Bush Tucker Plants

Tucker is an Australian word for food. Bush tucker refers to food obtained from native Australian plants and animals. It includes, but is not limited to, the food that Australian aboriginals ate before the arrival of Europeans.

Uses by Aborigines     

Usually the men hunted animals and fish, while the women collected fruits and dug for root tubers such as yams. They did not trade food from other areas, but took what was locally available. Knowledge of what was edible, palatable or even delicious, the best harvest times, and food preparation methods was passed from one generation to another by word of mouth. Some plant fruits, seeds, or tubers were poisonous and extensive treatment was necessary before the foods could be eaten. This may have involved removing skin with irritating hairs, pounding plant material into pulp, then washing it for possibly several days in a river to remove soluble toxins, and finally roasting the material to remove those toxins that are changed chemically through heating. Local knowlege may have also included knowing at which times plant material was less toxic, or even which plants in an area were best.

The aborigines were also conservation conscious. Yam vines are dioecious - separate male and female plants. They made sure female plants were kept to continue propagation of the plants.

While many plants were used for medicinal purposes (not discussed on this website), food was eaten mainly for purposes of nutrition. Aboriginal people were lean folk. They did not use food for flavours, as later settlers did. They did not preserve food, make chutneys, relishes, jams nor jellies. They did not make drinks like tea or coffee.

Refrigeration was not available, so meat had to be cooked and eaten straight away. Generally Australian aboriginals did not boil water. They did not make or use pots, although they did use wooden vessels for transporting and storing water. So food was either eaten raw, cooked by direct roasting in a fire, or cooked more slowly in ground ovens in hot rocks, ashes and coals.

Uses by Early European Settlers.

Lieutenant James Cook of England sailed up the East Coast of Australia in 1770 in his ship, Endeavour. He was concerned about his crew contracting scurvy, so he made regular stops to look for edible greens to take on board. The chief botanist, Joseph Banks made collections of many new plants. One of those he took back to England was Warrigal Greens (Tetragonia tetragonoides). It is also known as New Zealand Spinach, since it was also discovered growing in New Zealand.

In the 1800's, European settlers fancied eating greens, and were willing to experiment with all kinds of weeds and fruits. Many that were used then are not used today. Some greens were used as spices or flavourings. Wild fruits were collected and eaten either fresh, pickled, or made into jams and chutneys. Trial and error was used to determine edibility, although some would have observed aboriginal use, as did the explorer, Ludwig Leichhardt, who recorded some of his observations and experiences eating native food.

Uses by the Bush Food Industry today.

Some of the native food uses of the 1800's have survived, and even been revived in recent times. However much more could have been done in experimenting and developing our Australian native plants than what has been done. An outstanding example is the Macadamia nut. In recent times it has been grown extensively in wetter regions of northern New South Wales and Queensland, and quite a few varieties have been developed. However it was the Americans who did most of the early work, growing the nut extensively in Hawaii and developing improved varieties. So much so that some have referred to our nut as the Hawaiian Nut.

The modern industry makes use of plants in different ways from those of the Aborigines eg flavour instead of nutrition. Several plants are used as spices (eg Mountain Pepper), flavours (eg. Lemon Myrtle, wattle seed), colours (eg Davidson's Plum, Riberry), sauces, jams, chutneys, jelllies, and drinks. However some are eaten fresh (eg. Midyim, Cedar Bay or Beach Cherry, Sandpaper Fig), while others are eaten after some treatment (eg. Brachychiton species and relatives)

For some, Bush Tucker has a novelty value. There are some restaurants which specialise in dishes using our bush foods. There is a bush foods association connecting growers and retailers.

Apart from plants, kangaroo meat is sometimes available for consumption, although it is more often used as pet food. However there is a European market for some of our game meats. Emu meat, leather, and oil is being used. Crocodile farms are established to harvest the meat and skins.

Hits since 14 November 2006 = times.
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