Aboriginal Food Australia
Other insects eaten by aboriginal australians include cicadas and caterpillars.
Aboriginal food australia. Deserts of central australia are home to witchety grubs larvae found in the roots of acacia bushes. Similar to a chestnut in both taste and appearance this nut can be eaten raw or cooked. One of the most well known traditional aboriginal foods is the australian witchetty grub which is actually native to central australia where the watarrka region is located. Wild millet was the principle grain.
Similarly seeds from the dead finish are collected to make delicious seedcakes. Middens along the ocean shorelines show that shellfish and crustaceans were also important aboriginal food sources. It has recently been discovered that the leaves contain a huge amount of iron and this is currently being investigated to see whether or not the leaves can help treat people with anemia. Other insects in the traditional aboriginal diet are bees ants and termites.
A prominent food for the australian aboriginals is the bunya nut. They like collecting acacias lemon aspen seeds herbs fruits and nuts roots of eucalyptus fig trees grass trees apples quandong and lilly pilly. The food that the aboriginal people gather is from the australian bush. The witchetty grub remains a common snack or meal addition in australia and is high in protein and nutrition.
The current poor nutritional health of many aboriginal and torres strait islander people is in marked contrast to the situation prior to european settlement in australia when aboriginal and torres strait islander people were generally healthy and enjoyed a varied traditional diet low in energy density and rich in nutrients. The yellow fat of the goanna a large australian lizard was considered a delicacy and also smeared on the body to protect the skin from drying and cracking in the harsh sun. Fish were hunted with spears and nets. A wide range of plants and animals were eaten by australia s aborigines and insect foods included certain ants grubs moths and beetles while streams provided fish and eels in some regions.
Facts about aboriginal food 6. You can taste australian aboriginal food in many places in australia. And aboriginal people organise bush tucker tours in deserts tropical rainforests and many national parks where they explain what plants were collected how they were prepared and what they were used for. In other parts of australia indigenous people constructed elaborate fish and eel traps in creeks and rivers.
100 grams of the leaves contain around 8 times the amount you would find in 100 grams of steak. Many restaurants have bush tucker on menu. Birds were eaten including waterfowl scrub fowl the cassowary and the jabiru. The larvae which are high in calories protein and fat were once staples in the aboriginal diet.