Herbie Visits Central Australia
Herbie recently made a trip to Central Australia to research bush tomatoes, also known, in their crushed form, as akudjura. During his couple of days north-west of Alice Springs, he was priveleged to accompany three of the women of the Warlipri tribe as they foraged for the ripe “kudjura” berries and witchetty grubs. (Did you know that witchetty grubs are only found in the root of the witchetty bush?) The bush tomatoes ripen and dry on a low-growing, scrubby little bush, and are picked by hand by the local women. The other name for bush tomato is desert raisin, which gives you some idea of the tangy, acid, yet sweetly caramel flavour of this unique berry.
We first made the Egyptian spice blend, Dukkah, about four years ago. Then we got to thinking, there’s a possibility for a play on words with the good old Aussie word, ockker. On Herbie’s return from Central Australia, our minds started ticking, and we now have Ockkah, the Aussie dukkah. Besides the pistachios, hazels, and sesame seeds which are the body of the blend, there are akudjura, ground native pepperberries, and wattleseed to give a finished product with a fantastic nutty flavour and surprising sweetness from the native spices.