Sweet bush flower water
A cool, delicately sweet water obtained by steeping nectar-rich flowers. Translucent, floral, barely honeyed: the refreshment of the flowering season, and a treat for children.
A cool, delicately sweet water obtained by steeping nectar-rich flowers. Translucent, floral, barely honeyed: the refreshment of the flowering season, and a treat for children.
Little one, come close: there is no sugar fallen from the sky in this land, but I have placed honey in the heart of the flowers. Pick them when they overflow with their sweet water, dip them into the bark hollow filled with water, squeeze them with your fingertips — and drink. This is the only sweetness I have given you: you must seek it, flower after flower, and that is what makes it precious.
- •Nectar-rich flowers (grevillea, banksia) — several handfuls (sugar source)
- •Fresh water — the hollow of a coolamon (base)
Sweet bush flower water
A cool, delicately sweet water obtained by steeping nectar-rich flowers. Translucent, floral, barely honeyed: the refreshment of the flowering season, and a treat for children.
Why this dish? Baiame's Law gives each season its gifts: at flowering time, the nectar-laden blossoms. In his country, sugar-rich inflorescences were steeped in water to obtain a sweet drink — the only sweetness the land offered, the Father's gift in flower season.
Little one, come close: there is no sugar fallen from the sky in this land, but I have placed honey in the heart of the flowers. Pick them when they overflow with their sweet water, dip them into the bark hollow filled with water, squeeze them with your fingertips — and drink. This is the only sweetness I have given you: you must seek it, flower after flower, and that is what makes it precious.
Ingredients (period version)
- Nectar-rich flowers (grevillea, banksia) — several handfuls (sugar source)
- Fresh water — the hollow of a coolamon (base)
Ingredients
- Nectar-rich edible flowers (honeysuckle, lime flowers) or, failing that, 1 teaspoon of mild honey — 2 good handfuls (or 1 tsp honey) (floral sugar source)
- Fresh spring water — 500 ml (base)
Method
- Gently rinse the edible flowers.
- Plunge them into the fresh water and press them softly with fingertips to release the nectar.
- Let infuse cold for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Strain and serve well chilled. (If nectar flowers are unavailable, dissolve a touch of mild honey in the water.)
How it was made : Aboriginal peoples steeped nectar-rich inflorescences of banksia, grevillea or hakea in water, in the hollow of a coolamon (bark or wood container), to obtain a sweet drink. It was one of the few sources of sweetness, especially appreciated by children, available only in the flowering season.
The contemporary twist : Cold-infused floral water, served in a jug with a few petals suspended — an ancestral lemonade with no added sugar.
Sources : Beth Gott, ethnobotanical research on Aboriginal food plants · Tim Low, Wild Food Plants of Australia (1991)
Baiame · Charactorium