The Essential Ingredient Sydney stocks an extensive range of native ingredients. Many people have an interest in native grown foods but do not know what they are or how to use them. They are incredibly strong and flavourful, somewhat like the personality of our country itself. The importance of these ingredients is that they are just that, native, and they were growing in this country before we arrived. These plants are suited to the climate, soil and seasons of this drought stricken land. There is nothing like the intense taste of a native lime, but if you don’t want to go that far, we do stock many products lovingly made with native flavours and ingredients. Some of the most common ingredients are of course Lemon Myrtle and Wild Rosella, and these are already in a few of our best selling products. We have Lemon Myrtle honey, lemon myrtle macadamia and olive oils, and Wild Rosella to drop into champagne.

If you are not feeling confident enough to buy raw, there are many more ready made products to try. For the intrepid cook, here is a run down of the ingredients we stock and there usage.

Wattleseed

There are a number of types of wattle, not all are edible. Among the edible varieties the seeds vary in colour from dark brown to a golden colour. Green wattle seedpods can be eaten fresh, as a green vegetable. However, usually the seeds are roasted and then ground into a surprisingly versatile grainy flour, which has a nutty, almost coffee-like flavour. The seeds are best infused in water or milk before using in recipes as this releases their oils and softens them. In ice creams or soft textured foods, the seeds can be discarded or used for another purpose once infused. Wattleseed is best used mixed in small amounts with other flours and added towards the end of mixing, as it seems to affect the gluten in flour, making bread tough. The best ratio is usually 75g wattle to 1.5 kg of flour in goods like breads, muffins, cakes, even bagels. It can also be used in crusts and stuffings for meats and goes particularly well with nuts and chocolate.

Uses: wattleseed meringues or tuilles, wattleseed and banana cake, wattleseed pasta, wattleseed and cranberry stuffing, wattleseed and herb crusted barramundi.

Wikipedia: Wattleseed

Wild Rosella Flower (hibiscus)

Currently, most commonly known for its use in champagne! It is very tart with a raspberry, rhubarb, plum quality. It is great in sweet as well as savoury dishes. It goes well with ginger, chilli, and sugar, fruits such as apples, peaches pears, nectarines and banana work well with its tartness. The complex flavour works with lamb, pork and game. Use it in sauces, jams, ice cream and pastries. Wild rosella extract can be used for exactly the same purpose, without having to cook, strain or puree, in the same manor as any other extract.

Uses: wild rosella cheesecake, wild rosella chutney, wild rosella and fig salsa, rosella and coconut mousse. Use rosella syrup with pancakes, or in drinks.

Lemon Myrtle

This of course is probably the best known of all bush ingredients. It is a beautiful sub tropical tree. It has long tapering leaves and bunches of white flowers in autumn. The seeds, flowers and leaves are all used in the kitchen. Fresh, dried, whole, crushed or ground lemon myrtle has a complex blend of lemon and lime flavors with lemongrass and spice. It has an uplifting fresh and zesty aroma that combines well with most foods. The most common way to purchase lemon myrtle is ground. As the leaf dries the flavour is intensified and is easier to store and keep for longer periods. It is also an easy way to combine the flavour with almost any ingredient. The flavour is extracted in greater depth in some recipes if the lemon myrtle is soaked in hot water (or liquid) first, as this releases the essential oils. The leaves can be wrapped around chicken breasts or fish before baking, or used in Asian recipes instead of kaffir lime. They are also nice when folded into a hollandaise or mayonnaise or added to a bouquet garni.

Uses: lemon myrtle fish cakes, lemon myrtle panacotta with macadamia lace cookies, warm salad of braised tuna (lemon myrtle leaves) with lemon myrtle dressing and kipfler potatoes, lemon myrtle cheesecake with macadamia crust, lemon myrtle and chilli chicken.

Wikipedia: Lemon Myrtle

Aniseed Myrtle and Cinnamon Myrtle

These two trees in the myrtle family are also very versatile. Aniseed Myrtle has a lovely aniseed flavour as the name would suggest. It can be used in place of star anise and it gives wonderful flavour in both savoury and sweet dishes. Try it in biscotti, bread, biscuits and with chocolate. It goes very well with seafood and fennel. Cinnamon Myrtle (sometimes known as ironwood) is also easy to use. It goes well in curries and Moroccan dishes.

Uses: apple and cinnamon myrtle waffles, cinnamon myrtle and hazelnut biscotti, pear and hazelnut tart with cinnamon myrtle.

Wikipedia: Aniseed Myrtle and Cinnamon Myrtle

Native Mint

Fresh or dried native mint is a very strongly flavoured herb. It is an ornamental shrub with a strong minty scent and small round green leaves. It has a far more complex flavour than normal mint because it's aromatic and slightly peppery, and the flavour intensifies over time. It works well with meats such as lamb, veal and chicken and makes a great mint sauce. It is especially lovely with chocolate and goes nicely with the flavour of wild lime.

Uses: native mint dressing, wild lime and native mint curd tarts, native mint and chocolate biscuits.

Wikipedia: Native Mint

Native Peppermint

This herb can be found in dried, ground form. It has a menthol peppermint taste with flavours of lemon eucalyptus. It goes well with desserts, particularly ice cream and chocolate. It can be used as a seasoning for seafood or white meats. This herb only needs to be used in a ratio of 2gm per kg.

Uses: chocolate peppermint self saucing pudding, peppermint crisp pie (crushed biscuits, caramel filling and a layer of native peppermint cream sprinkled with chocolate shavings!), chocolate and peppermint ice cream.

Wikipedia: Native Peppermint

Alpine Pepper, Mountain Pepper and Pepperberries

There are several types of native pepper. The pepper fruits, known as pepperberries, and leaves are all harvested from trees. The southern, Mountain pepper has a very spicy heat and aromatic flavour, while Alpine pepper is extremely hot. Dorrigo pepper from QLD also has spicy heat throughout the leaves and berry fruit. None of them is a true pepper, although they all have a hot and very interesting flavour. The leaves are dried and/or ground, while the pepperberries can be used in your pepper mill. The other peppers can be used in any dish in which you would use common pepper.

Uses: peppered gnocchi with venison ragout, pepperberry olive oil, pepperberry and black olive tapanade, pepperberry aioli, red capsicum and pepperberry relish.

Wikipedia: Alpine or Mountain Pepper and Pepperberries

Forestberry Herb

This herb can also be found as a powder. It has a strong passionfruit, strawberry character with hints of cumin and caraway. Add this to fruit, particularly berry, tropical or stone fruit, to enhance the flavours and add an interesting spicy note. It is a strong spice and 5g per kg is all that is necessary to bring out the flavours in other foods. It's nature's own flavour enhancer. Use to enhance curries, chutneys, dressings and stir fries. Also great in fruit cake!

Uses: use in a mixed berry sauce, plum or cherry and forestberry herb sauce for duck, venison with blackberry and forestberry herb sauce, blackcurrant and forest berry cheesecake.

Wikipedia: Forestberry Herb

The possibilities for the use of bush foods are endless. Who knows, we may all be scrambling about the base of a bush tomato tree in the dessert soon. At least we hope that after reading this guide you'll know what to do with some of the fruits of this incredible array of Australian native foods.

Bibliography

• Wild Lime: Cooking from the Bush Food Garden, Juleigh Robbins
• A Taste of the Bush Vol. 2, Jill Richardson
• www.cherikoff.net
• www.bushfood.net
• Bushfood on Wikipedia