A few weeks ago, we drove a 4wd and camped our way across the Great Central Road to the centre of Australia. For those of you who don’t know Australia well, this isn’t a trip that many people do, or even think of doing. We did 8038km in 18 days and loved every second of it. The map looks empty, but we were never bored. Since there weren’t a lot of town or cafes on this trip, most of the hot chocolates I had we made. I’ll post notes about the hot chocolates we had in cafes next.
As with all our trips, I always bring hot chocolates to test and enjoy along the way. This time we decided to explore native Australian ingredients, infused into dark chocolate (Callebaut 70% in this case). Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have been using native ingredients, or “bush tucker”, for tens of thousands of years as both food and medicine. While these grow in the outback, it isn’t very easy to find them in shops, and when you can, they can be quite expensive.
The details…
I bought a selection of dried natives and everyday we picked one out of the bag to try with breakfast. We read about each ingredient and had a smell and a taste of the dried version. We decided to be very generous and added about 1tbps of each herb per person (our hot chocolates were about 1.5cups of milk per person). The herbs were added to the milk and warmed up slowly before adding in the dark chocolate. Before serving, we strained the hot chocolates to remove any excess powder or leaves.
Finger Lime at Lake Ballard in Western Australia
Finger Limes are these beautiful little fruits that look like a fat little finger. Inside they are filled with tiny caviar pearls of fruit that pop in your mouth when you eat them and give you a blast of citrusy flavour. We had a dried version which is an excellent source of folate, potassium and vitamin E. The powder can be added to dressings, sauces, just about everything that you want a bit of a zesty kick really. It also went really beautifully with dark chocolate. Because the flavour is milder than a traditional lime or lemon, it gave a nice lemony flavour without being overpowering.
Lake Ballard is famous because it is Australia’s largest outdoor gallery. Turney Prize winning artist Antony Gormley has installed 51 metal figures across a flat, dry salt late that is 70 miles long and 30 miles wide. There is a campsite (free) right next to the lake which is one of our favourites. This site is 777km from Perth and 207km from the nearest city Kalgoorlie. Kalgoorlie is a mining town with open cut gold mine in the centre of town.
Lemon Myrtle at Giles Breakaway
Lemon Myrtle is a shrub that is quite easy to grow in your backyard. There is no fruit, it’s the leaves that are the hero. They have high antibacterial properties and crushed leaves can be used as a paste to rub on boards. When burnt the smoke acts as an insect repellent, and sucking on the leaves or turning the leaves into a tea can be used to treat inflammation. The leaves are a source of calcium, antioxidants, vitamin E, zine and magnesium and can be used in both savoury and sweet cooking. These have a strong citrus aroma, a bit like a mix of lemongrass, lemon and lime. We added a generous amount of the dried spice which added nice lemony but also herb flavour. It was more subtle than I expected given the aroma so I wonder if the fresh leaves would impart more flavour.
Giles Breakaway is a free campsite just off the Great Central Road. The Great Central Road is a mostly dirt road that connects Western Australia with Uluru/Alice Spring. You can pretty much stop anywhere and camp for free, but there are some areas that are set up for free camp (no facilities). We didn’t see another person for days and we were lucky enough to have all the free campsites to ourselves.
Davidson Plum at Desert Surf Campsite
The colour of this one is stunning! Davidson Plum is a rich source of calcium, vitamin E and zinc. It tastes like raspberry sour candy! This was amazing paired with 80% chocolate. The fresh fruits are found in the northern rainforests of New South Wales and Queensland and the seeds only germinate after passing through the digestive tract of large animals or birds. You see Davison Plum used most often in desserts, stewed or turned into jams. It is known for its high levels of antioxidants and also contains folate, calcium, magnesium, zine and vitamin E.
Desert Surf Campsite is one of the most epic spots to camp. If you have a 4wd, you can drive up to the top of the hill to camp. From here, you are rewarded with 360 degree views of central Australia.
Wattleseed on the side of the Great Central Road (near the Northern Territory border)
Wattleseed is crushed into flour and used to cook cakes and damper (a bread). The seeds contain potassium, calcium, iron and zine in high concentrations and are high in fibre (over 30%). When the seeds fall to the ground, they can last up to 20 years in their natural environment, usually only germinating after bushfires. The wattleseed adds a hazelnut taste to the chocolate, almost smokey too with a slight hint of coffee. Not all seeds from eucalyptus trees are edible but Aboriginal populations know which ones are.
On this part of the trip we saw a lot of camels and horses. There are over 1.2 million wild/feral camels and 500,000 wild horses in central Australia. As beautiful as they were to see wondering across the road, they cause a lot of damage to the environment and property here.
Desert Lime at Uluru
Desert Lime is a small fruit that is used similar to a lime or lemon. It is smaller than a lime, has no peel and a more intense flavour. The dried powder easily blends into a hot chocolate and adds a strong citrus note, similar to adding lime zest. Less is more with desert lime.
There are several carparks around Uluru that you can park in to watch the sunset/sunrise. They are also excellent spots to set up the camp kitchen and make a hot chocolate! This one we made in the sunrise carpark after the sun had rose and all the visitors had left.
River Mint at Uluru
River Mint has a slight taste and aroma of spearmint. Crushed it is said to relieve headaches and as a tea it eases the effects of colds. It is also used as an insect repellent. River mind grows across the country often around rivers and damp, shaded places, similar to mint really. We made this hot chocolate from the sunset carpark at Uluru. We did the 11km walk around the rock that morning (highly recommended). There is also an Aboriginal guide that gives incredible free short tours of parts of the Uluru walk that are really worth doing. Understanding the significance of the rock, and the land, is what makes this space so important and special.
Cinnamon Myrtle at King’s Canyon
Cinnamon myrtle leaves have a cinnamon fragrance when rubbed or crushed. These can be used to add a cinnamon flavour to savoury and sweet dishes. We found the flavour very subtle when using the dried version that we had. You would need to add much more than the 1tbsp per person we added. Still, the aroma is beautiful. We enjoyed this one at Kings Canyon in the Northern Territory, a three hour drive from Uluru. You can walk up and across the Canyon which is 300metres high with 360 degree panoramic views over red sand dunes. Then start of the walk is the most intense as it requires you to walk up 500 steps to the rim, but it is well worth it. Many Aussie classics were filmed here, including Priscilla Queen of the Desert. This was a define highlight of the trip. On the way, I’d also recommend stopping at King’s Creek Station for one of their famous (and delicious) camel burgers. The Karaoke Aboriginal Cultural Experience 2km away is also a must .
Gumbi Gumbi at Palm Valley
Gumbi Gumbi are a native apricot that grows in Southern Australia. This was never considered a food source but instead was used medicinally. These are used to relieve pain, applied for eczema and used to help with colds and itching. It is also used to induce lactation. The leaves are quite bitter and have a slight peppery and herbal taste which made for an interesting hot chocolate. We infused this into sweeter milk chocolate which balanced out the bitterness.
Palm Valley in Finke Gorge National Park is located on what is believed to be the oldest river in the world. It is home to many species of plants only found in this area, including a site you wouldn’t expect to see in the desert: RedCabbage Palm. The nearest palm trees from here are almost 1000km away so it is incredible to see these growing here in such a dry enviornment. The National Park has a campsite (4WD only) with facilities and about a dozen sites (bookable through the national park website).
Quondong at Gawler Ranges National Park, South Australia
Quandongs are a small native desert peach. These use the root systems of other trees to supplement their own supply of nutrients and water so you will find them growing at the base of another tree. The fruits look like small pomegranates when they are fresh and have twice the vitamin C of an oranges. They are used by indigenous Australians primarily for medicinal purposes, for example to help with toothaches, although the wood is also used to make traditional bowls. Quandongs are usually used in pies and jams as they are quite tart and tangy. We enjoyed this one at Gawler Ranges National Park in South Australia. We have never seen so many kangaroos and emus in our lives. There were hundreds of them, including dozens of male emus followed by 7 or more baby emu chicks (its the dads that raise the chicks in the emu families).
Aniseed Myrtle at Port Lincoln
We loved our aniseed myrtle hot chocolate. The dried version taste a bit like a herby fennel or liquorice and paired really nicely with our 80% chocolate. Aniseed Myrtle is used for its essential oil, fresh or dried in tea, or ground up and added to a wide range of sweet and savoury dishes. It is high in antioxidants, vitamin C and E, folate, lutein, zinc, calcium and magnesium.
Port Lincoln and Coffin Bay are known for incredible seafood and, in particular, oysters. You can take a boat trip out to see and even walk amongst the oyster farms before having a taste yourself. Experience Coffin Bay Oyster Farm Tours half day was amazing. In terms of meals, I highly recommend the seafood chowder at Oyster HQ in Coffin Bay and fish and chips at then Fresh Fish Place in Port Lincoln. Best we have had anywhere…every.
Kakadu Plum in Coffin Bay National Park
Kakadu Plum has the highest content of vitamin C in the world. You see it used mostly in sweet dishes. It has a tart flavour, maybe a bit like a tart apple but not nearly as sharp. We didn’t find it added much of a flavour to the hot chocolate, but we did feel much healthier after drinking it! If anything it added a bit of a powdery/medicinal taste.
Considering this park is just a few kilometres outside Coffin Bay, it felt very remote. This is because the road in is so rough it takes hours to get into the national park with a 4WD (and a lot of patience). You are rewarded though with campsites dotted along perfectly white sand beaches and turquoise waters (the same waters where the oysters live). We camped at Black Springs and had views of the beach and the bay from our tent.
Jilungin on the Nullarbor Plain
We made a Jilungin hot chocolate the morning of our longest drive of the trip along the longest, straightest stretch of road in the world (147km). Probably not the smartest idea given the Jilungin is a sleep tea to relax and calm your system and promote dreams. Luckily for us, it din’t work that well and we stayed wide awake all day. It didn’t have much of a taste, just a slight herbiness, maybe an earthy taste. Nullarbor means no trees in latin. It connects Southern Australia with Western Australia. There is a golf course that you can play that has holes spaced out along the way. There are also several lookout points to see some of the world’s longest unbroken cliffs. This is also the place to come to see whales although, unfortunately for us, it wasn’t the right season when we arrived.
Strawberry Gum in Kulin
As it’s name would suggest, strawberry gum has a slight berry flavour but this seems to come out best when sugar is added. We made this hot chocolate using milk chocolate. The flavour was subtle but unique. It is strawberry but also slightly acidic. We enjoyed this one quite a bit, although we added a lot of strawberry gum to get the flavour to come through.
Kulin is a town in the Central Wheatbelt of Western Australia that is famous for its quirky Tin Horse Highway. They placed what seems like hundreds of statues of horses doing silly and strange things along 20km of highway. Kulin is also home to a great cafe called Acres of Taste which was, unfortunately, closed the day we were there. I’ve been told they make the best hot chocolates.
Verdict: Overall, it was a fantastic experience. However, given how expensive most of these ingredients are, how difficult it is to find them, and how much of each is required to impart a noticeable flavour in the hot chocolate, I wouldn’t consider doing some of these again necessarily. This has, however, opened up a whole new world of flavours for us and we have already planted some natives in our garden so we can experiment with the fresh versions. Stay tuned for more. Luckily, many chocolate makers and chocolatiers in Australia are playing around with these flavour profiles, with much more success than we had on our little camp stove. Check out this week’s version of SIPS for more examples. If you are in Australia, we bought our natives mostly from Roogenic.
