Aboriginal Bush Tucker – Australia’s “newest” Food Trend

Words – Barbara Barkhausen
Photo Credit – Royal Botanic Garden Sydney

Did you know, that there are over 6,500 edible plants that have kept Aboriginal people healthy for over 60,000 years? 

 The FCA in cooperation with our sponsor Tourism Australia invites members to an Aboriginal Bush Tucker Tour followed by lunch cooked with native ingredients.

For a long time, apart from indigenous people, only few were interested in native foods in Australia. However, since René Redzepi, the Danish chef at Noma, the second-best restaurant in the world, opened Australians’ eyes in 2016 serving sophisticated dishes with Kakadu plums, salt bush, youlk, crocodile fat and pepper berries in a pop-up restaurant, appreciation of native ingredients has exploded. During the pandemic, the ingredients also received significantly more media attention, both in articles and in cooking shows on Australian television. By now, it has become a food trend showcasing what the Australian bush can deliver, what new cooking inspiration indigenous people can add to Australian cuisine and how native ingredients can improve our health and well-being. 

Tourism Australia is hosting this as an exclusive event for FCA members to showcase Australian bush tucker. The Royal Botanic Gardens will host up to 20 FCA members for an Indigenous geared native ingredients tour and tasting. 

The experience will be as follows:

• FCA members embark on an Aboriginal Bush Tucker Tour. On a one-hour tour, a First Nations guide will lead guests through the Botanic Gardens to learn more about Indigenous bush foods and how these foods were used traditionally and adapted to the modern plate and palate.
• Following the tour, the team from Aboriginal Catering will cater a lunch for our correspondents. These dishes/items will be pre-cooked, but will include ingredients chatted about on the tour. On the menu are:

• Mini Tomato & Spinach Quiche
• Lemon Myrtle Barramundi Strips
• Mini Kangaroo Koftas 
• Garden Salad
• Lemon Myrtle Muffins

Journalists will be able to interview the First Nations guide and hopefully someone from the Aboriginal Catering team.

WHEN
Thursday, 6 April 2023
10.30am-12.30pm

WHERE
Royal Botanic Gardens – we meet at Woolloomooloo Gate – see here. 

This event is now FULLY BOOKED OUT

We thank our sponsor Tourism Australia for providing this wonderful opportunity for our members. For more information see australia.com | twitter.com/SeeAustralia | facebook.com/SeeAustralia.