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Tasteofthetopend

Entwining a love of place, plants and people in the tasty sweaty north……. Em Lupin

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Month: February 2016

Market Tour and Taste

For the last year or so I have run some occasional Market tours through “Healthy Darwin”, which is a City of Darwin, council program that subsidises the tour. We came up with the idea to connect people to their food more, by connecting them to local growers and familiarising them with the sometimes more ‘unusual’…

Botanical Alchemy from Darwin backyard plants

Plants are amazingly diverse and used by humans in so many ways, not forgetting their intrinsic connection to all other beings. Here in the Top End we have an abundance of incredible native plants in our landscape and the ability to grow a huge array of Tropical plants for amenity, aesthetic value, happiness, food or…

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Taste of The Top End

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Day 6 of the incredible edible advent, and as we edge nearer towards cyclone season today I whack you with a mighty important plant, a staple, a key ingredient in your living cyclone survival kit. Plant this baby right now and you will be able to eat long beyond the tins of baked beans if disaster strikes, as well as being well fed throughout our wet season.Because this food crop grows a huge root stuffed with carbs you won’t go hungry and it can be cooked many many ways and is a staple of the majority of tropical nations. This root does have to be cooked though…..yes it is the mighty Cassava, also known as Manioc, Yuka, kapa…Manihot esculenta in Euphorbiaceae. Within a small area you can grow heaps of this root and it is super diverse. It is originally thought to come from South America, where it was domesticated many thousands of years ago, but now grows all around the world in the tropical regions and there are different varieties. Cassava grows easily from stem cuttings and its tender leaves can also be eaten. The plants need to be in the sun and have a moderate amount of water. The plants grow all year but the best time of year for root growth is throughout our wet season. All parts of the plants do contain a small amount of cyanide which is why both the root and leaves need to be cooked- don’t panic whole nations eat this every day- just remember to cook it, and ideally boil and drain the root or grate it and cook it, the cyanide based compound breaks down when cooking! Cassava, as a starchy root and quite a high content of Vitamin C; it is amazing in sweets and cakes, but also used in curries and even to mashed to make pies and be used where you would otherwise use potatoes. Favourite dishes are fried cassava chips and cassava in coconut milk. I love to make a salad that includes cooked and cooled cassava and a friend of mine Grusha makes a really amazing gnocchi from it. I recently cooked at our wet season community crops workshop at Lakeside Drive Community garden (pictured) So get into it and get some cuttings! #tropicalrootcrops #tropicalfood #cyclonesurvival #growyourown #knowyourroots

It’s the fifth day of the incredible edible advent calendar and I shower you with festive love lollies and connection to country. This lovely incredible edible is a Top End native plant which is endemic (only found here in the wild). It’s fruit form throughout the wet season. It’s unfortunate long and less sexy botanical name Cyclophyllum shultzii (formerly Canthium); I have heard several common names, including dogs balls, but I like my name “love lollies” best, but ofcourse there will several indigenous language names. This lush plant, in the coffee family (Rubiaceae) also makes a very lovely garden plant with tasty edible berries, that look like love hearts and are enjoyed by humans and many native birds alike. This small tree/ large shrub is found in our riverine areas. I have planted several in my back garden in the “nature” rainforest area and they are looking amazing, fruiting right now and adding a splash of bright festive vibes. You can grow these easily from seed, or occasionally they are sold in local nurseries-sadly Greening Australia nursery is no longer here, but try @topendnativeplants for a good selection of top end natives and a great website. I feel these little fruits have good nutritional content but can’t find any information- cooking recommendations- eaten straight off the tree! #bushtucker #indigenousplants #tasteofthetopend #connecttocountry #landscapelove #indigenousfood #australianplants #tropicalfruits

Day four of the incredible edible advent calendar and we are a little more colourful and festive with a variety of amazing and diverse eggplants, sprinkled with a topping of community resilience.! There is no better time to plant your seeds or seedlings than now and there are so many yummy things you can do with this fruit (yes it’s technically a fruit!) and you can make fun faces with them, as modelled by Matumba- a photo. I found in the archives! From pasta sauces, pizza toppings to Indian curries, Japanese dishes, baba ganoush cooked on the camp fire, Thai style stir fries and sooo much more. If there is an easy to grow small “veggie”- this is it. Today I was at the Lord Mayor’s climate change round table, Darwin is a crazy place for sustainability sometimes- over 97 % of its food coming more than 3000kms. -But resilient communities and connected communities are vital and there is no better place to start than with growing your own food, even just a little. I am sure most people know about eggplants, but check out the variety that we can grow ALL year. The fruits grow in many varieties and are eaten widely around the world and particularly in Asia and Europe, but are thought to have been domesticated from the wild in India , they are in the nightshade family along with tomatoes and potatoes. They are full of fibre, antioxidants and nutrients. The long purples love our wet season, as do the round green varieties used in South East Asian cooking and pretty much all of those pictured. I have included this one for the small yard or balcony gardeners too because these are small shrubs. Eggplant loves full sun and good watering. A medium amount of fertilizing is requires and some training with canes as the plants tend to be top heavy and straggly (like tomatoes). Eggplants are so diverse in cuisine- My favourite eggplant dish is grilled Miso eggplant, what’s yours? #growyourown #eggplant #connecitngcommunity #tropicalplants #eggplantlove #edibleplants #darwinlove #foodlove #climateaction @climateactiondarwin @city_of_darwin

Its day three of the incredible edible advent calendar and today, sprouting up in the rain is Moringa, pictured here with Lou, my friend and community cook who has it as one her favourite plants to eat- it is a celebrated super food that grows incredibly easily in our backyards all year. It is the perfect time to plant the seeds or make cuttings and start to grow this small tree if you don’t already have one. If you don’t have a lot of room you can even keep this plant in a very large pot or pruned; but it does love sunshine and so if it is shaded out it will shoot up and you won’t be able to reach the leaves. Moringa (Moringa oliefera) is in its own family- Moringaceae and originates from South East Asia. Both the leaves and young seed pods are eaten; the leaves are high in Protein (38%) and 8 essential amino acids. Vitamin A, Bs, C, D, H and K, Calcium, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, copper and zinc. You can buy bunches of leaves at the market and the ground up dried leaves are even sold in health food stores. You can add leaves to smoothies, and in clear soups and dahls (at the end) or eat in salads raw. The seed pods are cooked in many stews and curries in both South East Asia and Africa. #tropicaledibles #growyourown #backyardsuperfoods #darwinplants #tasteofthetopend #tropicalmedicinal #darwinedibles @anahatacreations @abcmyphoto #plantsandpeople

It’s a humid day of anticipation, day two of our incredible edible sweat/ wet season advent calendar…..I give you an amazing plant, a medicinal plant, a plant that is so easy to grow during our wet season and quite expensive to buy…Turmeric (Curcuma longa) a undoubted super food- in the ginger family and native to monsoon forests of SE Asia. It is a perennial herb, popping up in the wet season and enjoying partly shaded areas. It grows really well in Darwin during the wet season and can be harvested throughout. A small part of the root can be planted and then will multiply, the plant is a small 30 cm herbaceous plant, that dies back in the dry season. It is used in so many dishes including Laksa paste and gives the soup its golden orange colour, as well as anything else it is included in. It makes great drinks, including the recently hip “Turmeric latte”, as well as a multitude of yummy teas and drinks that help. Digestion. It is pretty much a staple in Indian and Sri Lankan curries. It is used as a food and fabric dye throughout the world. Did you know ? Turmeric has so many medicinal qualities. It contains vitamin A and C, it is anti- inflammatory, a digestive aid, stimulates the glands and liver function and may also help prevention of altziemer’s disease. Its Active ingredient is curcumin; which is uptaken more in the body if eaten with peperine (found in black pepper) and oils, such as in coconut milk, so perfect in a Laksa or curries. Not only can you grow food easily in the wet season but some pretty awesome medicine. #tropicalplants #growyourown #edibleplants #tasteofthtropics #knowyourroots #incredibleedibles #edibleadventcalander #adventcalendar

Day one of the sweat and wet season edible advent calendar. I give you Mangoes 🥭🥭🥭🥭🥭🥭🥭 Is it too obvious?, we have to mention….Mangoes! How can we not include these iconic and abundant fruits right now. To me the sweet smell of their ripe flesh goes hand in hand with feeling sweaty. OK- so the trees only fruit once a year- right now, until into the start of the rains, but you can’t think of Darwin and being a bit Troppo without including the Mango; it is almost a prize for bearing with this sometimes unbearable smothering humidity... Now I am sure you know a thousand recipes, from eating them green in salads or with soy sauce to sweet curries, or diced and sucked straight out of the skin (Check link in bio for links to recipes) So onto the ode to the plant…Mangoes are in in Anarcardaceae, the same genus as cashews sumac, and our native green plum tree, their botanical name is Mangifera Indica and they are native to India and South East Asia. There are hundreds of varieties with the first cultivated ones being referenced to in India 4000 years ago, popping up in many important stories, but wasn’t transported across large oceans until the Portuguese took it to Brazil and Africa in the 16th century. India is still the biggest producer of mangoes, producing 20 million tonnes a year and Mango is the national fruit with huge cultural significance, the wood is used and many parts are used medicinally. High in Vitamin C and folate, and a big mob of sugars of course! There are so many varieties of mango, some used green, some sweeter, more round and many of these grow in Darwin. You can grow a tree from seed, but as with most trees it will take a very long time to fruit and is best to buy grafted varieties; and the best place to buy is from “Tropiculture” in Bees Creek with a huge range of varieties and many years of experience. The trees are pretty hardy but dry season water and full sun is good! Prune them once a year, they also make great shade trees. Having said this if you live here long enough you will probably never have to pay for Mangoes 🥭 so if you are short of space.... I also chose the Mango as today there is a Sweat Season celebration.

So feeling fruity and sweaty. This sweaty season, get ready to plant for the wet season; pictured, wet season harvest. A little snap of a basket of goodies from mid wet season, for me it is the season of abundance, just get to know your warm tropical loving crops. From today I will post a wet season edible plant plus info once a day to get you inspired and in the garden or out in the bush #wetseasonproduce #sweatseasonedibles #tropicalfruits #growyourown #darwingardwns #tasteofthetopend #fruit #tropicalfruit #connecttoclimate #tropicalliving

Hey we just got a phone call! the Tropocalypse is coming !!! You better be ready. Get your survival kits in hand and if you are in Darwin head to Happy Yess to join Femme funkale from 9pm until the very end. Is it the end of Tropidelica as we know it ? is it the end of the world as we know it? It’s build up, its melt down, it’s time to get sweaty, this is it, this is real... let this confusing explosion of emotions let loose on the dance floor, amongst people that may just help a little to save the world...aftobeat, electro Latin, funk, soul and more...% of door to Climate Action Darwin @climateaction #femaledjs #darwin #sweatseason #itsgettinghotinhere #tropicalnorth #offtheleashmagazine #tropicalbeats #climateactuon #climateactiondarwin #meltingpot #tropicalsweat #buildup #letssweatogether

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