Before European settlement two hundred years ago, Aboriginal Australians ate rich, exciting and balanced diets of seasonal fruits, nuts, roots, vegetables, meats and fish - all indigenous varieties and species and each totally adapted to this unique environment. The Aboriginal Australians trapped and hunted game, collected fruit, harvested nuts and berries and fished the bounty of the ocean with great success. Since the first settlement, Australian Aborigines have, while walking through this vast paradise, learnt how to recognise and identify these foods and devise methods to process, store and cook them with their own regional diversity.

Today, while traditional Aboriginal communities in northern and central Australia are still great botanists and naturalists, white Australian newcomers remain tunnel visioned. The ‘bush’ or ‘scrub’ must be cleared to crops of alien grain or orchards of exotic fruits inevitably besieged with pests while the rich bounty of the native trees and shrubs nearby is ignored. Most Australians have never even tasted bush foods.

Living off the land may be an attractive proposition for many with an interest in natural history, but it is probably more pleasant in theory than in practice. In Australia today, it would be impracticable for any but a very small proportion of the population to live on the product of the native bushland. It is probably not always realised what a lot of country is needed to support a food-gathering people.

Nevertheless, these considerations need not deter us from taking an interest in edible native plants or from sampling them when the opportunity offers. However, we must emphasise that the various regulations designed for the protection of the flora should always be observed. Even where no regulations are in force, there should be no unreasonable destruction of plants; take small amounts from several trees rather than stripping one and always leave a considerable portion of the crop, remembering that future visitors may include yourself. The variety and quality of culinary experience these bush foods offer is enormous and Aborigines, the gourmets, are generous in sharing their knowledge learnt over 50,000 years of trial and error and from adhering to the religious rules governing seasonal harvesting and ways of preparation.

It is illogical to deny the existence of an Australian cuisine. Indeed, this is a discourteous and embarrassing comment for all Australians of past and present generations.

Information source: "Wild Food in Australia" - A&J Cribb - 1990 - Angus & Robertson
"Tukka Real Australian Food" - Jean-Paul Bruneteau - 1996 - Angus & Robertson
"Bush Food - Aboriginal Food & Herbal Medicine" - 1992 - Jennifer Isaacs - Ure Smith Press

	Quandongs 1kg dried, halved, seed removed
	Bush tomato 'akundjura' 1kg dried and ground
	Munthari berries 1kg frozen whole
	Native pepperleaf spice 250gm, dried and ground
	Aniseed myrtle 250gm, dried and ground
	Lemon spice myrtle 250gm, dried and ground
	Native wattleseed 500gm, roasted and ground
	Macadamia nuts 1kg, unsalted, halved

Robins Bush Foods