03 April 2006

Stuff that grows here

Overseas friends often ask what Australian food consists of, what is special here that one cannot eat anywhere else in the world. So tonight's dinner was all local tucker: Steamed Bunya 'nuts', Davidson's Plum sauce and Midyims.
The giant Bunya Pine (50 m) can get up to 600 years old and actually is a living fossil from the dinosaur time. The Aboriginal owners held huge feasting ceremonies in Queensland and NSW. The larger than a pineapple cone consists of delicious 'nuts'. There is still a large endemic forest in Qld., but there are many pines all over Sydney.
The only Australian 'plum'(Davidson pruriens) is actually a tall rainforest tree, that bears many burgundy tangy plums (6 cm) from its stem. There are even a few on the main streets of Manly. The one in our garden is popping a lot of fruit at the moment.
The beautiful mauve speckled Midyim (Austromyrtus dulcis) used to grow densely all over the NSW coast. Now only few remain on the north coast. A juicy, tasty snack behind sand dunes. I am sure, Blue Tongue loves them too.
BTW the froth is really coming on!

No comments: