First Nations food

FIRST NATIONS FOODS

There is nothing better than seeing the excitement and happiness on a child’s face when they are greeted with food. Our son Mallee is a willing consumer of all foods, especially First Nations foods, and he’s always happy to discover a new or unfamiliar flavour. From an early age, Mallee’s introduction to native foods has been an open lunchbox. My parents and family share harvested foods from Country, and when we receive a new package from a harvester, grower or farmer, Mallee is almost always the first to try. Muntries and quandongs, eaten handfuls at a time, are his favourite. With every handful comes an opportunity to share stories through a First Nations lens. It’s this sense of adventure, discovery and wonder that we hope to share with you in our book. This book is an opportunity for all people, young and old, from all backgrounds, to taste the flavours of the oldest living, continuous culture in the world. If we approach it with open arms and an open mind, like Mallee we have the opportunity to learn the provenance of each native species that has been enriched by ancient soils and carefully cultivated by traditional owners guided by complex knowledge systems. Celebrating First Nations peoples, their voices and resources, is an integral part of achieving our aspirations. The restoration of cultural practices reflective of complex kinship associations, strengthening the co-culture community relationships and the healing of Country are at the heart of restoring and reclaiming First Nations knowledge and creating a sustainable native foods industry that functions with integrity. We can all play a role in supporting and strengthening our communities through First Nations foods. This can be as simple as sitting with Elders as equals, and listening respectfully with your heart. There is so much to be learnt from our knowledge keepers. Our ancient lands hold vast amounts of information, with interwoven histories shared over millennia that map our continent. Over the past decade there has been a rapid growth in the native foods industry: First Nations foods are now front and centre at gin distilleries, featured on menus at local cafés and top restaurants in most major cities. Native botanicals that have provided health and wellness for diverse nations over many generations are new-but-old flavours for some. It is exciting to see Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal businesses celebrating cultural heritage through their chosen products, but many native species featured in this book are significant to their place and community, and it’s important that this cultural and intellectual property remains with traditional owners. As I get older, learning more about my culture has become a matter of urgency. Across Australia, Aboriginal languages are at great risk, with some already on the brink of no return and many extinct. As we lose languages, we also lose histories and family heritage; important knowledge systems left to sleep in the land. I see our foods as an equally important element of these systems. Thank you for opening your hearts and minds to learning more about our rich cultures and amazing First Nations foods. Damien Coulthard

Images and text from First Nations Food Companion by Damien Coulthard and Rebecca Sullivan, photography by Josh Geelen. Murdoch Books RRP $49.99.

A midweek meal that’s our take on a noodle salad using our rainforest favourite, the boonjie (or smallleaved) tamarind. Feel free to use any kind of noodle that you enjoy.

Boonjie tamarind and macadamia noodle salad

Serves: 2 Ingredients:

200g bean noodles or soba noodles ¼ cup (50g) karkalla or other native greens, chopped 2 carrots, cut into matchsticks 1 red capsicum, seeds removed, thinly sliced 1 cup (75g) finely shredded white cabbage 100g snow peas, trimmed and thinly sliced lengthways 1 tablespoon island sea celery leaves ¼ cup (40g) small-leaved tamarind, finely chopped 1 tablespoon ground roasted wattleseed (optional) 1 cup (60 g) wild basil leaves, chopped, to serve Chopped macadamia nuts, to serve

Dressing

1 garlic clove, crushed ¼ cup macadamia butter 3 finger limes, pearls squeezed ¼ cup (60ml) maple syrup ½ teaspoon sesame oil 1 teaspoon grated ginger

Method:

For dressing, place all ingredients in a blender with 1–2 tablespoons water and whiz to combine. Season to taste with salt and ground pepperberry. Place vegetables in a bowl, add tamarind and wattleseed, then pour in dressing, tossing to combine and coat. Serve topped with basil and macadamia nuts.

Substitution options: Karkalla

Swiss chard or borage flowers

Island sea celery

Celery stalks

Small-leaved tamarind

Tamarind or unripe pineapple

Wild basil

Holy basil

Finger limes

Lime juice

Strawberry gum, cherry and riberry tapioca trifle

Serves 10

2 cups fresh (or frozen and thawed) native cherries 3½ cups fresh (or frozen and thawed) cherries 1¼ cups riberries or lilly pillies 2 tablespoons caster sugar, plus extra to taste 6 strawberry gum leaves or 1 teaspoon powder 80 g tapioca (sago) 400g packet ladyfinger biscuits, or ½ a bought sponge cake 1–1½ cups Økar amaro Edible flowers, to serve

Wattleseed Custard

350ml milk 3 free-range eggs ¼ cup (30g) cornflour 1/3 cup (75g) firmly packed brown sugar 1–2 teaspoons wattleseed extract (see below)

Cherry Cream

2/3 cup pure cream 1 tablespoon pure icing sugar ½ teaspoon cherry essence Method: For wattleseed custard, whisk milk, eggs and cornflour together in a saucepan over low-medium heat. Whisk constantly for 5 minutes, or until thick. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar and wattleseed extract until dissolved. Transfer to a small bowl, cover surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set. Put cherries, riberries, sugar and strawberry gum leaves in a large saucepan and add enough water to cover by 2–3 cm. Bring to the boil over low-medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer, continuing to stir, for about 2 minutes or until cherries are soft. Remove from heat and remove strawberry gum leaves. Cook tapioca using the instructions on the packet and rinse under cold water to remove starch. For cherry cream, whip cream and icing sugar with an electric hand mixer until almost thick. Slowly drizzle in cherry essence and continue to whip until thick enough to hold the mixer up without it falling off. To serve, arrange biscuits or sponge in the bottom of a large glass serving bowl. Pour Økar over to your preferred level of sogginess. Spoon most of the fruit on top, then pour in wattleseed custard. Spoon tapioca on top, then a layer of cherry cream. Decorate with remaining fruit and flowers.

Substitution options:

Native cherries Cherries

Riberries or lilly pillies

Blueberries

Wattleseed extract

Ground coffee or vanilla extract

Wattleseed extract

1 tablespoon ground wattleseed ¼ cup boiling water For wattleseed extract, add wattleseed to a small coffee plunger and pour in boiling water. Leave for 2 minutes to steep, then plunge as normal. (Alternatively, brew it in a tea infuser.) Kind of like a super-grown-up chia pudding, in trifle form. Give it a go for any festive occasion — the flavours are incredible. You can use chia in place of tapioca if you prefer, and any fruity liqueur or syrup will work for the sponge.

These ice pops recipes, one made with soda, one with yoghurt, recall super-hot summer days running under the garden hose in the backyard, ice pops dripping down onto the hot concrete, only to be quickly eaten by ants. The only difference here is that we’ve made ants a part of the ice pops! These are less sweet than those you may remember from your youth, and much more about the flavourings. We encourage you to play around with different additions to suit your tastes. You’ll need popsicle moulds and 4–6 sticks — we like to use thoroughly cleaned (and safe) sticks from the garden.

Herby ice pops

Makes 4-6

Soda Water Pops

100g raw honey 1 tablespoon green ants Finely grated zest and pearls of 6 finger limes 2 cups (500ml) soda water

Yoghurt Pops

1¾ cups (460g) natural yoghurt 2 tablespoons raw honey 1 teaspoon green ants 1 small handful chopped native basil leaves (optional) Honey, to serve

Method:

For soda water pops, pour 100ml fresh water into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from heat, add honey and stir to dissolve. Add half the green ants (or whatever flavouring you’re using; with these we also like desert limes, lilly pillies, quandongs, midyim berries, Tanami apples or muntries), return to the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and leave to infuse for 30 minutes. (This can be done the day before and left in the fridge overnight to infuse.) Pour through a sieve into a jug, squashing ants with the back of a spoon to squeeze out all the liquid. Add finger lime zest and pearls and stir well. Add enough soda water to bring the total volume up to 600ml. Add your choice of ingredients to moulds, then pour in the liquid. Freeze for 1–2 hours, insert popsicle sticks, then allow to freeze overnight. Unmould and enjoy. Note, for two different colours like in our soda pops in the photo, freeze half first, then pour in the second half once the first is set — this will take about 2 hours. We used only a little soda for the orange part, and mostly soda for the white part. For yoghurt pops, add yoghurt and honey to a food processor and whiz to combine. Stir in green ants and basil (or whatever flavouring you’re using; with these we also like rosella leaves, river mint or petals of native flowers). Pour into popsicle moulds, pushing some ants and herbs to the edges of the moulds so you can see them when they’re unmoulded. Place a popsicle stick into each mould, then freeze overnight. Unmould and enjoy with some honey.

Substitution options:

Green ants - citrus zest Finger lime - lime zest/juice Native basil - basil