Capparis spinosa ssp. nummularia Wild passionfruit
Carissa lanceolata, Bush plum, Conkerberry
Citrus glauca, Desert Lime
Enchylaena tormentosa, Ruby Saltbush
Ficus platypoda, Desert Fig
Ipomoea costata, Bush potato
Marsdenia australis, Doubah, Bush Banana
Owenia acidula, Emu Apple
Santalum acuminatum, Quandong
Santalum lanceolatum, Sandalwood
Solanum centrale, Akudjura, Australian Desert Raisin, Bush sultana
Solanum cleistogarnum, Bush tomato
Solanum ellipticum, Bush tomato
Spice
Eucalyptus polybractea, Blue-leaved Mallee
Seed
Acacia aneura, Mulga
Acacia colei,
Acacia coriacea, Dogwood
Acacia holosericea, Strap Wattle
Acacia kempeana, Witchetty Bush
Acacia murrayana,
Acacia pycantha,
Acacia retinodes,
Acacia tetragonophylla, Dead finish seed
Acacia victoriae, Gundabluey, Prickly wattle
Brachychiton populneus, Kurrajong
Panicum decompositum, native millet
Portulaca oleracea, Pigweed
Triodia (plant genus), commonly known as spinifex
Vegetable
Calandrinia balonensis, Parakeelya
Vigna lanceolata, Pencil Yam
Lepidium spp., Peppercresses
Portulaca intraterranea, Large Pigweed
Insects in gall
Eastern Australia
Subtropical rainforests of New South Wales to the wet tropics of Northern Queensland.
Fruit
Acronychia acidula, Lemon Aspen
Acronychia oblongifolia, White Aspen
Antidesma bunius Herbet River Cherry
Archirhodomyrtus beckleri, Rose Myrtle
Austromyrtus dulcis, Midyim
Carpobrotus glaucescens, Pigface
Citrus australasica, Finger Lime
Citrus australis, Dooja
Davidsonia spp., Davidson’s Plum
Diploglottis campbellii, Small-leaf Tamarind
Eupomatia laurina, Bolwarra
Ficus coronata, Sandpaper Fig
Melodorum leichhardtii, Zig Zag Vine
Pleiogynium timorense, Burdekin Plum
Podocarpus elatus, Illawarra Plum
Planchonella australis, Black Apple
Rubus hillii, Broad-leaf Bramble
Rubus probus, Atherton Raspberry
Rubus rosifolius, Rose-leaf Bramble
Sambucus australasica, Yellow Elderberry
Syzygium fibrosum, Fibrous Satinash
Syzygium luehmannii, Riberry
Ximenia americana, Yellow Plum
Spice
Alpinia coerulea, Native Ginger
Backhousia citriodora, Lemon Myrtle
Backhousia myrtifolia, Cinnamon Myrtle
Melaleuca quinquenervia Broad-leaf Paperbark
Prostanthera incisa, Cut-leaf Mintbush
Syzygium anisatum, aniseed myrtle
Nut:
Araucaria bidwillii, Bunya Nut
Athertonia diversifolius, Atherton Almond
Macadamia integrifolia, Macadamia Nut
Macadamia tetraphylla, Bush Nut
Sterculia quadrifida, Peanut Tree
Vegetable
Apium prostratum, Sea Celery
Commelina cyanea, Scurvy Weed
Geitonoplesium cymosum, Scrambling Lily
Tetragonia tetragonoides, Warrigal Greens
Trachymene incisa, Wild Parsnip.
Temperate
Warm and cool temperate zones of Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria and the highlands of New South Wales.
Fruit
Acrotriche depressa, Native Currant
Billarderia cymosa, Sweet Apple-berry
Billarderia longiflora, Purple Apple-berry
Billarderia scandens, Common Apple-berry
Carpobrotus rossii, Karkalla
Eustrephus latifolius, Wombat berry
Exocarpus cupressiformis, Native Cherry
Gaultheria hispida, Snow Berry
Kunzea pomifera, Muntries
Rubus parvifolius, Pink-flowered Native Raspberry
Sambucus gaudichaudiana, White Elderberry
Seed
Acacia longifolia, Golden Rods
Acacia sophorae, Coast Wattle
Spice:
Eucalyptus dives, Peppermint Gum
Eucalyptus olida, Strawberry Gum
Eucalyptus globulus, Tasmanian Blue Gum
Mentha australis, River Mint
Tasmannia lanceolata, Mountain pepper
Tasmannia stipitata, Dorrigo Pepper
Tasmannia xerophila, Alpine Pepper
Vegetable
Apium insulare, Flinders Island Celery
Atriplex cinerea, Grey Saltbush
Burchardia umbellata, Milkmaids
Microseris scapigera, Murnong.
See also
- Bush bread
- Bushmeat, something quite different
External links
- Australian Bushfood and Native Medicine Forum
- Aboriginal women's knowledge
- CSIRO plant profiles [1]
- Bushfoods Magazine
- Eat Australia
- A Bushfood/Bushtucker resource site
References
- Bruneteau, Jean-Paul, Tukka, Real Australian Food, ISBN 0207189668.
- Cherikoff, Vic, The Bushfood Handbook, ISBN 0731669045.
- Issacs, Jennifer, Bushfood, Weldons, Sydney.
- Kersh, Jennice and Raymond, Edna's Table, ISBN 0733605397.
- Low, Tim, Wild Food Plants of Australia, ISBN 020769306.
