No bush tucker trial
A foodie trip in Australia full of indigenous edibles
Foodies can’t get enough of foraging. You see them all over the place on a weekend now, rummaging around the hedgerows for tasty herbs and roots, fruit and fungi. It’s all part of a movement aimed at reconnecting us with nature, seasonality and our hunter-gatherer pasts.
An appreciation of indigenous food is now blossoming in Australia, too, with greater interest in Aboriginal ingredients from chefs, restaurateurs and home cooks alike.
At the heart of all this is the state of South Australia and one man in particular. His name is Jock Zonfrillo, and he was born in Glasgow to a Scottish mum and an Italian father.
The chef spent more than 17 years exploring Australia, patiently persuading the Elders in remote Aboriginal communities to share their knowledge of harvesting and cooking Earth’s bounty in a respectful and sustainable way.
Today, Jock is based in Adelaide, where he has opened the extraordinary Orana restaurant (www.restaurantorana.com) in central Rundle Street as well as a sister property, Bistro Blackwood.
He has also set up the Orana Foundation with the aim of cataloguing and helping to preserve the food culture of indigenous communities.
Orana and Jock have been awarded numerous culinary accolades. Make no mistake, his food bears no resemblance to the ‘bush tucker’ currently seen on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! – fish eyes, kangaroo’s private parts and all that.
But you will have your taste buds challenged by unusual ingredients such as green ants, perhaps deep fried kangaroo tendon – actually delicious and nutritious. Jock may include up to 40 indigenous ingredients, many unique to Australia, in his inventive, modern cuisine.
“I think many people would be surprised to learn indigenous ingredients possess nutritional qualities far greater than regular market produce and can be grown without chemicals, pesticides, or millions of litres of water irrigation,” he says.
Orana, which means ‘welcome’ in some Aboriginal languages, seats just 31 diners across ten tables, and is open for dinner Tuesday to Saturday and lunch on Friday.
On our night there, the menu featured delicious, more familiar tastes such as kangaroo tail, potato & pepper pie and Murray River cod, leek & eucalyptus.
But it was the vibrant flavours delivered by herbs and plants I’d never heard of before – brush cherry, bunya (nuts that drop only once every three years), paperbark, quandongs – had our taste buds buzzing with interest.
Yes, we ate green ants – bit gritty, very lemony, extremely green. We loved the set buffalo milk and strawberry eucalyptus and the flavour-packed soup soup – soup so good it’s named twice.
All this is not cheap, I have to be honest – the dinner tasting menu at Orana, which can include up to 25 little courses, costs AUS$175 plus $150 for matching wines, so its approximately £180 total per person. But you are buying a remarkable experience, something you can dine out on for years to come.
Flying to Adelaide with Malaysian Airlines, which operates twice daily flights direct from London to Kuala Lumpur and beyond, is as comfortable and pleasant an experience as such a long journey can
Yes, we ate green ants – bit gritty, very lemony, extremely green
be, too. The city is traditionally the gateway for such tourist treasures as Kangaroo Island, Flinders Ranges and the Outback.
But it’s well worth scheduling a few days here to enjoy many other exemplary food experiences, too, not to mention excellent wine.
For a start, there’s Adelaide Central Market, founded in 1869. Book a guide with Food Tours Australia (www. ausfoodtours.com) to get the best out of your visit.
Do stop by Something Wild (www. somethingwild.com.au), which specialises in wild meats including boar, emu and crocodile and other native foods, and even supplies helpful recipe cards to make it easier for Australians to cook using indigenous ingredients.
While at the market, you can pick up provisions for a picnic, or head for the Botanic Gardens Restaurant for lunch (www. botanicgardensrestaurant.com. au). Here head chef Paul Baker also uses the best local South Australian produce, coupled with fresh vegetables and herbs harvested daily from the nearby Botanic Gardens kitchen garden.
In Adelaide, a change in licensing laws has resulted in the establishment of reams of smaller restaurants and bars in the narrow back streets of the city centre. Peel St, in Peel Street, serves sharing plates of food so fantastic I went there twice – the caramelised pork belly was truly scrumptious.
Afterwards, enjoy a nightcap in the 13th-floor Hennessy Rooftop Bar at The Mayfair Hotel, the city’s newest luxury hotel, set in a heritage-listed Art Deco building.
Of course, South Australia serves fantastic wine to go with all the great food, too, and Adelaide is surrounded by a number of renowned wine regions. A trip out to Mclaren Vale is well worth it while you’re here – hire a car so you can have a good look round and stay overnight while you’re at it.
Hotel California Road, Tatachilla (www.hotelcaliforniaroad.com) is fabulous. It has just three luxury vineyard suites nestled in a secluded valley close to Mclaren Vale, each with a huge soaking tub overlooking the vines at Inkwell.
For lunch, enjoy head chef Tom Jacks’ gorgeous food at Mitolo Wines’ new restaurant, Bocca di Lupo (www. mitolowines.co.au).
Later, head for d’arenberg for a tour of The Cube, a distinctive Rubik’s cube-esque building inspired by the complexities and puzzles of winemaking (www.darenberg. com.au) – extraordinary but very interesting.
Enjoy a premium wine tasting while you’re here, too. And, of course, don’t forget to pick up a bottle or two of your favourite to take home. Fly to Australia with Malaysian Airlines, which offers return flights to Adelaide from Glasgow from £949, www.malaysiaairlines.com Stay at the Mayfair Hotel in central Adelaide, from AUD$229 per night (approx. £130), www.mayfairhotel. com.au For more on outh Australia, visit www.southaustralia.com