This iconic Australian plant native to Western Australia, loves a dry climate. The flowers are used extensively in arrangements but the highly aromatic leaves have found a place in our kitchen.
Geraldton Wax adds a citrusy flavour to your beverages and meals.
Classed as Australia’s version of kaffir lime.
If native foods are to become mainstream, we need to use them in our home cooking. Many plants are known by their traditional or botanic origins. In some cases it is difficult to understand what they are or what you are supposed to do with them……..grind it and use it as a sauce; cook as a thick spinach; boil and serve as a root vegetable; eat as a fresh fruit or preserve as a jam?
Indigenous Australians have used paperbark to provide shelter, in artwork and to cook with for thousands of years but not many know how much and how often you can harvest a tree without killing it.
Up until a couple of years ago there was such a man but ill health forced him to stop and he was not able to persuade his children to take over.
But now an Aboriginal owned and worked property in the far north of Australia has begun to harvest 100 year old trees on the property to supply the market.
It will take 2 years for the thick bark to grow back and be ready again for harvesting.
Taste Australia Bush Food Shop has secured sheets of paperbark to sell and they will be available HERE once they make the long long trip from the remotest corner of the country.
Our Munducklin Curry Powder combines all the ingredients of a great curry with authentic native ingredients for a flavoursome meal.
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There is nothing like a Finger Lime! The casing is just bursting with zesty lime pearls.
Add them to sparkling water, add them to Raita (Natural yoghurt dip), squeeze them over oysters, toss them in a salad.
And yes they are a bush food
Wild Lime Syrup
Place a cup of water and 1 1/4 cups sugar into a heavy-based saucepan and heat until the sugar has dissolved.
Add 1/4 cup finger limes and bring to the boil.
Lower heat and simmer gently until the volume is reduced by a third (about an hour).
Remove from the heat and strain through a fine sieve.
Transfer to sterile jars or bottles. It will keep for approx 12 months.
Note: The longer the syrup is reduced, the darker it will become and the flavour will intensify.
Different batches can be reduced to different strengths and are delicious served together.
Found in secluded pockets along the east coast of Australia
Used to enhance the flavour of cooked fruit dishes, desserts, spiced jams as well as in herbal teas and syrups
While it’s too tart for most of us to eat as a fresh fruit, in cooking it is one of my favourite bush fruits. A little Davidson plum goes a long way to colour and flavour ice cream, mousse and sweet sauces. It makes a sensational fruity savoury sauce and gives kangaroo goulash a rich fruity tang.
We stock both frozen fruit and powder. The powder is an excellent addition to biscuits, muffins and icecream.
De-seed 30 Davidsons Plums and puree. Combine one cup and 1 Tablespoon of sugar plus 4 Tablespoons Balls RealFruit Instant Pectin and stir until blended then add plum puree and stir for 3 minutes. Ladle jam into plastic freezer jars ensuring you leave a cm head space . Adjust caps. Let jams stand for 30 minutes to thicken. Label. Freeze or refrigerate up to 3 weeks.
What do you give the cook in your life?
Taste Australia Bush Food Shop has 3 different box sets of native food ingredients.
Introduction to Australian Native Bush Food
Maggie Beer’s Constitution Cake (photo from her website) is a firm favourite amongst our customers to serve at Christmas and features Quandong, Davidsons Plum, Muntries and Macadamias which are all available in the Taste Australia Bush Food Shop
Ingredients
Reconstitute dried quandongs by soaking in 375 millilitres of Maggie Beer’s Verjuice and 50 grams caster sugar for 30 minutes, then boil for 5 minutes. Turn off, add currants, leave to soften for 1 hour. Drain and reserve syrup.
Preheat the oven to 220°C and grease and line a 20 cm round spring-form cake tin with baking paper.
To make the nut paste, blend 120gm roasted macadamias in a food processor, then add 100gm icing sugar and 1 egg yolk and pulse to form a stiff paste. Set aside.
In the cake mixer, cream the brown sugar and butter until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour if the mixture curdles. Fold in the flour, spices, currants, quandongs, sliced davidson’s plums (seed removed), whole muntries, almonds and candied peel. Stir in the grated lemon zest and the reserved syrup, to give a soft batter.
Spoon half the batter into the prepared tin, then spread the nut paste over the mixture and top it with the remaining batter. Bake for 2.5 hours (or until a fine skewer comes out clean). If the top colours too quickly, cover with foil for the last hour. Leave the cake to cool a little in the tin before turning it out.
Illawarra Plum Chutney
Reconstitute air dried Illawarra Plums (200gm) in water overnight, strain and set juice aside (can be made into a jelly).
Fry 2 large sliced onions and 3 garlic cloves (minced) in Macadamia Oil until slightly caramelised, then add 2 fresh thinly sliced red chillies.
Add the Illawarra Plums plus 300ml apple cider vinegar.
Simmer on low heat for an hour before spooning into sterlised jars.
Perfect with kangaroo or with a cheese platter
Illawarra plums make a smooth, rich jam which is delicious on your favourite bread, especially combined with macadamia paste, and as a gourmet addition to yoghurt, ice cream, desserts and cakes.