Australian Aboriginal Food

Australian Aboriginal food is about the food that is available in the desert.

"Not much" - this is the first thing that comes to mind. But if you visit Central Australia you will change your mind. There is tucker (bush food) in those semi arid lands.

And Australian Aboriginals survived on it for tens of thousands of years.

Visit the Desert Park in Alice Springs. It is a must see conservation area if you want to know more about Aboriginal food or medicine or if you want to learn about the desert species of flora and fauna.

When you leave the park you will know a lot about life in the desert.

And you will know more about what Aborigines eat and also how they find what is the essential element of the Aboriginal food - the precious water.

australian aboriginal food - tools Coolamon and other food tools

This is what the Desert Park guide showed us - various kitchen tools made of wood, stone, string or hair. No pots and pans, but all of these tools pioneered the modern equipment handsomely.

The "coolamon" is a plate to eat from, a spade to scoop or dig, a bucket for water and a capsule to carry the baby. All in one - very efficient for being able to move quickly in search of food or water.

The grinder made of stone did its job properly - ground seeds from certain trees and grass make a nutritious damper that can be baked in ashes.

Australian Aboriginal Food - Some Examples

australian aboriginal food - coonavittra wattle Coonavittra wattle

Some of the edible seeds are those of the mulga, the dogwood trees or those of the coonavittra wattle. They can be eaten as such, mixed with water and eaten as a paste or ground for flour.

Insects get into the bark of this wattle and expose its white gum which is also good to eat.

Mulga apples are fine for eating. They are not exactly apples they are a nut formed around insect larvae, a "bush coconut".

australian aboriginal food - honey grevillea flowers Beautiful honey grevillea flowers

Honey grevillea produces sweet honey nectar which can be licked, or mixed with water to drink, or mixed with ground seeds to make them tastier.

Nectar also comes from corkwood and bloodwood flowers. Bloodwoods are trees that offer shelter to native bees and their honey. Australian Aborigines search for the honey sugarbags in these trees.

australian aboriginal food - ruby salt bush Ruby salt bush

The ruby salt bush (above) has some nice red, flavoursome fruit. These berries can be eaten raw or they can be dried to use later.

australian aboriginal food - bush melon Bush melon

There are also the bush melons, apparently very bitter and not that good to eat. And the bush tomatoes, but most of them are poisonous.

So most plants are not edible and it has taken a lot of trial and error for people of the desert to know the good from the bad.

Then there is the native lemon grass that makes a delicious tea and the lemon myrtle, famous for its exquisite lemony flavours. They are now part of the modern diet.

More about Indigenous Australians: