Bush Food: Aboriginal Food and Herbal Medicine
Alternative Health Herbal Medicine Australian Natural History Bushfood & Wild Food Aboriginal Culture Ethnobotany Survival & Outdoor Skills Food & Drink Reference
Bush Food: Aboriginal Food and Herbal Medicine is the 1992 hard-cover classic that turned native Australian ingredients into a national obsession. In 256 generously illustrated pages, Jennifer Isaacs documents over 150 bush plants—kakadu plum, wattleseed, lemon myrtle, mountain pepper—showing how First Nations people harvest, prepare and use them for food, tonic and medicine. First published three decades ago, this vintage reference is still the title chefs, foragers and herbalists reach for when they need reliable, field-tested information on flavour profiles, nutritional values and traditional preparations.
What makes this copy collector-worthy is its condition: a clean, tight hardback with no inscriptions, no dog-eared corners and only the lightest occasional page-edge foxing typical of 1990s paper. Every map, botanical painting and colour photograph is present and crisp, making it as practical in the kitchen or backpack as it is beautiful on the shelf. Unlike later reprints, this 1992 New Holland first edition retains the original page layout and full-size images that many readers prefer for quick ID work in the field.
Beyond recipes, the book is a gateway to deeper cultural knowledge—how Indigenous custodians read seasonality, country and story in every root, berry and leaf. Whether you’re a young adult camper learning survival basics, a professional chef plating native tasters, or a gardener planning a bush-food patch, Isaacs’ respectful synthesis of science and story gives you the confidence to cook, heal and share Australia’s oldest cuisine.
Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.
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