Aboriginal Cooking

Tasty Kangaroo Tails

Aborigines lived as Hunter-gatherers. They hunted and foraged for food from the land.
Australian Aboriginal cooking methods are unique, most of them originating in and around outdoor fires. Boiling and barbecuing are newer techniques that they have learned.
Aboriginals ate a balanced diet before the invasion of the British Crown, including seasonal fruits, nuts, roots vegetables, wattles, other plant food, many types of meats, and seafood.


Aboriginal Cooking Methods


 Roasting on hot coals:

· The basic technique for cooking flesh, including most meats, fish and small turtles.
A further slow roasting, involving covering with coals and ashes may have then
been employed to thoroughly cook the meat or to soften an otherwise tough meat.
After cooking, the meat would be quickly consumed.
· For game, such as a kangaroo, the fur would first be singed off in the flames. As
the carcase started to swell, it would be removed from the flames, gutted and the
remains of the fur scraped off with a sharp implement. By this time the fire would
be a bed of hot coals on which the carcase would be further cooked. It is unlikely
that cooking would be complete by this method, the meat would be rare but
probably relished by all, particularly the men of the group.
· Smaller game would be more thoroughly cooked by this method.
· Shellfish would be cooked briefly on the coals at the side of a fire so that, as soon as
the contents started to froth, they were removed from the heat. This method
avoided the shellfish being overcooked and tough.

Baking in the ashes

Dampers and various types of bread were baked in the ashes. Care was taken to only
use the correct type of wood from which the ashes were obtained. Some woods
imparted an unpleasant taste or even caused irritation or discomfort to the users. most
wattles seemed to have been successfully used for baking in the ashes, yielding a fine
ash that did not cause irritation. Witchetty grubs only required to be briefly rolled in
the hot ashes to cook them. Often damper or goanna would be placed on the hot
ground beneath the ashes and covered with more ash to cook. A scooped out hollow
was often made in which to cook yams and other small vegetables by then covering
them with a further layer of ash and coals.

Steaming in a ground oven

Aboriginal cooking methods using ancient ground ovens still exist, particularly in the Wiradjuri area, along the Darling,
Murrumbidgee and Lachlan Rivers. At Lake Urana in western NSW I have seen such
ovens and only recognised them after having them explained to me. The ovens were
prepared by digging out a pit about 90 cm long and 60 cm deep, taking care to collect
any clay from the digging. The clay, usually fashioned into smooth lumps, would be
placed aside until the pit had been filled with selected firewood and then placed on
top. As the wood burned, the clay would dry quickly and become very hot. These
clay lumps, nearly red hot, would be removed from the pit using sticks for tongs, the
pit swept out and quickly lined with green leaves or grass on which small game such
as possums would be lain, covered by more green grass and weighed down by the clay lumps. All this was covered with earth from the original excavation to prevent loss of
steam. This method of cooking produced excellent results. In areas such as Arnhem Land, wrapping in moist paperbark from the Melaleuca trees is still a popular method
of cooking vegetables and meat in a ground oven. Iron particles in ground ovens
became aligned according to the magnetic field of the earth at the time the ovens were
last used – from this the age of the ovens could be calculated, a bonus for
archaeologists.

Australian Food

Aboriginal cooking has always played a role in Australian food culture. Many native methods of cooking which we call bush tucker, include  local meats and flavours such as kangaroo, barramundi and wattle seed, are now accepted and thrive in gourmet cooking in Australia.

Over the past 40 years there has been a major shift in Australian cuisine. The food, like our society itself, has taken on a much more multi-cultural influence, especially with the arrival of immigrants from the Mediterranean and more recently South East Asia.



Australian food was heavily influenced by the first English settlers, who favored such foods as roasted cuts of meat, grilled steak and chops with vegetables. Despite the different influences in the past 200 or so years, much of this traditional British food has remained in Australian cuisine, particularly in Australian pub food such as the meat pie and fish and chips.

Fresh produce is readily available in Australia and is used extensively, and the trend (urged by long-term government health initiatives) is towards low-salt, low-fat healthy cookery incorporating lean meat and lightly cooked, colourful, steamed or stir-fried vegetables. With most of the Australian population residing in coastal areas, fish and seafood is popular.

People barbeque all over the world and it truly is universal, but Australians have a very special relationship with the barbecue. For us the Barbie is a part of our up bringing, and it's also our birth right. We are born with tongs in hand. We barbeque better than anyone else (sometimes depending on how many beers are consumed), and we enjoy the barbie more than anyone else on the planet (even if our sausages have been totally cremated). Australians more than most have embraced the BBQ and taken it to gastronomic levels of gourmet cooking that other races can only marvel at (and are sometimes asked are you really going to eat that?). 

Australian food features Australian seafood such as: Prawns, Southern bluefin tuna, King George whiting, Moreton Bay bugs, Mud Crabs, Jew Fish, Dhufish (Western Australia) and Yabbies. Australia is one of the largest producers of abalone and rock lobster.Australia's 11 million square kilometre fishing zone is the third largest in the world and allows for bountiful access to seafood which significantly influences Australian cuisine.

An iconic Australian food is Vegemite. Other unique or iconic national foods include the Meat pie a must at all sporting events, Macadamia nuts; Violet Crumble, a honeycomb chocolate bar; Cherry Ripe; Jaffas, chocolate with an orange-flavoured confectionery shell; the Chiko Roll, a deep-fried savoury roll similar to a spring roll; and the Dim sim, a Chinese-inspired dumpling. Other popular Australian foods include Tim Tams, a chocolate biscuit; Musk sticks; Fairy bread; Lamingtons; the Vanilla slice; and the commercial breakfast cereal Weet-Bix.

Wallaby Recipes

Eat more wallaby its good for you!

Wallabies are widely distributed across Australia, particularly in more remote, heavily timbered, or rugged areas, less so on the great semi-arid plains that are better suited to the larger, leaner, and more fleet-footed kangaroos.

Wallaby meat has a rich burgundy colour, is very tender, with subtle flavour lending itself to diverse styles of preparation. It is very low in cholesterol and very low in fat, perfect for the health conscious.

Portioned and ready to cook

Wallaby has a mild game flavour and can be used as an alternative to veal or chicken. The tenderness and flavour of wallaby meat is best enhanced when lightly cooked.

Provided the following simple steps are followed, cuts of Wallaby meat can be prepared in a similar fashion as all other red meats:

Brush the meat with oil (e.g. olive , peanut or seasame) prior to cooking either by pan frying, barbecue or roasting.

Place in a hot pan and quickly turn to ensure both sides are seared (browned) , seal and turn only once to retain moisture.

Roasting is an ideal cooking method for Wallaby meat. For the best results cook at controlled temperatures. It is not recommended to overcook kangaroo and Wallaby meat as the absence of fat makes the meat dry out.

Source: Yarra valley Game Meats,www.LifeStyleFOOD.com.au





Mark Olive’s Wallaby Stack

Recipe by World Famous Chef Mark Olive from The Outback Café

Mark Olive (aka the “Black Olive”) has been a chef for over twenty years - he became interested in cooking as a child, watching his mother and aunts.

He was born in Woollongong in New South Wales, but his people are the Bundjalung nation from the state's northern rivers region.

Mark was chef at Melbourne's indigenous restaurant, the Flaming Bull, and ran his own restaurant in Sydney for a time where he specialised in creating recipes using outback ingredients.

Today he cooks regularly for gatherings of hundreds of people at big corporate and public functions in Australia, bringing his signature blend of contemporary outback tastes to every occasion.




500 g Wallaby butterfly cut steaks

1 Sweet potato thinly sliced lengthways

1 Capsicum cut into 4 equal pieces

Native Mountain Pepper

3 Dessert Spoons Seeded Mustard

1 Dessert Spoon Honey

¼ cup crushed Macadamia

1.Pre-heat oven to 200°C.

2.Prepare the steaks in a butterfly cut, and coat with native mountain pepper, set aside.

3.Coat the zucchini, sweet potato, and capsicum with olive oil and cook on a hot griddle plate until tender (do not over cook).

4.During cooking sprinkle with native mountain pepper. Remove from griddle and set aside.

5.Sear both sides of the wallaby steak quickly on a very hot griddle (should be medium rare).

6.Remove from griddle and set aside to rest.

7.On a baking tray, layer the sweet potato, zucchini, capsicum and wallaby, repeat.

8.Top with crushed macadamia nuts and place in oven until nuts are golden brown.
9.To make the sauce, mix the seeded mustard and honey in a small bowl.

10.To serve, place the stack on a plate and drizzle with the honey mustard sauced. Sprinkle native mountain pepper around the plate and add some whole roasted macadamia nuts for presentation.

Aboriginal Cooking Methods

Aborigines lived as Hunter-gatherers. They hunted and foraged for food from the land.
Australian Aboriginal cooking methods are unique, most of them originating in and around outdoor fires. Boiling and barbecuing are newer techniques that they have learned.
Aboriginals ate a balanced diet before the invasion of the British Crown, including seasonal fruits, nuts, roots vegetables, wattles, other plant food, many types of meats, and seafood.


Aboriginal Cooking Methods


 Roasting on hot coals:

· The basic technique for cooking flesh, including most meats, fish and small turtles.
A further slow roasting, involving covering with coals and ashes may have then
been employed to thoroughly cook the meat or to soften an otherwise tough meat.
After cooking, the meat would be quickly consumed.
· For game, such as a kangaroo, the fur would first be singed off in the flames. As
the carcase started to swell, it would be removed from the flames, gutted and the
remains of the fur scraped off with a sharp implement. By this time the fire would
be a bed of hot coals on which the carcase would be further cooked. It is unlikely
that cooking would be complete by this method, the meat would be rare but
probably relished by all, particularly the men of the group.
· Smaller game would be more thoroughly cooked by this method.
· Shellfish would be cooked briefly on the coals at the side of a fire so that, as soon as
the contents started to froth, they were removed from the heat. This method
avoided the shellfish being overcooked and tough.

Baking in the ashes

Dampers and various types of bread were baked in the ashes. Care was taken to only
use the correct type of wood from which the ashes were obtained. Some woods
imparted an unpleasant taste or even caused irritation or discomfort to the users. most
wattles seemed to have been successfully used for baking in the ashes, yielding a fine
ash that did not cause irritation. Witchetty grubs only required to be briefly rolled in
the hot ashes to cook them. Often damper or goanna would be placed on the hot
ground beneath the ashes and covered with more ash to cook. A scooped out hollow
was often made in which to cook yams and other small vegetables by then covering
them with a further layer of ash and coals.





Steaming in a ground oven

Aboriginal cooking methods using ancient ground ovens still exist, particularly in the Wiradjuri area, along the Darling,
Murrumbidgee and Lachlan Rivers. At Lake Urana in western NSW I have seen such
ovens and only recognised them after having them explained to me. The ovens were
prepared by digging out a pit about 90 cm long and 60 cm deep, taking care to collect
any clay from the digging. The clay, usually fashioned into smooth lumps, would be
placed aside until the pit had been filled with selected firewood and then placed on
top. As the wood burned, the clay would dry quickly and become very hot. These
clay lumps, nearly red hot, would be removed from the pit using sticks for tongs, the
pit swept out and quickly lined with green leaves or grass on which small game such
as possums would be lain, covered by more green grass and weighed down by the clay lumps. All this was covered with earth from the original excavation to prevent loss of
steam. This method of cooking produced excellent results. In areas such as Arnhem Land, wrapping in moist paperbark from the Melaleuca trees is still a popular method
of cooking vegetables and meat in a ground oven. Iron particles in ground ovens
became aligned according to the magnetic field of the earth at the time the ovens were
last used – from this the age of the ovens could be calculated, a bonus for
archaeologists.