Learning about Aboriginal culture with food

Walking around the headlands from Coogee to Bondi, amongst the wattles, bottle brushes and wild flowers are some dark green leaves that, to the untrained eye, are easily overlooked.

These Warrigal Greens are one of many native Australian bush foods that would be a tasty addition to the dinner table, served up perhaps in a spinach and feta pastry.

But, says Jess Sinnott, an Aboriginal education officer at Sydney’s Botanic Gardens, the first rule of looking for bush food is never go out into the bush eating different plants, leaves and, seeds or fruits.

“If you eat the wrong one in Sydney, it could be poisonous,” Jess says. “Unless you are with someone who definitely knows what they are talking about, you don’t want to take the risk.”

During NAIDOC Week in Sydney, there are dozens of ways to celebrate and learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. An opportunity to learn about native plants that made up the local Gadigal diet is at a bush food talk hosted by expert guide Jess Sinnott at the Waterloo Library this Saturday.

Jess, a Budawang woman from the south coast, says Aboriginal people used to make cakes from ground up seeds of the Burrawang plant.

“If you eat the seeds raw, you would definitely die within the day, but we used to eat them. The women collected them, put them in a dilly bag and for two weeks ran it through water to leach out toxins. Then they’d dry them out and crush it into flour to make into cakes.”

Jess feels there is a big shift in people wanting to know about Aboriginal culture. “For a long time, Aboriginal people weren’t allowed to talk about their culture or speak in our own languages,” Jess says.

“Now I think Australia is starting to catch on to what we have to say. We’ve survived here for 60,000 to 80,000 years so obviously we’ve done something right.”

Jess believes food is one good inroad into learning about culture. In addition to inheriting a delicious and varied diet of lilli pilli jams, wattleseed seasoning and protein-rich kangaroo, Aboriginal people draw from a wealth of knowledge of medicinal plants, such as lemon myrtle to calm headaches and sarsaparilla leaves to treat coughs and colds.

“There are a lot of people out there who are very ignorant to Aboriginal culture, thinking we were very primitive, when really it was the complete opposite,” Jess says.

Details: Aboriginal guide Jess Sinnott brings a taste of local heritage to Waterloo Library with a talk on traditional seasonal foods available in the Sydney area. Saturday July 9, 2pm.

Bookings: www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/library