category: food/groceries: Länderküche: Australien: spices

Bush spices, Australian spices, de.: Australische Gewürze und Kräuter

Australian bush spices are the leafs or fruits of native plants of Australia used to season food or boil tea. Hundreds of Australian plants may be used as spices but only few are well known among the majority of Australian people. Most Australian leaf spices grow on trees and are therefore no herbs in the botanical sense of the term.

Aborigines used plant parts to flavour foods cooked in earth ovens and to prepare drinks. Many plants that may be used as spices also had medicinal properties. Leafs or fruits were mostly used fresh. Today most bush spices are usually sold dried and ground or flaked.

Some of the better-known bushtucker spices are:

• Aniseed myrtle (Backhousia anisata)
• Cape barren tea (Correa alba)
• Australian mint bush (Prostanthera rotundifolia)
• Bush pepper (Tasmannia lanceolata, T. stipitata, T. xerophi)
• Eucalyptus
  • Blue-Leaved Mallee (Eucalyptus polybractea)
  • Lemon Ironbark (Eucalyptus staigeriana)
  • Strawberry Gum (Eucalyptus olida)
  • Peppermint Gum (Eucalyptus dives)
  • Tasmanian Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus)
• Native basil (Ocimum tenuiflorum)
• Running postman (Kennedia prostrata)
• Leptospermum
• River mint (Mentha australis)
• Paperbark tea tree (Melaleuca quinquenervia)
• Saltbush (Atriplex cinerea)
• Sea Parsley (Apium prostratum)
• Sweet Sarsaparilla (Smilax glyciphylla)
• Wattleseed (Acacia)
• Cinnamon myrtle (Backhousia myrtifolia)
• Lemon myrtle (Backhousia citriodora)

Many Australian fruits have strong, tart aromas and are also often used as spices. Examples are riberry and lemon aspen. Another popular bushtucker spice is dried, ground bush tomato, better known as kudjera or akatjurra.