or existing national food, so we are
inventive and exciting in the way we
approach our food. But most national
cuisines – if not all – come from the
ground up. Cuisines are generally
based on the foods that are grown
in a particular region or country and
ref lect many generations of skill and
technique that is developed working
with these foods. We can do that here
too – we can use all the wonderful
ingredients we have essentially taken
from other countries to form our
agricultural base, and we can use the
myriad culinary techniques and the
benefits that our multicultural and
diverse society offers and frame them
with the inclusion of our Australian
ingredients. In doing so, we can help
some very disadvantaged people find
a place in our economy through the
development of an Australian native
food agriculture.
What inspired you to start Robins
Foods and your line of native
Australian condiments?
Once we had tried some native foods
- like bush tomatoes, Kakadu plum,
wild limes, riberries, and lemon
myrtle – we became super excited
about incorporating them into our
business. We put them into cakes and
incorporated them into our catering.
Eventually we decided to move
from catering to making a range of
condiments and this has been a great
move for us and our Indigenous supply
partners as we use quite a lot of their
produce through the year making
our products. We have partnered
with Coles Supermarkets, and every
Outback Spirit product sold raises
10 cents to assist our Indigenous
supply chain.Has that journey changed your
perception of the Australian landscape
and how the Aboriginal people
manage and interact with it?
Absolutely – as I have said, it made
us realise that the landscape – theland where we live – is bountiful.
Every part of Australia is rich
with native foods – even in the
urban landscape. I live near the
beach and often surprise friends
on a walk by showing them the
different plants that are edible –
and delicious too. Everything from
ruby saltbush, which are berries, to
warrigal greens, which are leaves,
to samphire stalks, and the fruit
pigface can be found on a suburban
beach walk.
Learning from Aboriginal people
has not only changed my perception
about how Indigenous Australians
interact with country but has informed
me deeply about the land and the
culture that surrounds every native
food. This is the true slow food of
Australia – born of the land and
wrapped in a culture that understands
everything about that food. And I only
know about some of them – literally
the tip of the native food iceberg. If
only I had more than a lifetime!
I am passionate about working
with Aboriginal people – working
with their traditional plants, working
on establishing plantations on their
land for their benefit. And trying
to ensure that there is a place for
Indigenous Australian suppliers of
native food in the native food industry
and the broader Australian food
industry. As our brand says – it’s all
about provenance.What trends or major developments
have you seen in recent years in terms
of the types of bush foods being used
and the ways they’re being used?
The major trend I think has been
the recent uptake of native ingredients
by so many chefs – many of them
very inf luential. This is a great thing
as instead of native ingredients being
viewed so suspiciously, these chefs
have given them great value and
integrity. This makes it much easier
when you have role models in the
industry that are championing native
foods, in restaurants and beyond. I
think we will see fresh native food
produce making its way in more
established mainstream markets."THIS IS THE TRUE SLOW
FOOD OF AUSTRALIA
BORN OF THE LAND AND
WRAPPED IN A CULTURE
THAT UNDERSTANDS
EVERYTHING ABOUT
THAT FOOD."