(header photographs by Harry Waite 1912-2011)

The Myth of the Sacred Brumby

 

 

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Free Gastronomical Joys

by Dorothy English

From The Sydney bush Walker - 1934

Come on, all you independent spirits, who would be beholden to no-one for your creature comforts. Get you out into the lonely bush, and along the desolate sea-shore, and see how you fare when there is none to provide shelter for your head or food for your stomach, away from

                      "That all-softening, overpowering knell,

                       The tocsin of the soulthe dinner bell,"

and see if you can live as the sparrows live—on just what old Nature provides.

And what does she provide?

It is said that all life emerged from the sea, so let us visit our ancient watery home in search of sustenance.

I had it (unofficially) from the Marine Zoologist at the Museum, that everything in the sea is edible; nevertheless I would not recommend that any aspiring devotee of Natural Living take to eating clam-shells, even for their lime content, nor sample the succulent blue-bottle. However, practically all the little shell-fish of our coast are edible. In the Islands it is often found that, whereas the natives of one island consider a certain shell-fish poisonous, the natives of another island include it as a staple part of their dietary. The internal portion of the sea-urchin is said to be quite a delicacy to the Italians, while the Chinese revel in seaweed biscuits. These biscuits, though resembling, in my opinion, nothing so much as a sun-dried frog, are extremely appetising, but all my efforts to manufacture a similar product from the sea-kale of Era were futile. Perhaps there is some secret process used. However, sea-kale eaten raw is quite good.

There is no necessity for me to mention fish, oysters, crabs, lobsters, prawns or crayfish. Everyone knows they are worth eating, but not everyone is familiar with eels as food. Try them.

Suppose we leave the sea-shore and follow up one of our rivers, right into the heart of the bushland. On such a river as the Cox, watercress is very plentiful; dandelion leaves, used by the French as a salad vegetable, are to be found, the root of same being valued for medicinal purposes.

While on the subject of medicinal plants it might be as well to mention that the liquid obtained from boiled blackberry leaves is frequently used by herbalists as a blood purifier. The same applies to couch grass, while my grandfather swears by milk thistles as a laxative. Says he, "They work you like castor oil," which is well to know if one has indulged too freely in the wild Jack-apples obtainable in the Black Gin 'Creek thickets.

In the vegetable line, nettles can be used for soup; bracken tops have been likened to asparagus, but you needn't put much faith in that being true. The person who gave birth to that .statement was probably delirious from starvation. The soft white part of grass-tree shoots is quite edible, and has been known to save an explorer from starvation for some weeks.

One of the most delicate dishes I can suggest, in all truth, is mushrooms and periwinkles cooked in sea-water. The beauty of this mess is that it can't be spoilt, either in taste or appearance, by the addition of anything else you may care for.

Before I leave this fascinating subject of food I must say a word or two about our native fruits.

Perhaps the best known are blackberries; but we also have wild strawberries, which thrive luxuriantly in National Park; wild raspberries—not so plentiful, but possessing more flavour, lillipillis, geebungs, five-corners, ground-berries, and pigeon-berries, which are parasitic growths of the ti-tree.

Dreams of childhood gastronomical happiness invariably turn to pigeon-berries and plum-puddin' grass, which we consumed in vast quantities, spending half an afternoon gathering a paperbag full that we might have half-an-hour's gorgeous gorge in bed that night.

Ah well, a man is only as old as his stomach, and if he can still enjoy such puerilities he is still young. Here's hoping you all stay young.