'Bush Tomato' aka desert raisin aka yakajirri (Solanum Centrale)

I am not a bush foods expert. I know very little about bush foods.. I have cooked with bush foods a few times (bush coconut, bush potato, bush banana, wattleseed) and eaten a bit of flesh (witchetty grubs, goanna, emu, bush turkey, kangaroo, turtle - under sufferance) and raw foods (bush apple, bush banana, bush tomato, yakajirri...) I have even purchased Peter Latz's 'Bushfires & Bushtucker', and am wondering why I didn't make better use of my 7 years in Yuendumu... possibly preoccupied with Indigenous media matters..
But now I am starting to take a culinary interest.. wondering what bush foods could be used in cooking or replace other ingredients....
I am pondering the yakajirri.. known as the 'Bush Tomato' by bush foods industry pundits, but by locals in Alice Springs and beyond by a miriad of names: desert raisin, bush sultana, yakajirri... etc.. I have read that this fruit, is one of the most important foods for Aboriginal people in Central Australia. Looking not unlike a sultana, its flavours are typical of the complexity of Australian bush foods.. It's sweet and bitter with an amazing after taste..
I tasted a roasted parsnip and bush tomato soup at Olive Pink last year.. and it was a wonderful homage to this food.
You also find bush tomato in condiments like: bush tomato chutney, bush tomato dip, there's a Sticky Bush Tomato Balsamic..

I'm about to try adapt some recipes for this ingredient. I am wanting a recipe that celebrates the bitterness and sweetness of this fruit, and I am tending towards Italian, as usual. Not just because I know and love Italian cooking, but because the Italians celebrate bitterness... radiccio, chinotto... I'm sure there's more..
So, my intention is to try out Yakajirrin in panneforte and a Roman ricotta cheesecake. Right now, I'm soaking some in a sugar and pomegranate syrup to see what happens to the bitterness... Watch this space for more reports...

Let's get it right:
What is sold in shops as Bush Tomato is not the bush tomato I've eaten on the side of the road around Yuendumu back roads. This was a fresh green fruit (Solanum chippendalei), locally known as a bush tomato, in contrast to the 'Bush Tomato/aka/Desert Raisin/Yakajirri I have written about... But, it seems, for the sake of consistency one name must dominate... and so we have Bush Tomato. A point of interest I discovered today, is that the Solanum chippenadei is now officially called the Tanami Apple.

Orecchiette & Broccoli

This is a new favourite of mine which I've been working for at least the last 12 months. A couple of tips.. only cook this if you have good (preferably organic) broccoli and the real deal Orecchiette (little ears or ear lobes), or you make your own.
Ingredients
150- 250 gms Orecchiette (ear lobe pasta)
Salted water
Broccoli (around 350 to 500 gms)
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
Anchovies (small tin, roughly chopped)
Red Chillis
2-3 tablespoons Olive Oil (Extra Virgin)
Parsley (flat leaf)
Black pepper
Parmesan to serve

Method

1. Bring salted to water to boil in large pot and add orecchiette.
2. The next step depends on how you like to eat your pasta (al dente) and you like to eat your broccoli. Basically you add the broccoli just at the end of cooking your pasta. They both need to be cooked to your taste at the same time.
3. Strain.
4. At the same time.....
5. Heat 2- 3 tablespoons of Olive Oil in large pan or pot on a low heat.
6. Add crushed garlic (2-3 cloves) and anchovies and continue to cook over low heat.
7. Add chopped chillies.
8. When pasta and broccoli are cooked add to pan, with black pepper and roughly chopped parsley.
9. Serve with parmesan.

For those with fussy children who refuse to eat wonderful things such as chillis or anchovies.. take a portion size out of the boiled pasta/broccoli and add butter, and serve with parmesan. This seems to do the trick

Slow cooked Borlotti Beans with Nutmeg

The ultimate in slow food cooking, this recipe needs to be started at least a day and a half ahead of eating it.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup dried borlotti beans
6 rashes of prosciutto, roughly cut
4 cloves of garlic
freshly grated nutmeg
bay leaves
Salt or grated parmesan to taste

Special Utensils
A ceramic or cast iron enamel pot with a good fitting lid.

Method
1. Soak borlotti beans in cold water overnight or for at least 8 hours. Drain.
2. Set oven to 150 degrees celsius.
3. Place oil in bottom of pot.
4. Crush whole garlic with the back of a knife and put in bottom of pot (still whole or in large chunks), followed by strips of prosciutto.
5. Grate at least a teaspoon of nutmeg on the bottom.
6. Place beans on top and bay leaves.
7. Pour enough cold water to come just above the beans.
8. Place pot in oven and cook for around 6 hours. Let beans stay in oven until the oven is completely cool. Wait at least another 12 hours before eating, although if you're really hungry you can eat them straight away.

Salt to your taste, or use parmesan cheese. Great with fresh chunky bread or as an accompaniment to meat or polenta type dishes.

Persian Love Cake Adapted...

As I said in my earlier June posting on 'Nutmeg', this recipe has been adapted from a recipe in the September 2008 issue of the Australian magazine, Gourmet Traveller. I tried the original, which to my taste was way too sweet. I then remembered a Greek style baked tart my mother would make with honey, eggs, yoghurt and of course nutmeg. I adapted the original recipe, and I reckon it's heaps better.. but that's me commenting on my own recipe.. and I'm biased. Enjoy.. both the cooking and the eating.
Ingredients
360 gm (3 cups) almond meal
110 gm (1/2 cup) brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
120 gm unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs, lightly beaten
400 gm Greek-style yoghurt
1 tbsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 to 1/3 cup pistachio, coarsely chopped

Method
1. Heat over to around 180 degrees celcius. Butter a 26 cm springform cake tin, and line it with baking paper.
2. Combine almonds, sugar and butter and rub together. Spoon half the mixture in tin.
3. Mix together, egg, yoghurt, honey and nutmeg with a spoon whisk. Gradually add to dry mixture and whisk gently until smooth.
4. Pour mixture into cake tine, and sprinkle pistachio nuts around the edge.

5. Bake in oven for between 35 and 40 minutes and cool completely in pan before serving.