The Damper Den
There’s a river in the kitchen
People have been putting Central Australia’s rivers to good use for millenia. After all they are so much more versatile than rivers that are always full of water. Last night’s second annual damper cooking competition in the Todd River fits squarely within a very old tradition, from the days when Aboriginal people would grind seeds [...]
From camel trains to cameltarians
Widespread publicity about the $19 million plan to cull camels in the outback has been good publicity for the camel industry. The camel has been enthusiastically adopted as a meat source by Central Australians who don’t feel comfortable eating meat from livestock bred specially for eating. At this weekend’s Wide Open Space musical festival east [...]
Taming the bush tomato
Rainbow Valley is best known world-wide for its colourful, other-worldly sandstone escarpments. But in decades to come it may also be remembered as the place where an Australian fruit first discovered thousands of years ago moved on to another level. Bush tomatoes are one of the celebrities of the bush tucker world. Mostly used in [...]
Speaking purslainly
Since Ange Vincent showed how to forage for my dinner just before Christmas, I’ve have had to reconsider my definition of a weed. Just how many of the best things in life could actually be free? But then Purslane – as it known around the world – is no ordinary weed. Ange and I had [...]
A Bush Christmas Cake
Rayleen Brown, the genius behind Alice Springs catering firm Kungkas Can cook, came up with this magnificent and relatively easy recipe for a Bush Christmas Cake. The fact is it’ll be Christmas whenever you cook it. You’ll need dried quandongs, lemon myrtle and wattle seed for the bush part – but Rayleen says it’s OK to cheat a little.
Festive foraging
Many of us are closet foragers – or have been foragers as children. Why is it that we have been convinced that the only food worth picking comes off a supermarket shelf. Bush products researcher Ange Vincent likes to forage for her food – and in arid Alice Springs it’s amazing what she can find on an early morning stroll around the neighbourhood.
Dampers On Todd
What are the essential elements of a decent damper? The Todd River Tucker Damper competition was a seminal event for lovers of this great Aussie tradition, complete with heat, sand, flies and a bush band (the Old Rusty Nails) playing colonial ballads and classic Aussie pop songs. It also highlighted the evolution of the damper, [...]
Cy's Citrus Solution
Every year some of the best quality citrus fruit in Australia rots on the ground in Alice Springs, because people don’t know what to do with the glut of lemons, oranges, mandarins and grapefruits that engulfs the town every winter. Cy Starkman came up with a solution that turned a problem into a party … [...]
Ruth Morley's Ruby Saltbush Sorbet
Ruth Morley snatched triumph from disaster when her ruby saltbush sorbet plans went awry only days before she was due to enter the dish in the 2009 Bush Foods Recipe competition. She went back to the pantry, decided less was more, and was surprised to discover that her revised recipe actually worked . At the [...]
Miranda's Bush Tucker Bag
‘What’s that jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker bag?” “Well, actually, officer, it’s not a jumbuck. It’s … well it’s a bit more complicated than that …’’ “Sure, tell that to the judges.’’ There was no need for Miranda Sage to jump in the billabong after she presented her dish at this year’s Bush foods [...]
Family favourites
While Rhodanthe was reaping the juice of ruby saltbush recipes for her entry, dad Tim and mum Tanya were working out what to do with a gift of fresh emu eggs. Tim, a confessed sweets lover, came up with the dessert … Tim Collin\’s Emu Egg Ice Cream while Tanya (above) tried something more savoury, [...]
Rhodanthe's Ruby Juice
ou’re never too young to appreciate bush foods – and maybe youth is an advantage when it comes to valuing the treasures that grow all around us. Rhodanthe Collins’ ruby juice was a source of considerable excitement for the under-10s at this year’s Bush Foods Recipe Competition (2009). Ruby is pictured here with Bush Foods [...]
Alice Springs, AUSTRALIA