The First Nations Food Companion is the sort of book you'll come back to again and again.
Read up on pepperberry and saltbush, then make salt ‘n’ pepper popcorn; be tempted by the idea of a native flower (known as dirramay or bo-an) that smells like caramel and chocolate; discover a Native Ingredients flavour wheel, and recipes from the medicine garden, such as a herbal honey cough medicine; put a First Nations ingredient spin on classic recipes with macadamia, green ant, rose and pepperberry latte, Davidson’s plum and sandalwood brownies, a tamarind and macadamia noodle salad or fish burgers with bush tartare sauce; learn a little about the rich culture surrounding these and other First Nations ingredients.
Authors Damien Coulthard and Rebecca Sullivan have done an impressive job of gathering, distilling and sharing information on more than 60 Indigenous Australian ingredients – not just how to buy, store and cook with them (and in some cases, grow them yourself) but also encouraging experimentation and learning,
Get the recipe for boonjie tamarind and macadamia salad .
Boonjie tamarind and macadamia noodle salad Source: Murdoch Books / Josh Geelen
Coulthard and Sullivan are the couple behind Warndu, a native food business. Coulthard, an artist and teacher, is an Adnyamathanha and Dieri person of the Flinders Ranges. Sullivan is a keen cook, writer, food educator and farmer, and a Yale World Fellow. This book, which follows their award-winning first book Warndu Mai, is a beautiful window into using, and thinking about, native Australian ingredients. The book starts with a 38-page guide to 67 of the more well-known and easier-to-access ingredients, outlining how to use, buy, pick, forage (where appropriate), store and grow. The authors make it clear they aren't claiming this is a comprehensive guide - how could it be, with so many ingredients flourishing around Australia. But it's a fantastic launching pad for those who want to learn more.
The middle of the book is devoted to 100 recipes, and at the end, there’s a stockist guide. Each recipe comes with substitution suggestions, so that you can still make them if you don’t have all of the native ingredients used.
The food is deeply inviting, and no matter what style you like to cook or eat, you'll likely find something to tempt you here. There are old-school cakes and biscuits (including pretty quandong and Davidson Plum Ice Vovos!) for the bakers among us; condiments, sauces, preserves, herb powders and flavoured sugar for those who like to stock the pantry and fridge; curries, pies, stews and noodle dishes for dinner; cordials and drinks for hot summer days; and striking desserts and cakes for special occasions (the strawberry gum trifle, below - find the recipe - looks like a cracker for festive gatherings).
We suggest that the buttery myrtle tea cake - which features three kinds of myrtle (cinnamon, anise and lemon) and finger lime zest in the batter, and is topped with a zesty desert lime icing, might be just a ticket to sit down with when you start reading...
Get the recipe for myrtle tea cake.
Source: Murdoch Books / Josh Geelen
Myrtle tea cake Source: Murdoch Books/Josh Geelen
The book feels right, too: The matt paper, the colour palette that reflects the colours of Australia, from bushy greens to earthy browns and oranges and a sunset purple, the illustrations by Wiradjuri and Ngiyampaa woman Charlotte Allingham, and the use of artworks and props by seven First Nations artists (you can read more about the artists in the book). It’s the right size to sit on the kitchen bench when cooking, and the right size to sit and read. Also lovely to see a note in the front that publishers Murdoch Books will donate $1 from the sale of each copy to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
We grabbed the authors – busy with book launch events! – for a quick Q&A about the book and what they hope readers will find between the covers.
Who's been the most influential figure in each of your journeys to learn more about First Nations food?
REBECCA: Well for me it has been Damien because he is my reason to want to understand better in the first instance.
DAMIEN: I would say it is multi-layered for me. Bex has had a huge influence working in food anyway and always wanting to cook and eat new things. My family, the memories they helped create on country eating and foraging for different foods, and the collective work of people like Bruce Pascoe and his commitment to sharing Aboriginal histories and technologies.
The Ingredients Guide is so useful (and it's lovely to see tips on how to grow/pick the ingredients, where it's appropriate). Was it challenging trying to distil all the information you have gathered over the years into a succinct guide?
DAMIEN: Well, it was challenging, because there are over 6500 edible plants currently recognised in Australia - so choosing was hard for us but we narrowed it down by using only ones accessible to every home cook in Australia. Also, the ones that we know you can absolutely grow anywhere no matter how big a place you live in.
Put a spin on a fish burger with a bush tartare sauce and native greens. Get the recipe .
Barra burger with bush tartare sauce Source: Murdoch Books / Josh Geelen
You've given substitution options for the First Nations ingredients in each recipe - was that something you had in mind from the start, to make the book - and learning more about First Nations food - as user-friendly as possible?
DAMIEN: Yes, except with the presumption that people will use the native ingredient as the first choice and substitute that out if they can’t get it, not the other way round, so encouraging the use of it.
Every time I open this book I'm struck by something new - like the Herbal honey cough medicine and Sore throat spray recipes in the 'Medicine Garden chapter' (guess who's fighting off a cold today!); or the recipe for Bush botanical sugars (what a great way to add flavour to baking). And it makes me realise what a huge project it must have been. How long were you working on it?
REBECCA: This book has been just years of working in the industry itself, but it is mainly what we have perfected and or learnt / re-learned since our last book Warndu Mai was released four years ago. Also, the industry itself has grown so much since then, so more and more ingredients have become accessible or accessible in shops or native plant nurseries.
You've included a list of your most-used pantry staples. For someone who's just starting to add First Nations ingredients to their kitchen, what would be your top three suggestions?
REBECCA & DAMIEN:
Lemon myrtle. You can grow a small one in a pot on your balcony or a forest in your backyard. Use them to steam your veg, in your rice or simply replace your bay leaves with lemon myrtle leaves, dried or fresh.
Strawberry Gum. Keep some dried leaves. Use them whole in cups of tea, broths and infuse oils and vinegar. Powder it as needed and use it in all of your baking. From pavlova to rice puddings.
Wattleseed. If coffee supplies are to be halved by 2030 because of climate change as the experts are predicting, then we need an alternative. Wattleseed is Australia’s eco coffee. Nitrogen fixing, so a great tree for our soil and climate resilient. Healthy, high in protein. And the best is it’s caffeine free and tastes like coffee, plus it has regional diversity like coffee and is just as easy to brew.
Wattleseed is also used in their recipe for Watella - an Aussie take on Nutella. Find the recipe .
Watella Source: Murdoch Books / Josh Geelen
Beyond delicious food on their plates - and the book is certainly jam-packed with that - what do you hope readers will gain from reading the book?
DAMIEN: A greater understanding of what food systems mean to First Nations people and biodiversity. Our wish is for couples and families to start experimenting in their home kitchens and gardens, creating new memories that inspire a want to know more about the rich Aboriginal heritage that exists in diverse landscapes.
