It’s often said that Australia doesn’t really have its own national cuisine – that as a young country, its food culture is best understood as a mosaic of traditions drawn from Asia, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Europe, blended together and adapted to suit Australian produce and palates.
On one level, this is true. On another level, it disregards the rich history of everything Indigenous Australians ate pre-British colonisation. Sure, the macadamia nut has achieved international recognition, but what about the thousands of other edible native species? Even five years ago, for the interested diner to experience native Australian produce, they’d have to seek out a specialist, capital “F” Fine Dining restaurant like Ben Shewry’s Attica or Jock Zonfrillo’s Orana in order to sample the country’s endemic produce. Lately,…
