Wild Mushrooming
Wild Mushrooming: A Guide for Foragers melds scientific and cultural knowledge with stunning photography to present a new way of looking at fungi. It models ‘ecological foraging’ – an approach based on care, conservation and a deep understanding of ecosystem dynamics.
Sections on where, when and how to find fungi guide the forager in the identification of 10 edible species. Diagnostic information on toxic fungi and lookalike species helps to differentiate the desirable from the deadly. Wild Mushrooming then takes us into the kitchen with cooking techniques and 29 recipes from a variety of cuisines that can be adapted for both foraged and cultivated fungi.
Developing the skills to find fungi requires slowness, not speed. This guide provides the necessary information for the safe collection of fungi, and is essential reading for fungus enthusiasts, ecologists, conservationists, medical professionals and anyone interested in the natural world.
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Wild Food Plants of Australia
This has become the standard field guide to wild foods in Australia.
Low describes more than 180 plants – from the most tasty and significant plant foods of southern and eastern Australia to the more important and spectacular inland and tropical foods. Distribution maps are provided with each description plus notes on how these plants were used in the past and can be used today.
Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs and line drawings there is also a guide to poisonous and non-poisonous plants, and information on introduced food plants, the nutrients found in wild food plants, on bush survival, and how to forage for and cook with wild plants.
It is a perfect companion for bushwalkers, naturalists, scientists and, with emphasis on wild food cuisine, gourmets.
This book helped popularise bushfoods in Australia.
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Field Guide to Useful Native Plants from Temperate Australia
Field Guide to Useful Native Plants from Temperate Australia is a valuable contribution to the knowledge of the native plants of south-eastern Australia.
Over 150 plants are featured and organized according to habitat.
More than 600 colour photos and drawings for ease of identification, as well as maps of local and Australia-wide distributions. Information on a wide range of uses for native plants as food, fibre and medicines, including notes on preparation.
This guide will be of interest to people who live there and the many tourist who visit the area, as well as bushwalkers, educators, archaeologists and chefs.
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Bush Tukka Guide: Identify Australian Plants and Animals, and Learn How to Cook
In this gorgeous and compact book, Samantha Martin – the ‘Bush Tukka Woman’ – shares her knowledge and love of bush tukka as taught to her by her mother and other Aboriginal elders. Her Bush Tukka Guide offers rich and wonderful insights into how Aboriginal people survived for centuries unearthing the bounty of this sometimes lush and often desolate land.
The book is divided into three chapters covering plants, animals and some recipes to get you started using bush tukka at home. Learn how to find billygoat plums and mountain bush pepper in the wild; discover the reasons Aboriginal people ate magpie geese and honey ants; and test out the delicious flavours of bush tukka recipes like bunya nut pesto, lemon myrtle slow-cooked kangaroo or caramelised cluster figs with ice-cream.
Note that very little information is given on identifying the plants. It is more of a cultural reference.
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The Weed Forager’s Handbook: A Guide to Edible and Medicinal Weeds in Australia
Step into the world of our least admired botanical companions. Peel back the layers of prejudice and discover the finer side of the plants we call weeds. An astonishing number are either edible or medicinal, and have deep and sometimes bizarre connections to human history.
With chapters on:
- Appreciating Weeds
- Top-20 Edible and Medicinal Weeds
- Other Weeds
- Weedy Recipes
- Weeds in the Garden
- Resources
Note that none of the featured plants are native to Australia
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Fervor: A Journey Through Australian Native Food
Fervor takes you on a culinary journey from ocean to forest to desert. It is an accessible and exciting recipe book featuring beautiful photographs and short stories about ingredients. Using native Australian produce with refined technique, Fervor offers a new way of cooking for the home chef. It invites you to share in Paul Iskov’s knowledge of food and will encourage you to find out more about your own country.
In the book, Paul shares his ethos, his experience and his training in approachable, honest and insightful language. He talks candidly about the challenges and opportunities of working with native foods, and shares his connection to landscape and the relationships he has with Indigenous communities.