Last updated 21 July 2020
Northern Territory’s Kakadu National Park
Taste of Kakadu in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park is an immersive Indigenous Food Festival celebrating local bush food, culture, and country. I experienced part of the 2019 Taste of Kakadu taking the opportunity to connect with Indigenous Australians and appreciate their culture first-hand.
Indigenous artist Jacqueline Cahill and daughter demonstrate painting at Bowali Visitor Centre Kakadu National Park during the Taste of Kakadu Festival May 2019
The Bowali Visitor Centre
The scent of freshly cooking food wafts on the air around the visitor centre. Located five kilometres from Kakadu’s main township of Jabiru, the Bowali Visitor Centre has transformed into an outdoor kitchen.
Mark Olive, one of Australia’s popular indigenous chefs is cooking up a storm in a free Masterclass cooking demonstration. It’s the first day of The Taste of Kakadu Festival,
The annual festival is held in May at the start of the dry season. The 2019 Festival ran for 10 days from May 10 to 19. During the Festival visitors to Kakaducould choose from an assortment of interactive food experiences, designed to give an insight into how Australia’s oldest living culture – estimated to be 65,000 years – have prepared native foods, like crocodile, buffalo, barramundi flavoured with local fruit and bush herbs, for tens of thousands of years.
Under the shade of a pop-up gazebo, Mark is whipping up a kangaroo stir-fry with Singapore noodles, using fresh vegetables and herbs, including thyme, chili, rosemary, lavender and native mountain pepper.
“Did you know native pepper helps stop your food from spoiling?” Mark asks the audience.
Mark Olive during the Master Class demonstration cooking kangaroo stir-fry with fresh native herbs. With Dan Bourchier- ABC and assistant James; Image credit: Parks Australia
Here’s a PDF copy of my story published in BNE Magazine #37
BNE Magazine issue 37 March. April 2020 Taste of Kakadu story
Birds flying over Yellow Waters in Kakadu National Park
This year’s festival was to be 22-31 May, but it was canceled because of Covid-19.
I hope the Festival will return in 2021 as it is one heck of an opportunity to interact with our nation’s First Peoples and learn about how they have sourced food and lived in harmony with this land for over 60,000 years.
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