Bush tucker, bush tukka or bush food. Whatever you call it, youâre probably thinking about food thatâs native to Australia and thatâs traditionally been used by this countryâs original inhabitants as a food source. You probably also mostly associate bush food with edible plant material. But the bodyâs essential food requirements are carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins. So, naturally, the indigenous diet also included many animal, bird and seafood species, including kangaroo, emu, crocodile, possum, fish, molluscs, shrimp, birds, eggs, lizards, yabbies, ants, frogs and moths.
So what do you do if you didnât grow up around bush tucker? How do you take your first exploratory steps towards living off the land? After all, just because you watched all 23 episodes of the Bush Tucker Man series in the 1980s and 90s, youâre not necessarily ready to go shopping in natureâs garden. Australia has both plants and animals that can kill you. Did you know, for example, that there are 1000 species of Australian plant that are known toxicants? In this environment, handling or eating the wrong one can turn a good day really, really badâŚ
BASIC RULES
There are some great resources available that can help you to improve your familiarity with native plants. But you need to be very careful as you venture into unfamiliar culinary territory. Letâs face it, not all of us have a botany degree or are survival experts. But there are some basic rules that all of us can follow to help keep us out of trouble:
⢠If it smells of almonds or peaches, leave it alone (unless of course itâs an almond or peach tree!). This smell is indicative of cyanide;
⢠Just because birds and other animals are eating something, it doesnât mean you can;
⢠Bright colours on frogs and grubs are a natural warning all over the planet;
⢠White, milky sap should be avoided unless you know what youâre doing. While most saps have indigenous uses, including for antiseptic purposes, donât rely on guesswork;
⢠Leave mushrooms alone unless you know what youâre doing. Unfortunately there are no foolproof criteria for the uninitiated. Ninety per cent of white-gilled and 10 per cent of pink-gilled mushrooms worldwide are poisonous;
⢠Itâs the same with legumes. If youâre not certain, itâs best to leave them alone; and
⢠Avoid trumpet and pea-shaped flowers, fruits with red seeds or five segments, hand-shaped palmate leaves and prickly seed pods.
FAMILIAR TERRITORY
Not all bush foods are unique to Australia. Some were introduced thousands of years ago by Indonesian or Chinese mariners, and others proliferated after English settlement. So keep a look-out for bush foods that may be more familiar to you.
Pig weed, for example, is the worldâs eighth most common plant and has been in Australia so long that itâs regarded as native. Itâs edible and, indeed, was a key food source for the Burke and Wills expedition members as they trudged south, with inadequate provisions, after reaching the gulf. Historically, western societies have thrived on species that we might dismiss as being weeds. Think of prickly pear, blackberry and dandelion (according to the US Department of Agriculture, dandelion is the most nutritious vegetable itâs ever tested). Itâs no wonder that weâve seen a resurgence in âforagingâ within society, even among highly urbanised populations.
When it comes to meat, we shouldnât think solely about native species (many of which are protected). You may be interested to know that feral cats have been hunted for food by Aboriginal tribes since well before white settlement. This is evidenced by a rock art painting of a cat in Queensland thatâs known to pre-date Captain Cookâs landing. The nutritional value of cats is still recognised today by the indigenous population and indeed thereâs a recipe for cat in the Fitzroy Valley Cook Book published by the Nindilingarri Cultural Health Services.
If your tastes are more conservative, rabbits, goats, pigs, deer and hare offer options that would happily grace anyoneâs table at home, and which can taste spectacular when consumed around a campfire beneath a billion stars.
The key thing about bush tucker is to keep within the bounds of your confidence and competence. Bush tucker is great, but you have to know what youâre looking for. And like many of lifeâs challenges, a little bit of reliable information can guide you effectively along the right path.
WILD FOOD PROTOCOL
Used worldwide, thereâs something known as an âedibility testâ, which involves actively applying all of your senses and your judgment to discover whether something is, or is not, likely to be safe to eat. For example, for leaves and fruits, follow this simple testing procedure:
⢠Crush it in one hand. If it smells of almonds or peaches, leave it alone;
⢠Otherwise, rub it on your wrist or underarm, wait for five minutes for a reaction, such as itching or burning;
⢠If none occurs, rub a little of the substance on the corner of your mouth and wait for five minutes;
⢠If nothing happens, rub it on your inside lip and again wait five minutes. Stop if any reaction occurs;
⢠If there is no reaction, chew it a little and spit it out to see if itâs bitter, or if a reaction occurs (soreness, burning, irritation) and wait five minutes;
⢠Take a teaspoon-sized portion, chew and swallow. Wait at least four hours to see if you get cramps, diarrhoea, vomiting or constant burping;
⢠If there are no ill-effects, consume five times the amount and wait another four hours;
⢠Provided there are still no contrary signs, eat a few pieces of the food every couple of hours for a snack, slowly building up the amount; and
⢠If a rash or an itching/burning sensation occurs at any time during this process, STOP!
BOGONG MOTHS
The Bogong moth was traditionally a delicacy of the indigenous tribes in the Snowy Mountains as it migrated into the High Country from the grasslands of New South Wales and Queensland. Moths were roasted over hot coals and eaten. But Bogong moths are now off the menu.
This is because Bogong moths tend to come from grazing or cotton-growing areas where the moth larvae feed on grasses. The trouble is that our farming forefathers utilised pesticide sprays and dips which contained arsenic. Regrettably, this nasty chemical persists in the ground and is taken up by the grass and passed onto the moth. Itâs called bio-accumulation. Continued exposure to small doses of arsenic can cause cancer, mutation and birth defects. So itâs probably best to leave the Bogong moth alone.
WHICH SEASON IS IT?
Did you know that Australian Aboriginals were so attuned to the changes in foodstuffs that were available at different times of the year ÂŹâ and across different ecologies â that tribes recognised anywhere between six to 16 seasons, depending on the region? You can find some of these seasons âmappedâ by the CSIRO including their influence on important food and medicinal plants.