Bush Tomato
Friday 10th September, 2010.
Hello everyone. This week The Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Food Guide came out and three restaurants in our region were awarded a chef’s hat. Congratulations to those restaurants, its establishments like these who are shining the light on our region and bringing it to the attention of the media. Many people are working hard in restaurants across the Hunter to lift the level of culinary awareness.
Sunday night sees the start of a new season of Top Chef for all those who have foxtel. If you haven’t come across this show yet it’s like Masterchef, only with real working chefs and twice as good.
Our focus ingredient this week as promised is Bush Tomato. There is so to write about these little gems but here is an overview.
Bush Tomato (Solanum centrale) or Desert Raisin is the fruit or entire plant of a nightshade (Solanum) species native to the central desert and more arid parts of Western Australia. While they are quite closely related to tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum), they might be even closer relatives of the eggplant (Solanum melongena), which they resemble in many details. Bush tomato plants are small shrubs whose growth, like many Australian native plants, thrives after bushfires, the initial prolific fruiting steadily declining over a few years until rejuvenated by the next bushfire. The fruit of a number of species have been used as food sources by Aboriginal people for centuries. They have a very strong, spicy, piquant flavour and scent when ripe and fresh, similar to concentrated sun dried tomatoes with a strong tamarillo/caramel character, so that you can actually smell a richly fruiting plant from quite a distance. Dried Bush tomatoes have a distinct, pleasant ‘caramel mingled with sun-dried tomato’ aroma with comforting ‘baked’ background notes reminiscent of a wholemeal cookie. The flavour is initially caramel-like, yet after about 30 seconds develops a somewhat bitter, lingering aftertaste which leaves the palate unexpectedly refreshed, similar to green tomatoes.
A number of Solanum species contain significant levels of solanine and are highly poisonous. There are 94 (mostly perennial) natives and 31 (mostly annual) introduced species in Australia. The plant dies in humidity. Known as Akudjura in its ground form. The bush tomato has a strong connection with the mythology of the Warlpiri tribes and Anmatyerr people. Regarded as a staple, bush tomatoes that had dried on the shrub in low humidity desert conditions were gathered and ground with water to produce a thick paste which was formed into large balls and left to dry in the blazing sun. The high acidity characterized in the tangy flavour and rich vitamin C content acted as a preservative, making storage over long periods of time possible and these balls were often wedged into the forks of trees for later use. This process was essential if they were to be safely eaten with no harmful side-effects because during the drying process the level of alkaloids is reduced. Dehydration also concentrates the flavours in bush tomatoes and creates more full-bodied and complex flavour notes in the same way as drying in the sun modifies the flavours of many familiar spices from around the world. Although the Australian Aborigines used bush tomatoes primarily for sustenance, our current inquisitiveness and desire for diversified taste experiences has led us to appreciate bush tomatoes as a spice, used in small quantities to enhance the flavour of a wide range of foods in everyday meals.
Whole bush tomatoes can be added to long, slow-cooked dishes such as soups and casseroles. Akudjura, the powder, is often combined with brown sugar and used as a rub for lamb and can also give a country-baked taste to cookies and apple crumble. A savoury bread flavoured with bold herbs rosemary and thyme can marry well with bush tomato, either baked within or soaked and used as a topping. Even a spread made with olives and garlic can take advantage of the strong, raisin-like character that blooms from ground bush tomato. You can also use akudjura to flavour casseroles, beef stews or wild game. Or sprinkle it on focaccia, antipasto and chutneys. It also works well as a coating for grilled fish, such as salmon or tuna. It combines particularly well with ground coriander seed, wattleseed, lemon myrtle and a little salt for rubbing onto white and red meats before grilling, barbecuing or stir frying. A tangy pepper steak spice can be made by pounding black and white peppercorns, mustard seeds, salt and akudjura in a pestle and mortar. Sprinkle over the steak and then barbecue.
Both whole bush tomatoes and akudjura (ground) are best stored in an airtight container and protected from extremes of heat, light and humidity.
Til next week, Peace and Good Eating.
