Australia's bush tomato is a fascinating fruit, often likened as much to a raisin as a tomato, and with an unusual earthy-caramel flavour.
Native to desert areas of central Australia, including parts of Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory, the bush tomato (Solanum centrale – there are others but this is the species we see sold commercially) is also often called a desert raisin, along with other names from local Indigenous language groups, including akatyerr, akatjurra, akudjura, kutjera, katyerr, kampurarrpa and yakajirri.
It was and is an important food for Indigenous residents of the central desert areas.
What does bush tomato taste like?
The small fruits grow on shrubs, turning yellow as they ripen. Mostly used dried, the fruit is often allowed to sun-dry on the bushes before harvesting. The dried fruit is sold whole and ground.
Bush tomato has an attractive flavour with caramel, raisin and umami notes that work well in curries, braises, pies and sauces (or a native flavours take on Australia's much loved spag bol!) It's a strong flavour, so you often only need a small amount. You can buy dried and ground bush tomato from specialist retailers.
Wondering how to cook with bush tomato? While you'll see it used a lot in savoury recipes, it's complex flavour means bush tomato can also be used in sweet recipes and baking (even a bush fruit Christmas cake!). Here are some great bush tomato recipes, sweet and savoury, for making the most of this flavour-packed little fruit.
An Indian classic meets native Australian ingredients! Wattleseed naan stuffed with spiced pumpkin is served with burrata and a bush tomato, curry leaf and chilli chutney. This recipe uses whole dried bush tomatoes.
While Johnny cakes are often served with sweet toppings, here these quick fried breads made with self-raising flour are served as bruschetta, with ground bush tomato used to flavour the cherry tomato, basil and rocket topping.
Mark Olive's recipe puts an Australian twist on the traditional lamb shank, using wallaby and native spieces including kutjera (aka bush tomato), saltbush and native thyme.
Another Mark Olive recipe, this vegetable stir-fry uses ground bush tomato and saltbush to add a unique flavour. Serve with hot quinoa for a tasty and filling meal.
A hearty cold-weather comfort food, this pie from Nornie Bero features a rich, creamy mushroom filling elevated with native Indigenous spices, including ground pepperberry, saltbush and bush tomato.
Adam Liaw puts bush tomato to great use here, along with an array of other bush flavours. Dipped in beer batter and quickly fried til golden, the mushroom pieces are then tossed in an 'Aussie spice salt', a mixture using sea salt flakes, mountain pepper, ground wattleseed, bush tomato aniseed myrtle, saltbush powder and smoked paprika.
This roo taco features a number of Indigenous Australian ingredients, including wattleseed, bush tomato, sea celery and youlk.
Bush tomato is clearly one of Mark Olive's favourite ingredients! In this recipe, ground bush tomato is sprinkled over cherry tomatoes before they are baked until semi-dried, then used to make striking savoury muffins.
Adam Liaw's recipe for these juicy kebabs blends Middle Eastern and Australian flavours. Ground pepperberry, along with cinnamon, cumin, turmeric and garlic, is used in the lamb marinade, and ground bush tomato and wattleseed add depth to the tahini-yoghurt sauce served with the kebabs.
This is a quick and delicious weeknight meal that punches in flavour and texture far beyond the effort it takes to put together. The depth of flavour comes in part from the spice mix that's rubbed on the chicken before cooking; it includes ground bush tomato, anise myrtle, cinnamon myrtle and pepperberry, among other spices.
This tasty sandwich features not only the usual bacon, lettuce and (vine) tomato but a tasty sauce made with mayonnaise, mustard and soaked and mashed bush tomatoes! You can also double up the bush tomato element by adding purchased bush tomato or quandong chutney, too.
Egyptian dukkah gets a modern-day Indigenous Australian twist with macadamias, pepperberries and ground bush tomatoes with this recipe from Nornie Bero.
Traditional Christmas meets outback flavours in this recipe from Rayleen Brown, to bring you a richly spiced fruitcake topped with desert quandongs. Bush tomato, pepperberry and wattleseed are used in the cake mix, along with mixed dried fruit, creating a rich, rewarding flavour and texture.
MORE BUSH TOMATO RECIPES
Bush tomato (akudjura) scones
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