If you’ve seen Ray Mears Extreme Adventure on the TV then you’ll know all about Australian Bush Tucker (or bush food to us non ozzies).  Originating from the Aborigines and experiencing a bit of a come back, bush tucker is the food of the bush, naturally prepared using ingredients found all around.  This is true natural living minus all preservatives, food eaten off the land.  Bush Tucker is a colloquial Australian term for any food native to Australia and eaten before European colonisation.  In fact, aborigines only selected food for its nutritional value, rather than for flavour or looks.  As long it was good for you and not poisonous then it was edible.  As well as lack of refrigeration, storage, and living according to the season, the aboriginal knowledge of food was extensive.  They knew the right season for what, when to harvest and what had the best nutritional values.  Food knowledge like this is scarce these days, even amongst some of the best chefs, and this knowledge was never written but rather handed down through the generations.  The aborigines did not boil water and rarely used food outside of their own tribe, so they did not trade.  They didn’t have pots and pans and certainly didn’t drink tea or coffee.  Bushtucker plants are used now for jams, chutney and jellies, flavourings (e.g. Lemon Myrtle), spices (e.g. Mountain Pepper), drinks, sauces and colours (e.g. Davidson's plum).  Many people see bush tucker as a bit of a novelty at present, hence its comeback.  However, only one indigenous plant, the Macadamia nut, has been well established in horticulture, and even then most of the early work was done by Americans. Some Americans even refer to it as the Hawaiian Nut, since it has been grown extensively there!  Although game meat is also being exported.

Cooking methods are different to those we are familiar with such as meat which is cooked on hot coals.  Sometimes, in the case of freshly killed kangaroo or rabbit, it is left in its skin and fur, thrown on the flames of a fast burning fire for about 10 minutes, then intestines and all fur removed and placed back on the fire which has now subsided to form hot coals and finished cooking.  If large animals such as wallabies are cooked using this method, the result is near raw or red meat in which the blood still runs. This warm partly cooked blood is a delicacy drunk by men and rubbed on weapons for greater efficacy.

So what makes Bush Tucker?

Ever heard of a Witchetty Grub?  Or a Balmain bug?  Ever fancied snake, goanna or kangaroo?  These are some of the delights you can expect to sample as part of the bush tucker menu.  As well as a host of greens, veg and even fruit.  In fact, plants are a major feature amongst the aborigines who know exactly what’s good and what’s not.  They are all prepared and cooked using traditional methods such as ground baking or hot coals.  Gives a whole new meaning to eating off the fat of the land doesn’t it?

Some Aussie terms you might find useful!

boodle – money; boofhead -  a stupid person; fool; bonzer - a general term of approval; bollocky - nude, naked.