Today I was invited by Glenn Kiddell and Clare Matthews the founders of the men’s cosmetic company, Vitaman to talk at a seminar of beauty salons owners in Sydney about using native Australian foods in cooking. The seminar was held at Vitaman’s distributor, True Solutions International head office in Sydney.

Vitaman cosmetics for men are unique as their shaving, skincare and hair care ranges are formulated utilising unique Australian native plant, herb and fruit extracts all of which have been used by indigenous Australians for thousands of years. These are the same ingredients which I regularly use in cooking and as such was asked to talk about the other uses of native ingredients used in their range. Many of Vitaman’s cosmetics were formulated
by Vic Cherikoff.

The five ingredients I spoke about were Tasmanian mountain pepper, Wild Rosella, Kakadu Plum, Quandong and Lemon Myrtle. I though I would expand on what I spoke about with the Vitaman distributors and provide more in-depth information for them as well as readers to my site.

Tasmanian mountain pepper has a number of different names such as native pepper, native Australian pepper or mountain pepper when describing the leaf or pepperberry, Australian pepperberry or native pepper berries and finally the plant’s scientific name of Tasmannia lanceolata. Tasmanian mountain pepper as it suggests grows in Tasmania and is suited to alpine conditions. When eaten, the pepperberries have a sweet taste at first then followed by a striking and intensive pungency or peppery heat which again does not last very long, but gives way to a strange sensation of numbness and a clean taste on the palate. This pungency is the reason why Vitaman have used Tasmanian mountain pepper in their sports range, which was formulated to relieve muscular aches and pains as well as sore joints and ligaments. Pepperberries are mostly wild harvested these days as thieves plundered the largest plantation of pepper bushes last year and not only stole the fruit but cut down the trees, setting the harvest back half a decade. Because of the global popularity of the berries and their still limited supplies, Vic Cherikoff created a blend called Alpine Pepper which can be used to season all types of dishes. It uses leaf, some pepperberries and is powered and enhanced with encapsulated extract from the leaves which is also the active ingredient in the Vitaman sports range.

Wild rosella (Hibiscus sabdariffa) is an hibiscus which grows wild in the Top End and is grown in Queensland for its deep crimson, fleshy fruits. Rosella is used to give colour and flavour to jams, beverages, sauces, desserts and even served as a condiment to meat dishes or a stir fry. Its most popular forms are as a fruit confit and an extract. Wild rosella imparts a crisp, berry-rhubarb flavour and even as a sugared confit still has a tart, almost cranberry flavour. Wild rosella is used in many Vitaman products as it is high in antioxidants which help prevent damage to the skin by free radicals.

The Kakadu Plum is wild harvested in the north west of Australia through to east Arnhemland and is plantation grown around Darwin. Vic Cherikoff was the first to analytically confirm the fruit as the World’s highest fruit source of vitamin C, publishing the results in 1983. To put this in perspective, the plum contains around 50 times more vitamin C than in a freshly cut orange. Due to the high vitamin C content, its stability in the extract Vic Cherikoff supplies and other constituents in the fruit, the Kakadu plum is used in selected Vitaman products for the beneficial effects on the skin.

Often referred to as the native peach, the Australian Quandong (Santalum acuminatum) is a golf ball sized, red, orange or yellow fruit which grown in arid zones in Australia. The Quandong is commonly used in stews or jams and when sugar cured as a confit is fantastic with desserts and cheese plates. Vic Cherikoff found that the quandong kernel oil is high in santalbic acid which is traditionally used to treat itchy scalp and relieves minor skin irritations. Cherikoff Quandong kernel extract is also high in essential fatty acids which enrich and nourish the hair, hence its use in shampoo, conditioner and scalp/hair treatments.

Lemon Myrtle is probably the most popular native herb with high quality leaf and extracts used in foods and lesser quality finding its way into cosmetics, soaps and other commodities. It is grown on the north coast of New South Wales and up into Queensland restoring or re-establishing cleared rainforest areas. Lemon myrtle is used in many sweet and savory applications such as chocolates, pasta, cakes, sauces and as a seasoning for poultry and seafood. Lemon myrtle is best used in the blended form Vic Cherikoff calls Lemon Myrtle sprinkle as the herb alone lacks any acid notes and is more smell than taste. Lemon myrtle sprinkle, however, can be far more widely used and probably in more ways than lemon juice or zest. Research has shown that lemon myrtle essential oils have strong antibacterial and antifungal qualities and is used in many Vitaman products for this benefit.

As you can see all of these items used in Vitaman products are also used extensively in cooking and have been for thousands of years by various Aboriginal communities. I would like to thank the Vitaman management and Vinko Anthony from True Solutions who co-ordinated the evening.