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by Tyson Yunkaporta
The Aboriginal Rights Suite101 host Tyson Yunkaporta, talks about his food experiences and includes a recipe for eel-tailed catfish.
Tyson is the Aboriginal Rights Suite101 host lives in Australia. He is a teacher, a tour guide, festival coordinator, and Aboriginal cook. Here's my interview with him about Australian Aboriginal food. When did you first become interested in native foods?Cooking "game" and open fire cooking have always been a part of my life. When I was a young lad in southern inland contexts I used to catch crayfish, mussels, snakes, lizards, eels and so forth for cooking on the fire. I can also remember digging small yams and eating wild raspberries, lilly pillies, bunya nuts and other plant species. As an adult, as part of my induction into northern and coastal ways of life, the species and cooking methods changed a lot for me. What kind of native foods are available in summer or early fall?Four seasons are an English construct that are generally inappropriate for the colonies. In Indigenous Australia there may be between 5 and 8 seasons each year, depending on where you are on the continent. The American idea of "Early Fall" overlaps with at least two different seasons here, signifying the onset of a dry season and the beginning of the cold time. When the long grass dries up and leans over, this is the time for burning off - so when you see the smoke you know it is time to find certain foods. Like maybe in some places this will be time to dig yams and turtle eggs. Small mammals are fat now because of all the grass seed that has dropped. And certain flowers might tell us that certain fish in the river are at their peak time for eating. Where can you buy or find native foods?I really think this needs to be part of constant discussion and negotiation with the native people in your area. Establish relationships with local Aborigines to learn about how to harvest native produce sustainably in your area, and how to plant back as much as you take. In this way, epicurean pleasures can be linked to care for the environment. What is your favorite native food?Dugong and turtle are easily my favourite, although these are not really available in the wider community. A close second would be eel-tailed catfish. As similar species exist across the globe, this may be the best recipe to include here.
Here's a New Orlean's cat fish recipe Native Owned Food Companies in North America. If you'd like to write a guest article for Seasonal Cooking Suite101 please email Devorah Stone.
The copyright of the article Aboriginal Australian Food in Seasonal Cooking is owned by Devorah Stone. Permission to republish Aboriginal Australian Food in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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