Fancy nibbling on some crocodile dumplings or tasting some kangaroo with a side of pepper berries?
The Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan is offering visitors an extravagant native dining experience and a rare taste of Indigenous culture, with a night of food, dance, story-telling and music amidst the moonlit gardens.
Guests who attend the dinner in the Secret Garden on May 21 can expect to experience the Indigenous stories and histories of the area through story-telling and dance by women from the Kukujalanji people from the Daintree rainforest in Queensland.
Chef Adam Williams of Melaleuca House has developed a bush–inspired menu featuring ingredients grown on site in their native garden, withs dishes such as a smoked salmon canapé with finger lime, and kangaroo with native bush fruit chutney and pepper berries.
“There’s also a beautiful pot pie with a slow-cooked lamb and salt bush. And there’s an unusual one, a crocodile gauji ,” Williams told SBS of his special take on a steamed dumpling.
“All the ingredients are quite unusual in as much as they are not found on supermarkets shelves in Australia. There are really only found in the native bush or a native garden.”
Jody Orcher, Education Co-ordinator of Aboriginal Programs at the garden, said she hopes the night will help dinner guests appreciate the garden in a new way.
“In our culture, dance and music are important to ceremonies, they are a way to tell the stories of our history," she tells SBS.
"And to share history is important to help people better understand the first Australians, our way of life and our beliefs. There is something quite profound about being present in the landscape to learn, and the Garden is a great place to experience that.”
