Bush food in demand as chefs look to include more native ingredients in their cuisine
An increase in bush food being used in cooking has a growing number of farmers experimenting with this niche market.
A couple of years ago Adelaide chef Jock Zonfrillo, put native ingredients on his restaurant menu, now a pop-up of world famous restaurant Noma in Sydney, is doing the same.
The growing interest in native foods is resulting in the need for greater supply.
Mike Edwards, a plant breeder and nursery owner from Colac in south-west Victoria, said more people are embracing native flavours and there is more awareness of Australia's Aboriginal heritage.
"Native food has been around for many years and probably 20-30 years ago they started to get organised with small groups, but recently it seems to have really increased a lot with the interest in cooking."
Mr Edwards grows 15 different species in his nursery, including lemon and aniseed myrtle, river mint, mountain pepper, chocolate lily and yam daisy.
He said there are a few reasons why demand for bush food is up.
"There's been this gradual increase and now since the trials on some of the native foods, the food value, the health values which seem to be above the European foods in the trials they've done have also created a lot of interest in the health aspects."
He said farmers are one group embracing native foods, something which may provide potential market opportunities in the future.
"The biggest market seems to be home gardeners just wanting to try them," he said.
"Quite a few farmers are wanting to put in small plots just to see how they go and they just at the moment are trialling them just to see what will grow and what won't grow."
Source: ABC Rural, Tiarne Cook, 3rd August 2015
Originally published as: Bush food in demand as chefs look to include more native ingredients in their cuisine
