Gustatory Redemption?

Charlotte Craw

doi:10.5204/ijcis.v5i2.87

Abstract

In this article, I critique the historical narratives surrounding the consumption of Australian native foods by European settlers. I argue that culinary historians and other commentators present the contemporary consumption of native foods as a means of rejecting the colonial attitudes of the past. In this narrative, early settlers lacked appreciation for Australian native foods and, by extension, Indigenous Australian culture and knowledge. Based on this depiction of colonial history, the current interest in native foods becomes symbolic of a wider revaluing of Australia’s previously denigrated indigenous flora and fauna and Indigenous people. However, as I relate, some early European settlers and their descendants ate a wide variety of native Australian foods. These historical episodes challenge the conventional narrative of Australian culinary history and, in particular, the idea that contemporary consumption constitutes a novel break from past culinary practices. Moreover, as I demonstrate, settler interest in native foods was often consistent with the attitudes that justified and underwrote colonisation. By drawing attention to the role that native foods played in the colonial project, I complicate the idea that recognition of these foods is sufficient to address this history.

Highlights

In this article, I critique the historical narratives surrounding the consumption of Australian native foods by European settlers
Given Australia’s contentious colonial history, what might be the implications of this tale of the dietary past? In this article, I argue that there was colonial interest in the culinary and commercial potential of indigenous species, and, that this interest was implicated in the wider justification and enactment of colonisation
Some Indigenous Australians, especially in rural areas, continue to consume ‘bush tucker’, but the vast bulk of Australian food is sourced from introduced species and imported goods

Summary

Introduction

I critique the historical narratives surrounding the consumption of Australian native foods by European settlers. I examine how these texts position native foods within wider debates about Australia’s colonial history, especially debates over the relationships between settlers, Indigenous people and the land in Australia. They critique the presentation of native foods as an opportunity for non-Indigenous Australians to assert a distinct, ‘authentic’ identity, arguing that this assertion reiterates colonial motifs of place and culture.

Results

Conclusion