Fish, Game 'N' More

[clare_b74]

I think I've mentioned this mob before, but up until last week haven't had the $$ to dabble. Check out the stock list and you'll know what I mean!

http://www.fishgame.com.au/

Anyway, for interested South Aussies, ordering was a breeze, prices were great, pick up was a bit of a hassle cos I live & work the other side of town (but no biggie) and the produce was A1. Might have some difficulty with particular products though (e.g. wild limes seem a tad scare - I'll have to follow suit EA and attempt cold-climate plantings of my own)

I'll definitely be returning to FGM and can highly recommend

C

[Cherikoff]

I do not like to criticise anyone trying to make a go at the native foods industry. Just go with an open mind and a wary wallet.

Many distributors try to cut costs by moving to cheaper quality products and taking anything supplied to them as a wild food. This can get a good chef unstuck in several ways: You can waste your money totally (here I'd refer to synthetic mixes of solutions which are meant to be lemon myrtle or wattleseed flavourings but fall way short) or become disillusioned with the whole Australian cuisine thing because the flavour (flavourings) just don't cut it.

I'd work at at least trying the best product you can find (OK so I'll drop in an ad here for the Dining Downunder on-line store at http://www.dining-downunder.com/shop and then work backwards to see if lesser quality products can save a few cents per serve. But then again, is it worth it?

All of my clients in 28 countries don't think so.

[eataust]

Well, it depends; for Clare, being able to buy locally is going to be a bonus for her, unless you've got an outlet in Adelaide for her to use? I know that I'd always prefer to physically go to a shop to pick up my stuff, even though I also know that the vast majority of the bushfood industry is basing itself online.

I'll agree that we mere consumers are not always going to know the difference between "good qality" and "lesser quality", but I would also argue that those of us who actually grow bushfoods - which Clare also does - are in the position of "informed consumers" who are more likely to judge quality, and thus put us in the positon of being able to supply informed, if personal, advice on bush tucker.

I must admit, though, I wasn't aware that the bush tucker industry had got extensive enough to bother creating artifical versions of the more popular flavours, or to substitute! Learn something new every day ...

[clare_b74]

Funnily enough, FG&M was personally recommended to me by one Vic Cherikoff (they distribute the Vic Cherikoff Food Services products, or at least did back then) when I was enquiring as to local sources of raw ingredient bushfoods rather than the more readily available value-added mixes and preps....

From my original purchases, I was super-stoked with my frozen davo plums, tassie wallaby fillets and unadorned dried Euc. olida (having only found this in tea-form elsewhere in adelaide). All very hard products replicate in synthetic form I imagine!

The downside was being not-happy-Jan with the frozen croc meat, except for the delight of having a "CITES approved!" sticker on my dinner. Coulda used those suckers in the upcoming Ashes tour for sure! But I've now researched it and apparently PNG-sourced croc is known to be a little on the tough side and I was being a tightarse and went for a cheaper cut anywoo. So just won't buy that again unless I can be assured it's Aussie and we'll see what difference that makes...

While I agree that I'd way prefer to get my fresh produce through farmgate sales where I know the grower, the growing process and extent of product turnover, a girl can't survive on myrtle, pepper and roo alone! So for a varied diet, at this stage in the bushfoods business, I'll be returning to distributors directly rather than sourcing these ingredients from retail stores which have had these products sitting in *their* fridges for weeks+ after getting them from the same place I can without the additional wait.


For SA bushfoodies, another such distributor I've heard about recently is the Adelaide CDEP at Cavan (www.acetd.org.au). Website's not exactly informative, but at this stage I know they distribute the Outback Pride range, Andrew Fielke's products and some fresh/frozen raw ingredients (e.g. whole-leaf aniseed myrtle, some fruits).

[Bones6]

Various CDEPs and Aboriginal Homelands around SA grow a variety of bushfoods primarilyit is sold to and processed by Outback Pride. Quite often the Homelands also carry some of the Outback Pride range for sale to the community and tourists.

The people to talk to as the "suppliers" of Outback Pride (at least in SA) would be Mike & Gail Quarmby at Reedy Creek Nursery who are very active in promoting the bushfood industry and in capacity building for Aboriginal comunities.