Food From the Heart - Spring 2008
When Bruce Brady, Stanley Douglas and son Roy from the Amata Bushfood Team (Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands) travelled the 4,000km round trip to Reedy Creek Nursery for work place training, they were surprised at the distance that Mike and Gayle regularly travel to support their work.
Saltbush grows naturally in the flood plains in the APY Lands but the team were interested in the organic hot house growing systems used at Reedy Creek with the specially selected cultivar.
Featured Native Food: Kutjera
Old Man Saltbush (Atriplex nummularia - Family; Chenopodiaceae) is a familiar sight over large areas of the dry inland of Australia. It is a sprawling grey blue shrub up to 3 meters high and sometimes spreading to 5 meters wide. It is a long living plant, growing strongly after periods of summer rain where it grows long tassels of flowering seed heads. In old times, indigenous Australians mostly collected the minute Saltbush seeds to grind and roast for damper.
A special selection of Old Man Saltbush has been developed by Mike Quarmby for the gourmet food industry. Mike was involved in providing millions of saltbush seedlings to the revegetation and pastoral industry to rehabilitate degraded land. He soon realized that overgrazing had removed the best types of saltbush from rangelands, and only the bitter leafed plants were left. Mike undertook a lengthy journey to find natural stands of Saltbush that had been protected from overgrazing.
He established selection trial plots, with the end result being a much improved saltbush form which is quite different in flavour to the hard grown wild plant. When grown in hot house conditions, it provides a large leafed vegetable with a natural range of mineral salts, anti oxidants, calcium and 20% crude protein.
Recipe Ideas
The large fresh/blanched Saltbush leaves can be used as a wrap around meat or fish, in salads or as a leafy bed to grilled meat or vegetables. Dried Saltbush flakes are a wonderful addition to bread, grills, pasta and as a pot herb. The herb mix Desert Flakes contains saltbush with other unique Australian spices to give a medley of the Outback.
For some more exciting recipe ideas with these flavoursome Saltbush herb mixes, check out the Season With Saltbush recipe blog via the Outback Pride website. Why not take advantage of our special offer, below, and add some native saltbush flavour to your everyday home cooking!
Special Offer: Mail Order Saltbush Pack
Outback Pride will happily post to you in Australia:
1 sachet of Desert Flakes - 15gm
1 sachet of Tanami Fire - 15gm
1 sachet of Saltbush - 15gm
Only $19.95 including postage and handling (Australia only)
To take advantage of this special offer, simply email info@outbackpride.com.au with your postal address. You will be emailed an invoice for the Saltbush pack with direct deposit information, and your order will be sent upon receipt of payment.
New Products: An Exciting Range of Cordials
Now you can bring native flavour to your cocktails and beverages, with Outback Pride's new range of cordials:
- Lemon Aspen & Lilly Pilly Cordial 375ml
- Wild Spearmint Cordial 375ml
- Wild Lime cordial 375ml
- Wild Peach Cordial 375ml
These cordial concentrates, made from Australian Native Fruits and Herbs, are a wonderful drinks mixer, topping for desserts and a fresh summer drink for entertaining. They contain NO artificial colours or flavours and NO artificial preservatives or sulphates.
Events & Tastings
29th October - Oxfam store opening, Chadstone, Victoria
Until next time,
Mike & Gayle Quarmby, and the team at Outback Pride.
