Today, I am wearing the jersey I bought in Australia.

I’m hoping it will bring me luck at tonight’s Hold ‘Em Tournament.

I just may have loved the colors. 🙂

Have you ever noticed that at the Olympics, Australians are not wearing the colors of their flag (red, white and blue)? That’s because the national colors of the country are actually green and gold! These are the traditional colors of most Australian national sports teams. The colors come from Australia’s national tree or floral emblem:

The Wattle

Wattleseed, a seed coming from certain species of wattles, had been eaten by Aboriginals for over an estimated 6,000 years! It can be picked and cooked in the pod or roasted and ground to make bread. This and pretty much any other plant or food native to Australia that has been used or consumed by Aboriginals is referred to as Bush Tucker. Many of these foods like quandongs (native fruit) and kutjera (native tomato), for example are now used in some Modern Australian cooking.

So what does it taste like? In my opinion, it gives a roasted, nutty, coffee-like flavor. The first time we had anything with wattleseed was when we stopped for ice cream on our Daintree Rainforest tour:

Also, in the Red Centre, I picked up a few fun items from the grocery store that I’m excited to try to cook with now that we are back.

I’ve already added the Australian Bush Dukkah to  make a chicken salad with some leftover rotisserie chicken, greek yogurt and peas. It was delicious.

I haven’t yet used this Carmelized Wattleseed Balsamic, but I can only imagine it’s rich, nutty flavor! It’ll be great base for a salad dressing or to marinade chicken.

I always love trying local foods when I’m visiting another country. I’m sorry, I just couldn’t do the Kangaroo. Even though you can find the meat in all sorts of touristy restaurants, as a meal option on tours and in grocery stores; it seems that not many Australians really eat it. I kind of think of it like venison. Sure, some people eat it, but it’s not really a mainstay.

Besides, feeding the kangaroos was one of the highlights of our trip! I think I’d rather feed them than eat them. 😉

Have you heard of /had wattleseed?

What is the coolest native food you had while traveling?

How would you use my culinary purchases above in cooking?

 

Cheers~
Carrie