Recently I returned from a 14 city around the world trip where I met with supermarket buyers, food service wholesalers, hotels, chefs and restaurateurs promoting the Vic Cherikoff range of native Australian foods and TV our series Dining Downunder.

During my trip I was consistently one question “Are these ingredients Bush Tucker?

Bush Tucker or Bush Foods are basically native foods or animals as eaten by the Aboriginal people in the bush or wild and could be a whole kangaroo, emu on the charcoals. Bush tucker could also have been roasted Witjuties or goanna. In coastal tribes, bush tucker was the fish and shellfish they caught form the oceans and inland rivers. It’s the foods that sustained the aboriginal people for over 40,000 years. To put it simply Bush Tucker is wild food eaten in the outback and includes a combination of animal, plant and insects native to Australia. 

Baby Barramundi smoked in Paperbark

Native Australian foods are much more exciting. They are indigenous ingredients that have been commercially produced and harvested specifically for use in restaurants, food service and the home kitchen. Native Australian ingredients include a range of spices, herbs, nuts, seeds and fruits. The most popular ingredients include Wattleseed, Riberries, Paperbark, Akudjura, Lemon Aspen, Native Pepperberries, Illawarra Plums, Kakadu Plums, Munthari Berries, Wild Rosella, Lemon Myrtle, Macadamia Nut Oil or Sugarbag Honey to name a few.

There are also a growing number of products now available commercially which use native Australian foods such as herb and spices, pastas, oils, spreads and sauces. There are growing number of chefs around the world that use these Australian flavours on their menus.

Wattleseed Brulee with rosella confit