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What is the real
Australian cuisine?
For years I have wanted to write a book about
the "Real Australian Cuisine".
If you ask an Australian today about their idea
of real Australian cooking, the answers will be as diverse as the
people.
In July 1992 the ‘Australian Newspaper’
published a letter that I had sent on "Australian cuisine"
because a debate was then being conducted on the topic. Nothing has
changed; we are still debating and we are still looking for the answers…but
really it is very simple. Australian cuisine is the pioneer’s
cooking of 200 years ago. It is the pioneering women’s cooking which
culminated from being forced to make do with the ingredients that were
available at the time, as well as from the influence of their own
diverse backgrounds. Few other people from around the world made as much
use of the ‘camp oven’ as they did. Few other countries in the world
have always served three vegetables (white, green and red) with a meal.
Today as before, the best Australian cuisine is
found in the bush; cooked by the women of the bush. We have to go back
only to the early 1900s to find some interesting recipes, as before
that, cooking was very primitive in Australia.
In most homes and restaurants today we have a
new Australian cuisine; a mixture of spices, herbs and produce now
available from all over the world.
Most of the recipes in this book come from
country homes. I have had to change the names sometimes as they differ
between districts (everyone likes to put their name to recipes and why
not); but for classics like Anzac biscuits, Lamingtons, Scones, Dampers
etc……….., the names will remain the same. Sometimes recipes have
been shortened and simplified, as I believe cooking has to be easy, fun,
economical and enjoyed by all the family.
All the ingredients and utensils used in the
book have been kept to the bare minimum, but the quality of both is
essential.
Where to now?
Today unfortunately, the quality of our main
products is declining worldwide. We are all losing the taste of our
forefathers.
However, the people of the bush still eat good
wholesome food. Nothing is better than a plain oven roasted chicken or
lamb with roasted vegetables from the farm. (It is still the best food
to have with our good wines)
When is the last time we ate a really
flavoursome tomato or apple? Today we have to look hard for that good
product and it is not available on a big scale. This means that we have
to replace the lost quality of our food with new cooking techniques and
new products.
Fortunately in Australia we have some native
food available to us that can enhance the flavour of our meals. However,
most of the time these native foods (or wild food or bush tucker as they
are more commonly called) need lots of extra preparation to be edible. I
know that it will be a challenge to introduce them into our diet.
However, some of the older people have been using them cleverly with
their dishes for ages. (I had to go line dancing, play bingo, lawn
bowls, visit retirement home and hospital to learn their secrets!) But
it is these ‘wild or native foods’ we need, to make our cooking
unique!
As a rule, all ‘wild game’ is better served
as a casserole, pie, mince or curry. These recipes are in the book and
you will find the dishes very tasty and very tender…
Today the processing of wild food (game,
fruits, vegetables, etc…) has greatly improved, making them easier to
prepare. I have made a list of what is available today and I recommend
you buy them and give them a try. Practice will make perfect.
Michel Bonnet
Quandong
Kangaroo, Emu, tart, jam.
Wattleseed
Chocolate mousse, ice cream or even
to make breads, scones, pancakes.
Wild lime
Anywhere we use lime-lemon, and
great to make marmelade
Lemon Myrle White
meat, Fish, Seafood. To replace lemon grass.
Or to make concasse.
Warrigal Spinach
Use to replace spinach or silver
beat
Lillypilly
Jams-Chutney and jellies.
Macadamia Nuts
Deep chicken on both sides in cracked macadamia nuts and pan fry.
Davidson, Illawarra and Kakadu Plums
Jams, sauce or glaze.
Mountain Pepper
To replace curry and pepper corn, but be careful it is very
strong
Bush Tomato
Stews, chutneys, sauces, cheese
dishes to replace paprika.
Native Mint
Tea, sauces, syrops.
If
you want to know more about wild/native food here are 3 good sites.
www.ogme.com
www.australianaustralia.com/recipes.html
www.bushtucker.com.au
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