Indigenous chef to show his culture to the world
The Australian public and its chefs are disconnected from the native plants and species around them, and should celebrate kangaroo as the country's national meat, according to a prominent Indigenous Western Australian.
Josh Whiteland has been hand-picked to speak to some of the world's best chefs in Denmark later this month on the subjects of foraging and Indigenous Australian culture, but he says local consumers and chefs don't have an appreciation for what is native to their surrounds.
“In this country, we don’t celebrate kangaroo as our national dish, we celebrate lamb, which was brought across on a ship from England,” says Mr Whiteland.
“In this country, I believe kangaroo should be our national food.”
The 32-year old Mr Whiteland will present at the MAD food symposium in Copenhagen in late August, having been personally invited by one of the world’s most celebrated chefs, René Redzepi.
Josh Whiteland sits within a traditional Aboriginal meeting place in the Western Australian costal area of Yallingup in the state's South West.
The two first met in November of 2012, when he took Redzepi foraging within the Western Australia’s South West region.
Despite garnering the interest of the acclaimed founder of Noma, thrice voted the world’s best restaurant (it now resides at a modest second place), Mr Whiteland says most Australians are still deeply disengaged from the species native to their country.
“I think it definitely something that needs to be talked about,” he said.
“Back in the 1970s, there was a bit of interest in Indigenous foods, but a lot of chefs don’t use a lot of these ingredients. The awareness isn’t there.
"For the individual to create the awareness about the bush plants and fruits and vegetables and spices, they would really need to immerse themself within the culture and land and be able to connect to the land, connect to the people and connect to the fruits and vegetables and the food that comes from the land.
"Then you’ll have a really clear understanding of what is available and what [are] our national foods.”
When Redzepi visited his region, the two cooked using local plants and animals, and Mr Whiteland says it is that approach that gives the chef’s cooking a genuine sense of place.
“We cooked up a few different dishes here using kangaroo and emu and crab and those ingredients that are sourced locally, and it really does give you a sense of connecting to the area. Because you are sampling the foods from the area, the flavours, and it really is a sense of identity,” he said.
“You look at someone like Rene – world-class, number one chef – he sources his ingredients within 100 kilometres of his restaurant. He’s foraging for foods, and one of the things he wants people to feel is when they go to his restaurant, they want to know that they are in Copenhagen and trying the food.”
Walking past scrubs, picking, smelling and tasting bush herbs in the coastal Yallingup region, it is clear Josh Whiteland’s understanding and connectedness to his country extends far beyond any notions of localism purported through avenues such as the ever-popular farmers’ markets.
“Aboriginal people were farming the native plants and animals that were already here for thousands of years,” he said.
“Being the oldest living culture, they had that deep connection to country. Laws, customs, spirituality, beliefs and Dreaming; it was really a unique way of life and social system and economic system that extended for thousands of years.
"We know that certain fish are carrying eggs at certain times of the year, so we don’t touch that fish until it finishes spawning. We know that the emu is nesting at this time of year, so we don’t hunt the emu. So there is that understanding and respect for the plants and animals.”
Mr Whiteland says there is a developing understanding in sections of the community towards minimising the impact to local surrounds, but he believes there is still significant work and further education to be achieved.
“We are seeing a bit of a shift now, with looking after our natural catchments and waterways. We are seeing a lot of farmers now not using phosphorous until spring, because that runs into our rivers and affects our food sources, just like the crab,” he said.
“Aboriginal people have been some of the most patient people in the world.
"For 40,000 years Aboriginal people culture cruised along quite comfortably. In the last 223 years since colonisation, right there Aboriginal people had to learn to change and adapt to become more diverse in the movement of time.
"For myself and the family, we very much live a traditional contemporary lifestyle. Maintaining those core values – language, spirituality and connection to country – but also having to adapt to the movement of time.”
Source: ABC Rural News, 7 August 2013
