Five to try: Why you don’t have to go ‘bush’ to enjoy indigenous cuisine

Expand your culinary horizons this Reconciliation Week with these local Indigenous food experiences, from fine dining to bush-food bushwalks.

You don’t have to go “bush” to enjoy indigenous tucker. Picture: Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia

So much more than “bush tucker”, expand your culinary horizons this Reconciliation Week with these local Indigenous food experiences, from fine dining to bush-food bushwalks.

Guringai Aboriginal Tours

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park

Guringai Aboriginal Tours.

This half-day hike along Ku-ring-gai Chase’s Basin Track serves up sweeping views and traditional bush food knowledge with equal generosity. Led by your local Guringai guide, you’ll explore an archive of ancient rock engravings and paintings while you discover native plants that don’t just feed the body, but keep the very spirit of this ancient Indigenous culture alive. Though you might find everything from lemon myrtle to Illawarra plum as you explore, the real nourishment here is in the storytelling. Every stop is an enlightening chapter in the history of the world’s oldest living culture.

guringaitours.com.au

Midden by Mark Olive

Circular Quay

Midden by Mark Olive.

What’s more iconically Australian than a native-influenced high tea at the foot of the Opera House? Acclaimed Bundjalung chef Mark Olive, along with executive chef Damien Worthington, adds even more sparkle to the harbour with kangaroo prosciutto, saltbush lamb and Olive’s famed ‘bush pavlova’ – spiked with native fruit sauce and roasted wattleseed cream. Named for the communal shell mounds First Nations families gathered around, Midden turns this hallowed cultural memory into an irresistible dining experience. Sit by the window with a Davidson plum tequila spritz and lemon aspen prawn slider, and watch the ferries.

Western Broadwalk, Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point

Indigiearth

Online

Indigiearth.

Based in Mudgee but available across the country, Sharon Winsor’s Indigiearth transforms ancient ingredients into pantry staples. This Aboriginal-owned enterprise sends a symphony of native flavours directly to your door – anything from Kakadu plum jam and quandong chutney to lemon myrtle chocolates and wattleseed-infused coffee – with all ingredients ethically sourced from Aboriginal communities practising traditional land care and sustainable, seasonal harvesting. An impressive selection of native spices is also on offer, ready and waiting to transform your cooking. Winsor, a Ngemba Weilwan woman, melds cultural heritage with culinary innovation.

shop.indigiearth.com.au

Sydney Aboriginal Cafe

Sydney CBD

Sydney Aboriginal Cafe.

Deep in the concrete thrum of the CBD, the Sydney Aboriginal Cafe is an oasis of warmth, wattleseed and community. This not-for-profit social enterprise by the Koori Kulcha Aboriginal Corporation isn’t just serving food, it’s dishing up cultural resilience, one lemon myrtle muffin at a time. Breakfast here might mean emu and kangaroo sausage rolls, a bacon and egg roll with a punch of bush tomato relish or an apple and Davidson plum danish, with all ingredients sourced from Indigenous communities. All this is offered in the kind of place where corporate suits and Indigenous elders might share a table.

Ground Floor 273/279 Sussex St, Sydney

Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney Aboriginal Bush Tucker Tour

Sydney

Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney Aboriginal Bush Tucker Tour.

Take an unforgettable walk through Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens as a First Nations guide leads you through all the treasures held in Cadi Jam Ora, the garden’s Indigenous living landscape. You’ll sniff, touch and – best of all – taste your way through bush basil, native sarsaparilla, wattleseed and other ingredients that have been in use for thousands of years and are now headlining modern Aussie menus. One minute you’ll be nibbling saltbush leaves, the next you’ll be looking for lemon myrtle in the supermarket. It’s an enlightening and delicious hour of edible storytelling in a beautiful green space.

botanicgardens.org.au/whats-on/aboriginal-bush-tucker-tour

Originally published as Five to try: Why you don’t have to go ‘bush’ to enjoy indigenous cuisine