Bush Food Aboriginal Food & Herbal Medicine
Quick review: A Wonderful exploration of the traditional Aboriginal application of food and medicine. Explores the collection, processing, cooking, serving and eating techniques of traditional Aboriginal people in Australias tropical savannah regions of Arnham Land and Cape York. Spectacular photographs full of people enjoying their bush tucker. The bulk of the book features the tropical species including fruit, nuts, roots & tubers, seeds, vegies, honey, animals, marine & shellfish, Billabong & swamp, insects & grubs. Also sections on Herbal Medicine and cooking techniques. Some exploration of seasonality and how Aboriginal culture related to this overall a great book for anyone interested in the cultural history of native foods.
Good Points: A beautiful exploration of Traditional uses of native food and medicine, nearly every spectacular photograph contains Aboriginal people collecting, processing, cooking or eating bush tucker using mostly traditional methods. Good coverage of traditional cooking methods and an interesting section on traditional herbal medicine.
Not so Good Points: Only that it is specific to the anthroprocentric application of native foods and medicine (which it does very well) for tropical savannah environments, this is not a recipe book and does not relate to the environments around cities or temparate coastal zones.
Overall: Recommended for anyone with a particular interest in the anthropological history of native foods and medicine and they way plant & animal products were collected, processed and used. Also recommended for people who spend some time in the tropical savannah areas.
From the back cover:
Bush Food
For perhaps fifty thousand years the Aboriginal people have lived, and lived well, in Australia. They have developed a unique knowledge of native plants and a deep understanding of the value of many animal products.
Bush Food is an exploration of these traditional skills and a compendium of the kinds of foods eaten by Aborigines. It indicates how food is caught or gathered, hunted or picked, how it is prepared and cooked and what nutritional value it has. It considers too the use of natural products in traditional Aboriginal herbal medicine.
Illustrated lavishly with specially commissioned photographs, this original and best selling classic will be treasured by all those with a love of the Austrlian environment and a desire to understand what it can offer to sustain human life.
Jennifer Isaacs developed her interest in Aboriginal culture during her studies in anthropology and history at Sydney University, followed by pioneering work in establishing Aboriginal culture projects for the Australia Council. She has spent over 15 years living and working with Aboriginal people, researching material for her books. The close ties developed with the Aboriginal community led to her adoption by the Rirratjingu of eastern Arnhem Land and the Thanaquith of Cape York.
