Australian spices
Encyclopedia
Australian herbs and spices were traditionally used by Aborigines
, especially to flavour food in ground ovens. The term "spice" is applied generally to the non-leafy range of strongly flavoured dried Australian bushfood
s. They mainly consist of aromatic fruits and seed products although Australian wild peppers also have spicy leaves. In addition, there are a small number of aromatic leaves but unlike culinary herbs from other cultures which often come from small soft-stemmed forb
s, the Australian herb species are generally trees from rainforests, open forests and woodlands.
Australian herbs and spices are generally dried and ground to produce a powdered or flaked spice, either used as single ingredient or in blends.
They were used to a limited extent by colonists in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Some extracts were used as flavouring during the 20th Century. However, Australian native spices have become more widely recognized and used by non-indigenous people since the early 1980s as part of the bushfood industry, with increasing gourmet
use and export.
They can also be used as a fresh product. Leaves can be used whole, like a bay-leaf in cooking, or spicy fruits are added to various dishes for flavour.
The distilled essential oils from leaves and twigs are also used as flavouring products.
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
, especially to flavour food in ground ovens. The term "spice" is applied generally to the non-leafy range of strongly flavoured dried Australian bushfood
Bushfood
Bushfood traditionally relates to any food native to Australia and used as sustenance by the original inhabitants, the Australian Aborigines, but it is a reference to any native fauna/flora that is used for culinary and/or medicinal purposes regardless of which continent or culture it originates...
s. They mainly consist of aromatic fruits and seed products although Australian wild peppers also have spicy leaves. In addition, there are a small number of aromatic leaves but unlike culinary herbs from other cultures which often come from small soft-stemmed forb
Forb
A forb is a herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid . The term is used in biology and in vegetation ecology, especially in relation to grasslands and understory.-Etymology:...
s, the Australian herb species are generally trees from rainforests, open forests and woodlands.
Australian herbs and spices are generally dried and ground to produce a powdered or flaked spice, either used as single ingredient or in blends.
They were used to a limited extent by colonists in the 18th and 19th Centuries. Some extracts were used as flavouring during the 20th Century. However, Australian native spices have become more widely recognized and used by non-indigenous people since the early 1980s as part of the bushfood industry, with increasing gourmet
Gourmet
Gourmet is a cultural ideal associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterised by elaborate preparations and presentations of large meals of small, often quite rich courses...
use and export.
They can also be used as a fresh product. Leaves can be used whole, like a bay-leaf in cooking, or spicy fruits are added to various dishes for flavour.
The distilled essential oils from leaves and twigs are also used as flavouring products.
Fruit
- Acronychia acidula, Lemon AspenLemon AspenLemon aspen, Acronychia acidula is a small to medium sized rainforest tree of Queensland, Australia. The aromatic and acidic fruit is harvested as a bushfood....
- Citrus australasica, Finger LimeFinger LimeThe Finger Lime plant, Citrus australasica is a thorny understorey shrub or small tree of lowland subtropical rainforest and dry rainforest in the coastal border region of Queensland and New South Wales, Australia....
- Citrus australis,Lime
- Citrus glauca, Desert LimeDesert LimeCitrus glauca is also known as Desert Lime. It is a thorny shrub or small tree endemic to semi-arid regions of Queensland, New South Wales, and South Australia...
- Eupomatia laurinaEupomatia laurinaEupomatia laurina, known as Bolwarra or sometimes Native Guava or Copper Laurel is a shrub to small tree, often seen between 3 and 5 metres tall. However larger specimens may attain a height of 15 metres and a trunk diameter of 30 cm...
, Bolwarra - Solanum centrale, Akudjura
- Syzygium luehmanniiSyzygium luehmanniiSyzygium luehmannii is a medium sized coastal rainforest tree. Common names include Riberry, Small Leaved Lilli Pilli, Cherry Satinash, Cherry Alder, or Clove Lilli Pilli....
, Riberry
Herbs
- Mentha australisMentha australisMentha australis is known by the common names of river mint, native mint, native peppermint, and Australian mint. It is a mint species within the genus Mentha....
, River Mint - Ocimum tenuiflorum, Native Thyme
- Prostanthera incisaProstanthera incisaProstanthera incisa, or cut-leaf mintbush, is a shrubby plant native to rocky mountain tops of Eastern Australia. It has an attractive purple flower. The leaves are highly aromatic, ovate-lanceolate, 1–3 cm long, and teethed....
var. incisa, Cut-leaf Mintbush - Prostanthera rotundifoliaProstanthera rotundifoliaProstanthera rotundifolia, the roundleaf mint bush, is one of about 90 Australian endemic species from the genus Prostanthera, known as Australian mints or native mints.The plant is a branched woody shrub, which may reach up to...
, Native Thyme
Spices
- Acacia victoriaeAcacia victoriaeAcacia victoriae commonly known as Gundabluie or Bardi bush is a shrub or tree native to Australia. It grows 2–5 m, sometimes 9 m tall. It has spines 2–12 mm in length.Subspecies:A. victoriae subsp. arida Pedley-Uses:...
, Gundabluey, WattleseedWattleseedWattleseed is a term used to describe the edible seeds from around 120 species of Australian Acacia thatwere traditionally used as food by Australian Aborigines and they were eaten either green or dried to make a type of bush bread.Acacia seed flour has recently gained popularity in Australia... - Backhousia citriodora, citralCitralCitral, or 3,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadienal or lemonal, is either of, or a mixture of, a pair of terpenoids with the molecular formula C10H16O. The two compounds are double bond isomers. The E-isomer is known as geranial or citral A...
chemovar, Lemon Myrtle - Backhousia myrtifolia, elemicinElemicinElemicin is a phenylpropene, a natural organic compound, and is a constituent of the essential oil of nutmeg.Elemicin is also a minor constituent of the oleoresin and essential oil of Manila elemi...
chemovar, Cinnamon MyrtleCinnamon MyrtleBackhousia myrtifolia is a small rainforest tree species grows in subtropical rainforests of Eastern Australia. B. myrtifolia is also known as carrol, carrol ironwood, neverbreak, ironwood or grey myrtle, or Australian lancewood. Cinnamon myrtle is a spice form of B. myrtifolia.Backhousia... - Eucalyptus divesEucalyptus divesEucalyptus dives or broad-leaved peppermint is a small tree native to temperate dry sclerophyll woodlands and forests of south-eastern Australia. The juvenile leaves are ovate and glaucus, and adult leaves are lanceolate to broad-lanceolate. Leaves are aromatic.-Uses:There are two notable...
, piperitonePiperitonePiperitone is a natural monoterpene ketone which is a component of some essential oils. Both stereoisomers, the D-form and the L-form, are known. The D-form has a peppermint-like aroma and has been isolated from the oils of plants from the genera Cymbopogon, Andropogon, and Mentha...
chemovar, Peppermint Gum - Eucalyptus globulusEucalyptus globulusThe Tasmanian Blue Gum, Southern Blue Gum or Blue Gum, is an evergreen tree, one of the most widely cultivated trees native to Australia. They typically grow from 30 to 55 m tall. The tallest currently known specimen in Tasmania is 90.7 m tall...
, cineole chemovar, Tasmanian Blue Gum - Eucalyptus olidaEucalyptus olidaEucalyptus olida, also known as the Strawberry Gum, is a medium-sized tree to 20 m, restricted to sclerophyll woodlands on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, in Eastern Australia. The bark is fibrous in mature trees. Flowers are cream coloured and are followed by small woody capsules. The...
, methyl cinnamateMethyl cinnamateMethyl cinnamate is the methyl ester of cinnamic acid and is a white or transparent solid with a strong, aromatic odor. It is found naturally in a variety of plants, including in fruits, like strawberry, and some culinary spices, such as Sichuan pepper and some varieties of basil...
chemovar, Strawberry Gum - Eucalyptus polybractea, Blue-leaved Mallee
- Eucalyptus staigerianaEucalyptus staigerianaEucalyptus staigeriana, Lemon Ironbark or Lemon-scented Ironbark, is a small rough barked sclerophyll tree that grows naturally in pure stands on hills in the Palmer River region of Cape York, North Queensland, Australia.-Uses:...
, Lemon Ironbark - Melaleuca quinquenerviaMelaleuca quinquenerviaMelaleuca quinquenervia, commonly known as Niaouli or Broad-leaved paperbark or the Paper Bark Tea Tree, is a small- to medium-sized tree of the allspice family, Myrtaceae. The plant is native to New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea and coastal Eastern Australia, from Botany Bay in New South Wales...
, Broad-leaf Paperbark - Melaleuca leucadendron, Weeping Paperbark
- Syzygium anisatum, trans-E-AnetholeAnetholeAnethole is a phenylpropene, a type of aromatic compound that occurs widely in nature, in essential oils...
chemovar, Aniseed myrtleAniseed myrtleSyzygium anisatum , ringwood or aniseed tree is a rare Australian rainforest tree with an aromatic leaf that has an essential oil profile comparable to true aniseed... - TasmanniaTasmanniaTasmannia is a genus of woody, evergreen flowering plants of the family Winteraceae. There are 40 species of Tasmannia native to Australia, New Guinea, Celebes, Borneo, and Philippines. The Winteraceae are magnoliids, and are associated with the humid Antarctic flora of the southern hemisphere...
lanceolata, Mountain Pepper - Tasmannia stipitata, Dorrigo PepperDorrigo PepperTasmannia stipitata, Dorrigo Pepper or Northern Pepperbush is a rainforest shrub of temperate forests of the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Leaves are fragrant, narrow-lanceolate to narrow-elliptic, 8-13 cm long. Dark bluish to mauve berries follow the flowers on female shrubs...