Classically trained Indigenous chef says native Australian ingredients

June 3, 2024 5:25 PM

Classically trained Indigenous chef says native Australian ingredients key to creating uniquely Australian cuisine. Indigenous chef Jack Brown is trained in traditional French cuisine, but he's on a mission to get more native Australian ingredients into everyday cooking.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries (6 comments total)

"The bunya nut is the largest pine nut in the world and most Australians wouldn't know what this tree looks like," he said.
"I've made bunya nut ice cream, a bunya nut miso caramel, and a dish that we made from grated down bunya nuts."
now i'm getting hungry
"The cone-like shape of the bunya pine is clearly visible in [gastro obscura]"
posted by HearHere at 5:50 PM on June 3, 2024 [4 favorites]

Yay! Get in!

How we colonisers have lived in this place for so long and not learned how to use its produce is weird AF.

Personally, I'm quite interested in the indigenous grain project in Gippsland (I gather there'll be a beer from it...), which I think Professor Pascoe is involved with.

I just tried to find the name of the grain by googling "Dark Emu grain" (where I heard about it), and the top hit is, of course, a sponsored anti-Pascoe screed that even the Hun wouldn't publish.
posted by pompomtom at 10:07 PM on June 3, 2024

Might be Wallaby Grass. Here's a link to an SBS podcast with an interview with Bruce Pascoe and Jacob Birch on the potential to commercialise it - Will native grains be key to saving Australia’s water?
posted by antipodes at 2:13 AM on June 4, 2024

"I don't want to make it too scary to eat, but my role as an Indigenous chef is to bring all these ingredients into a fine-dining setting and to make people understand what these ingredients are."

Seems like a worthy goal.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:25 AM on June 4, 2024

I wonder how close to a small pine nut a bunya nut is. I'm a little surprised not to see a pesto in there.
posted by Karmakaze at 6:52 AM on June 4, 2024 [2 favorites]

I wonder how close to a small pine nut a bunya nut is

Bunya Nuts are large enough/heavy enough that they have been known to kill people when falling from trees.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 7:23 PM on June 4, 2024 [2 favorites]