For Australians only - substitute for jicama

[kyrie]

Hi Aussies,

As an Ozzie living in Sydney, it's hard to find jicama, even though it's sometimes available in Asian suburbs. It's called "yam" by the Vietnamese. However through research I've found an Australian substitute - baby boab tubers. No kidding. This is not spam, I'm just excited. 1 kg from Astrids bush tucker is $16 AUD. Since jicama can be used for raw mock potato salad, raw mock mashed potatoes, raw fries, and raw "garlic bread rounds", I'm excited!!!

Also I tried the Vietnamese "yam" and wasn't impressed, so I am looking forward to this "Aussie version" of jicama.

Most of these indigenous herbs, fruits and spices are ancientsuperfoods in their own right, in additon to being sustainable and wildcrafted and hand harvested . Most often by indigenous people in their own communities out in the desert. And only grow with exactly the right conditions. That's right folks Monsanto can't GM-freak/fake this stuff. Woohoo! This is soooooo cool!

I love Australia. Oi, Oi, Oi! Ok, I'll settle down now.


heres the link for those Down Under if you want to buy: http://astridsbushtucker.com/abtnews...roducts_id=106

For more information about boab tubers: http://www.boabsinthekimberley.com.a...2march2006.pdf

What is boab? -Cooking with Boabs
Baby boabs are the seedling stage of the large boab trees found in the Kimberleyregion. The seed of the fruit found in pods attached to the tree is planted and thengrown for approximately 16 weeks depending on the season. This produces a tuberup to 30 centimetres long, with fresh, succulent, edible leaves on top.
The boab tubers are very versatile and can be used in most dishes both raw and cooked. The texture of the tubers are crisp and crunchy like that of a waterchestnut but with a refreshing taste that can adapt to the other flavours of any
recipe. The leaves have a nutty flavour unlike that of any other salad vegetableand can be used in salads or a garnish.
Nutritionally the boab tubers are high in iron and potassium, with a high level ofprotein (for a vegetable) and fibre and a relatively low fat content. The boab leaves
are high in vitamins A and C.

Happy trails.

Carla

P.S.: If anyone else who is either Australian or not wants to share info and raw recipes about wildcrafted food please feel welcome to do so here

[klomasius]

Ooh, this is interesting!

I haven't really used bush tucker before, except for some dried bush tomatoes and some davidsons plums.

I wonder if I could get stuff like that fresh here in Melbourne. I'd love to expand my fresh food range!

Speaking of expanding my range, I almost wet my pants when I found an abiu (a lovely tropical fruit I discovered on QLD) in a shop here in Melb.