Jan 27 2008
Bush Tucker
Tucker may be Australian for food, but ‘bush tucker’ means much more - it’s anything that hops, crawls, slithers or writhes.
Grubs and insects may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but there’s plenty more to choose from than the flying, squirming creatures which arrive with the changes of season.
You’ve probably heard of the Wijuti (witchetty) grub. This fat, juicy, white larva is the most important insect food of the desert and a much valued staple in the diet of women and children. Just a small serve of ten grubs a day is sufficient for survival.
Wijuti grubs can be eaten raw or cooked. They have been described as tasting somewhat like almonds, with the added zest of scrambled eggs and peanut butter wrapped up in a crispy chicken skin coating. Don’t ask me, I only repeat what I’m told.
Wijuti Grub and Bunya Nut Soup
Bunya Nuts are the seeds of the Bunya Bunya Pine tree
What you need
- 5 leeks, finely chopped
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 15 large wijuti grubs
- 15 bunya nuts, boiled,peeled and chopped
- Salt, pepper bay leaves,
- whipped cream
What you do
- Boil chicken stock. Add leek and onions. Simmer
- Puree grubs, add nuts and grub puree to the stock
- Add bay leaves, salt and pepper and simmer for 1 hour
- Serve topped with the cream.
Much more than Wijuti
If you wince at the idea of plump witchetty larvae, don’t panic, the Australian bush has much more to offer. You can have emu, crocodile, turtle, turtle eggs, dugong, kangaroo, wallaby, goanna, mud crab, barramundi, crayfish, scampi, octopus, eels, billy goat plums, wild cashew nuts, eeley fruit, gum sugar, bush tomatos, bush lemons, quandongs, wild honey, native pepper and yam. Much more appealing.
If emu and kangaroo, even with their low cholesterol, are too rich for your taste, there’s still paper bark to keep steamed or baked meats moist and tender, warrigal greens pasta mixed with native pepper, and breads made with wattleseed, lemon myrtle and macadamia nuts.
Black Olive Bush Marinade
Mark Olive is of the Bundjalung nation up in the Northern Rivers of NSW. Better known as Black Olive, he’s a popular chef in Melbourne.
What you need
- A cup of Macadamia Oil
- Pepper leaf (or whole or cracked peppercorns),
- Roughly chopped Quandongs, pitted and crushed
- Lemon myrtle, roughly chopped
- Bush herbs (combination of eucalyptus, eucalyptus oil, pepper leaf, lemon myrtle, aniseed myrtle leaf)
What you do
- Combine ingredients
- Marinade turkey, fish or beef for an hour
- Bake slowly
Quandongs, sometimes called native peaches, add a tart interest to this marinade. Mark says if you can’t find lemon myrtle. substitute with lemons or lime.
Aboriginal Guided Tour and Bush Tucker
Take an Aboriginal Heritage walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens to Bunjilaka, the Aboriginal Centre at Melbourne Museum. This is followed by lunch at the “Flamin’ Bull” Australian indigenous restaurant. Phone: 1300 130 550 or (03) 9338 6055
Like to shout me a cold beer?
