Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Collecting Australian Bush Tucker In My Driveway




I collected these beautiful Australian bush tuckers along my driveway while trimming and tidying the hedge,this morning. I have planted these evergreen shrubs from seedlings five years ago and they have grown into a beautiful hedge along the driveway. They were chosen because of their attractive glossy foliage and most important they produce an edible fruit like our jumbu in Singapore

It is commonly known as Lilly Pilly. There are about 60 species in Australia, and a few produce edible fruit that can be eaten fresh or used in jams and jellies. I usually add them to my rojak (Singaporean fruits and vegetable salads with spicy prawn paste (hae koe) dressing.
Ever since working in the forest of Papua New Guinea, I am always interested in bush tuckers and marvelled at the jungle survival skills of the people of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Botanically, this plant belongs to the syzygium species of the myrtle family. Not only it is related to our jumbu tree in Singapore, it also a close relative to the clove tree of Indonesia.
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10 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 22, 2009 at 9:56 PM

    Hi Uncle Phil

    Does it tast similar to jumbu?

    Cheers
    Lim

    ReplyDelete
  2. Asian living in SwedenApril 23, 2009 at 2:27 AM

    It´s so beautiful Phil. It´s a pitty that my area is too cold for tropical plant, otherwise I could do some planting in my garden...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Uncle PhilApril 23, 2009 at 5:56 AM

    Hi Lim,
    The Lilly pilli has a refreshing sourish taste as compared with the Jumbu. But the jumbu sold these days are genetically modified to taste much sweeter than what i have tasted when I was a child.
    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Uncle PhilApril 23, 2009 at 5:59 AM

    Hej Estee,
    What is your average mean temperature in Sweden?
    I noticed in the photo that there are still snow on the ground at this time of the year.
    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  5. Asian living in SwedenApril 23, 2009 at 6:09 AM

    Now is spring, our warmest summer day is below 30 degree (if we are lucky) & the real summer mostly last between 2-4 weeks.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousApril 23, 2009 at 12:22 PM

    Uncle Phil,
    What is bush tucker?

    SH

    ReplyDelete
  7. Uncle PhilApril 23, 2009 at 5:00 PM

    Hi SH,
    It is an Aussie slant for native food.

    ReplyDelete
  8. BYApril 23, 2009 at 5:45 PM

    oh i always see this around dont know this on can eat..

    ReplyDelete
  9. Uncle PhilApril 23, 2009 at 7:14 PM

    Hi BY,
    How come Army never teach jungle survival course meh? :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. BYApril 23, 2009 at 8:18 PM

    oh i pes e one .. haha

    ReplyDelete