DINKUM DINING
Western-style bush tucker
Story and photos David Hancock
Sumptuous
pink petals and huge circular leaves of the red lotus lily sway languidly
in a morning breeze. Young Aboriginal people from nearby Daly River community
wade through this exotic swamp, laughing and joking about crocodiles, leeches
and water pythons.
The water is cool, but the stems of the water lilies are surprisingly
thorny, tearing at my tender whitefella legs. In truth, there are no crocodiles
- just a wicked joke by my companions. And the leeches and water pythons
are few and far between.
We are collecting water lily stems, seed pods and looking for turtles much
as Aboriginal people of the region have harvested them for thousands of years
- by slowly wading through the swamp, picking off the stems and feeling with
bare feet for a telltale bump or movement in the muddy bottom.
In an hour, the arms of the youngsters are full of water lilies and we have
five long-necked turtles, so we head back to the community, 130km south-west
of Darwin.
The
food has been collected for a special occasion - a graduation feast that
combines western cookery and traditional bush tucker. Instead of being thrown
on the fire and eaten out of the shell in a communal meal, the turtle is
to be made into a delicious bullion and a turtle liver risotto with crispy
turtle tripe.
The water lily stems will be part of a salad and the peanut-sized
seeds of the lotus will make a garnish for freshwater prawns.
The dishes are the brainchild of master chef Steve Sunk, a lecturer at the
Northern Territory University in Darwin. 
Full story: Issue 20, December 01 / January 02
