WILD ABOUT NUTS
The alternative milk market is showing no signs of slowing down, and now there’s a new sustainably minded offering, tiger nut milk. Madame Tiger has created two kinds of ready-to-drink tiger nut milks, ideal for baking, coffee, smoothies or any other way you’d typically use dairy or nut milks. “It’s sweet and a little nutty, which is kind of crazy given tiger nuts are not actually nuts,” says founder Laura Hindson. Also known as earth almonds, tiger nuts are in fact nutrient-dense little tuber plants that have been used by humans for thousands of years, with traces found at archaeological sites in Africa and the Middle
East. GT first tried tiger nuts at Joost Bakker’s experimental Future Food System in Melbourne’s Fed Square back in early 2021, and now the milk is popping up in coffee shops in the Mornington Peninsula and beyond. “Tiger nuts only need rainwater to grow so I feel like switching up my milk to tiger nut milk is something I’m doing daily to improve my personal climate footprint,” says Hindson. Madame Tiger sources all tiger nuts from Mousso Faso, a female farming collective in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Hindson had seen documentary Tiger Nut: Homeland of the Wholehearted Women while at the African Film Festival in Auckland, New Zealand. Afterwards she got in touch with the filmmaker to talk all things tiger nuts and ethical trade, before going on to work closely with Mousso Faso. The combination of keeping the planet and people in mind has always been at the forefront for Hindson, while also creating something delicious. “Our tiger nut milk is creamy smooth and if I had to say what it tastes like in comparison to other plant-based milks, I would say it is somewhere between oat and almond milk but unique, so give it a whirl.” madametiger.com