Gardening

Five edible native plants to grow at home

Nornie Bero chopping ingredients at Mabu Mabu stall

Sofia Levin

Posted July 17, 2019

Australia’s oldest ingredients are new again, and many are easy to grow yourself.

The oldest food culture on Earth is having a moment. Ingredients such as warrigal greens, finger lime and mountain pepper berry, grown and harvested by Australia’s Indigenous people for tens of thousands of years, are finding their way into some of the smartest new restaurants in Victoria.

Following in the trailblazing footsteps of Attica – Ben Shewry’s world-renowned fine diner that has long championed Indigenous ingredients in dishes such as emu egg sabayon and wallaby blood pikelets – smart new eateries like Navi and Sunda are finding new ways to bring bush tomatoes, Tasmanian pepper leaf and lemon myrtle to discerning diners. In the process they are whetting our collective appetite for learning more about the culture and customs of our country’s first people.

Joining this vanguard is Nornie Bero, who opened her stall Mabu Mabu, meaning “help yourself”, at South Melbourne Market last November, with the aim of making Indigenous flavours more accessible. To this end the Torres Strait Islands-born chef combines native ingredients such as samphire and pepper berries with familiar favourites like hummus, spikes salt with citrus ants, and flavours chimichurri with saltbush. 

“It’s just like when bok choy was introduced, people were like, ‘I can’t use bok choy.’ Or, ‘What’s that eggplant dip you’re making?’ Now everyone loves baba ganoush. I’m at the start of that,” says Nornie. 

After 20 years working as a chef here and overseas, in kitchens including the Merri Table at CERES in Brunswick East, Nornie is relishing the chance to embrace her cultural identity. “It’s nice to step up and say, ‘this is who I am’, and go back to my roots,” she says. “We want to get natives to the forefront of everyday cooking and teach people about the seasons and what’s Australian grown.” 

While Indigenous ingredients can still be difficult to find and expensive to buy, the good news is you can grow many of them yourself. Bili Nursery in Port Melbourne specialises in around 200 species of native Victorian plants, about 30 of them edible. Nursery manager David Sparks has noticed a spike in public interest over the past five years as native ingredients evolve from novelty status to popular flavours. 

We asked David to suggest five edible Indigenous plants that are easy to grow at home.

spoonful of pesto on chopping board surrounded by ingredients

While Indigenous ingredients can still be difficult to find and expensive to buy, the good news is you can grow many of them yourself.

Backyard bush tucker

 

Coastal saltbush

Grow: In full sun, watering weekly at first, then not at all once established. Can grow into a metre-tall shrub and can be harvested all year.
Eat: The leaves can be cooked like spinach or dried and deep-fried and used as a salt substitute.
Tastes: Salty and mildly herbaceous.

Murnong or yam daisy

Grow: In a pot that catches at least half a day of sunlight. Plant April to September, water every other day in summer and once a week in winter. Harvest in November.
Eat: Raw or roasted,  ideal with vegetable salads or a roast.
Tastes: Starchy, sweet, earthy, like coconut and parsnip.

Vanilla lily

Grow: As for murnong or yam daisy (above)
Eat: Its flowers smell like vanilla and the tubers (a mature plant can produce up to two kilograms of them) are edible both raw and roasted. Slice thinly and layer on proteins cooked in the oven.
Tastes: Bittersweet with a chestnut-like consistency.

Warrigal greens or native spinach

Grow: This sturdy coastal plant can be grown in full sun all year as ground cover. Needs minimal water. 
Eat: Boil or blanch like spinach (don’t eat raw as it contains oxalic acid) and add to quiches, spinach pies or stir-fry as a side dish. 
Tastes: Like spinach.

Appleberry

Grow: This climber grows on trellises, up fences or along the ground in partial sun. Water weekly and harvest the fruit around Christmas.
Eat: The fruit can be eaten raw or preserved as jam.
Tastes: A little like the name implies; sweet with a hint of aniseed. 

 

Simple sauces

Saltbush chimichurri

Chimichurri is a Latin American herb sauce that is generously applied to barbecued red meat. In her version, Nornie Bero adds saltbush to give the sauce depth of flavour and miso-like saltiness.

1 bunch fresh saltbush (leaves removed from stem)
1 bunch continental parsley
1 bunch oregano (leaves removed from stem)
2 bunches coriander
3 long red chillies (or more if you like heat)
4 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups rice bran oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Blend ingredients in a food processor or blender. Serve with barbecued kangaroo fillet kebabs.

Samphire and warrigal greens pesto

Nornie’s take on the classic pesto Genovese. The samphire brings a refreshing lightness to the sauce that makes it a great salad dressing or topping for roast vegetables. The warrigal greens add a slight bitterness and gorgeous green colour.

100 grams macadamia nuts
400 grams samphire
150 grams grated parmesan cheese
2 handfuls of warrigal greens
1 bunch conitental parsley
1 bunch italian basil
1 tsp salt
5 garlic cloves  
1 cup of olive oil

Blend ingredients together in a food processor or blender.

 

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