Australian Aboriginal people Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

have many ways to source sweet foods. The four main types of sweet foods gathered – apart from ripe fruit – were:Turner, Margaret-Mary, ''Arrernte Foods: Foods from Central Australia'', IAD Press, Alice Springs, 1994, , pp1-10. * honey from ants and bees (sugarbag, see below) * leaf scale (honeydew – lerps) * tree sap * flower nectar In some parts of Australia, these customs are still used today, particularly in

Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and i ...

. Foods collected can be eaten directly as a sweet or made into a sweet drink.

Arrernte sweet foods and drinks

The

Arrernte Arrernte (also spelt Aranda, etc.) is a descriptor related to a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples from Central Australia. It may refer to: * Arrernte (area), land controlled by the Arrernte Council (?) * Arrernte people, Aboriginal Australi ...

divide their food up into a number of

groups A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

. Many other groups also do this or did this traditionally. The Arrernte word for sweet foods is ''Ngkwarle'' — honey-like foods. Some Aboriginal people who still have their language often refer to

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

by this sweet food group term.

Other sweet foods and drinks

The practices of the Arrernte were widely practised by many other groups across Australia. But customs varied depending on where people lived. Some other notable sweet foods include: *

Banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and fruiting "cones" and heads. ''Banksias'' range i ...

: People placed the flower spike in a

paperbark ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of ''Leptospermum''). They range in size f ...

-lined hole filled with water to make a sweet drink. *

Grevillea ''Grevillea'', commonly known as spider flowers, is a genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. Plants in the genus ''Grevillea'' are shrubs, rarely trees, with the leaves arranged alternately along the b ...

: Nectar shaken and eaten, or mixed with water to make a sweet drink. *

Xanthorrhoea ''Xanthorrhoea'' () is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants endemic to Australia. Species are known by the name grass tree. Description All are perennials and have a secondary thickening meristem in the stem. Many, but not all, sp ...

: Sweet drink from nectar by soaking in water.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australian Aboriginal Sweet Foods Bushfood Australian Aboriginal bushcraft Insects as food Bush medicine Australian cuisine-related lists Dessert-related lists

Arrernte sweet foods and drinks

Other sweet foods and drinks

See also

References