Australian Aboriginal sweets

Australian Aboriginal bush tucker traditions feature various sweet foods. The four main types of sweet foods gathered (apart from ripe fruit) are:

• Honey from ants and wild bees ("sugarbag")
• Leaf scale (lerps, from honeydew)
• Tree sap
• Flower nectar

In some parts of Australia, these customs are still used today, particularly in Central Australia.

Arrernte sweet foods and drinks

The Arrernte of Central Australia divide their food up into a number of groups, in a way typical to many Aboriginal cultures. The Arrernte word for sweet foods is Ngkwarle (pronunciation: ), meaning "honey-like foods".

Some Aboriginal people who still have their language often refer to alcohol by this sweet food group term.

Other sweet foods and drinks

The practices of the Arrernte were widely practised by many other groups across Australia, however customs varied depending on where people lived. Other notable sweet foods include:

• Banksia: People placed the flower spike in a paperbark-lined hole filled with water to make a sweet drink.
• Grevillea: Nectar shaken and eaten, or mixed with water to make a sweet drink.
• Xanthorrhoea: Sweet drink from nectar by soaking in water.

See also

• Bush tucker
• Australian cuisine

References