The nation’s chefs, farmers and entrepreneurial producers have created a scene that’s both refreshing and rooted in the varied landscape
“You won’t need a slice of lemon with that,” joked the bartender as he poured me a G&T in Melbourne a few years ago. Fortunately, I had already knocked back a couple of glasses before questioning his comment and discovering the not-so-secret citrus ingredient of my tipple: ants.
Although daring for modern palettes, the unusual botanical flavouring Australian Green Ant gin is nothing new to indigenous communities who have been using the insects as an infusion for centuries to make a tea rich in vitamin C. And ants are just one of many superfoods native to a country so rich in unusual tastes and textures that it has earned favour with experimental chefs such as Heston Blumenthal – one of several international names to open a restaurant here.
Endless series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! have given “bush tucker” a bad name, but nutty witchetty grubs, sweet bottlebrush flowers and wheaty wattleseed are just a few of the wild ingredients finding their way onto menus as part of an explosion of interest and appreciation for indigenous cuisine. Victoria is driving the movement with Nornie Bero’s restaurant Big Esso in Melbourne, and the new Budj Bim Cultural Landscape cafe set within the World Heritage Site.
But beyond the weird and wonderful, there are still plenty of conventional dishes and drinks that go beyond a can of Fosters and a couple of snags thrown on the barbie. Some of the finest new world wines are produced from vines grown in fertile coastal soils, truffles sprout from the base of hazelnut trees, and for centuries oysters have been harvested for their delicate meat.