Expensive to purchase, hard to source, challenging to farm on a large scale, and largely unfamiliar to the Australian palate, indigenous ingredients have faced an uphill battle for mainstream appreciation.
But a new generation of chefs is reigniting the interest in native food, and a modern, sophisticated use of the produce could fuel a growth in this niche supply industry.
Jed Gerrard, executive chef at Perth's Wildflower restaurant, atop Como The Treasury hotel, not only uses locally sourced ingredients, his cooking revolves around the six seasons of the indigenous Noongar calendar.
"We follow the local area Aboriginal weather calendar," Gerrard says. "We are currently in the Djeran season, which typically has cooler nights, light breezes and the presence of dew on plants in the early mornings."
Gerrard wanted to create a menu which was authentically West Australian, and with that bring on some logistical challenges. "I asked myself, is this realistic, are we going to be able to follow these seasons, are we going to have enough time to go foraging, do we have enough suppliers to sustain a busy restaurant that has 80 seats. We do 150 covers a day, you need a lot of native produce."
But with a small, focused menu, weekly foraging sessions and painstaking cultivation of local suppliers, Gerrard is sticking to his original intent.
"I can confidently say that 95 per cent of everything we use comes from Western Australia. The other 5 per cent would be Australia generally, that's just a couple of cheeses and vinegars. All the proteins and vegetables and natives are from Western Australia."
Wildflower is in this year's The Australian Financial Review's Australia's Top 500 Restaurants list, the third annual awards where chefs and restaurateurs from 500 venues across the nation vote for their favourite dining experiences, with the shortlist of 100 announced on June 19.
In the top list are acclaimed chefs Jack Zonfrillo (Orana), Ben Shrewry (Attica), Peter Gilmore (Quay) and Dan Hunter (Brae), who have also been modern champions of indigenous food.
Matt Germanchis, chef and owner of Captain Moonlite at Anglesea, Victoria, says thanks to these chefs, there is now good momentum. "The Bens and the Dans of the world are putting an intelligent accent to some indigenous products," Germanchis says. "Young chefs really look up to people like that, so we all get a better understanding and appreciation of what native foods are.
"We're always going to have a bit of kitsch around here and there, but we're moving forward, without a doubt."
In the 1990s, and leading up to the Sydney Olympic Games, interest was at an all-time high with lemon myrtle, quandong, bush tomatoes, samphire, finger limes and warrigal greens were commonly found on menus Australia-wide.
As with most food trends, favour comes and goes in cycles. But with indigenous food, this newfound popularity highlighted the key obstacle of consistency of supply on a commercial scale, meaning today's revival will be a slow burn.
Many native foods have incredibly short seasons, says Gerrard. "Trying to find regular, reliable supply of ingredients is like getting blood out of a stone. We need to be smart about it, I salt and preserve a lot of produce to make sure I have enough."
While some foods such as kangaroo, lemon myrtle and macadamias are farmed and exported, most are still harvested from the wild. As demand increases, this supply chain could prove unsustainable, but Clinton McIver from Melbourne's fine dining Amaru restaurant, which highlights native produce, says the interest is spurring on more farming. "There are little producers popping up everywhere, it's good to see people are willing to invest in these small crops, so we have year-round fresh native ingredients."
Both CSIRO development and government-funded initiatives in Aboriginal communities are working to increase output. For now, the chefs are undeterred and using these flavourful ingredients wisely to absorb the price premiums.
"Yes, they're expensive, but the majority of natives have an impact of flavour, so we can use them sparsely," Germanchis says. "Finger limes may cost me $1 each, but I can put one through three or four dishes."
McIver says his philosophy, and what he sees as the way forward, is to use these foods as seasonings, rather than hero ingredients. "We use Davidson Plum powder to give a nice acidity and sharpness," McIver says.
And if you can't source it, forage it, says Germanchis. "Because my restaurant is on the beach, we'll just walk down and pick up some sea spinach, samphire, sea bananas, parsleys, cabbages, little bits and pieces. For now, I'm going to focus a lot more on coastal ingredients."
