Indulging in Native Australian Foods

Mitchell Library, Sydney, Australia19th April, 2007

What are Native Australian Foods?

Once only sustenance for

Aboriginal people

Isn't ‘bush tucker’

or ‘bush food’

Australian Native Food industry

has evolved since The Bush Tucker

Man

Adapted from wild harvest to commercially

grown and harvested

Cooking with Native Australian Foods

Australian Native Foods requirelittle knowledge

• Ingredients have intense flavours, sometimes requiring pairing with typical fruits.

• Blends are typically better than pure herbs and spices

• Typically used at the end of the cooking cycle• A little bit goes a long way

Herbs

• Many are high in essential oils• Best stored chilled to preserve

the flavour• used at the end of the cooking

cycle

• Lemon Myrtle, Forest Aniseed, Alpine Pepper, Forest Peppermint, Mint Bush, Pepperberry etc

Meats• Kangaroo now in

supermarkets• Generally need to be

cooked medium rare• Well aged meats

have a strong gamey flavour

Fruits• Quandong, Riberries, Wild

Limes, • Many are too strong to be

eaten rawfor example; too sour

• Processed ( i.e. confit ) the fruits are more palatable

Educating Chefs around the world

“It’s like Australian herbs and spices have been kept in a secret cupboard for centuries and we

just found them”Michael Colomanco

Chef & Host of The Good Food ShowNew York

Australian Cuisine

Promotions• Co-promotion with

Vic Cherikoff • Held promotions in

15 countries • In-conjunction

with Austrade

Chef Workshops • Focus on using

Australian ingredients • Held workshops in 12

countries• Michelin Star Chefs

have attended • Chefs use Australian

ingredients afterwards

Australian Menu Planning Guide

Australian Menu Planning Guide• 50 pages of dishes using Australian ingredients• Inspires chefs with ideas and concepts • Similar to a banquet kit supplied by hotels • Ideal for Australian menus for Australian Day or

other public holidays like Melbourne Cup.

Chef and Restaurant Kit

Chef and Restaurant Kit • Kit of commercially designed ingredients• Designed for a chefs to experiment with flavours• Includes Australia Menu Planning Guide• All chefs then place ingredients on to menus

Educating thewider public

Dining Downunder

• Australian Cooking Show • Filmed around Australia • Hosted by Vic Cherikoff, Benjamin Christie and Mark McCluskey • 13 Episodes • Screened in 48 countries• Soon on Joost TV • www.dining-downunder.com

Dining Downunder

Dining Downunder Cookbook

Dining Downunder Cookbook• Over 90 recipes from Dining Downunder• Each recipes has a full page photo• All recipes use Native Australian ingredients • Foreword by Australian entrepreneur, Dick Smith, the face behind Dick

Smith Foods• Available at www.dining-downunder.com/shop

Joost• Joost is an IPTV application • From the creators of Skype• “Australian Food TV” channel • Cooking videos with Vic Cherikoff • Using a wide range of ingredients • Global audience with a focus on the USA• www.joost.com

Cooking Demos• In store cooking demonstrations • Hands on cooking class for up to 12

people• Trade shows and exhibitions • Corporate events, conferences &

seminars

Videos on youtube.com• 8 Videos on www.youtube.com/chefsaustralia • 3 x 10 min videos a week from May 2007 • Websites can take our videos and embed them• YouTube has a daily audience of 40 million

Media Moving Parade

• Ongoing media campaign• Regular Press Releases to niche markets• Television interviews• Newspaper and Magazine interviews • Aim to achieve something in the press each week

somewhere in the world. • Podcast and Radio interviews

The Future for Native Australian Foods

Australian Restaurant Concepts

• Continues to be increased interest in Australian Restaurant concepts with enquires from Middle East, Europe and America already this year.

• Growth areas include hotel chains and established in new Australian themed franchises

Australian Restaurant Concepts

• Outback Steakhouse has 1200 restaurants around the world (800 in the US alone)

• Now there are Australian restaurant concepts in Singapore, Hong Kong, United Kingdom

• 2006 saw a number of Australian restaurants opening in the USA

• Bondi Bar and Kitchen opened in San Diego December 2006

Food Service• Commercially produced

items such as dressings, sauces, etc

• Sous Vide products pre-prepared for food service (soups, meats, poultry etc)

Websites

www.benjaminchristie.comwww.cherikoff.net

www.dining-downunder.com

Coming soon ; www.upsidedownkitchen.com

www.ausralianfood.tv

Questions?