Lemon myrtle, wattleseed, coastal rosemary, jarrah honey, riberry and spiced orange. These are some of the native Australian ingredients that Yuki Nakamura mixes with chocolate to create mouth-watering artisan creations at her Perth-based business.
“My favourite is the quandong and blood peach. It’s sweet, sour and creamy,” she tells SBS Japanese.
She says finding the right combination of bush tucker for her ganache was quite challenging.
“Sometimes the tastes would clash, and at others, there is little taste.”
It took the Japan-born chocolatier who now calls Australia home over two years to perfect the art of mixing the bush tucker with chocolate to create her ‘Australian Selection’ featuring 10 bush tucker flavours.
Yuki Nakamura is a chocolatier in Perth Source: Yuki Nakamura
She says she has always been intrigued by these special ingredients that she hadn’t seen before, and was blown away by the bush tucker when she came across them for the first time after moving to Australia.
Her knowledge of the bush tuckers comes from her endless readings on the native plants and the guidance she has received from the Aboriginal cultural guide, Marrisa Verma from Bindi Bindi Dreaming in Perth.
Ms Verma says she remembers her first meeting with Yuki Nakamura and that she was remarkably interested in the native plants and spices.
“I didn’t know that she was a chocolatier then,” said Ms Verma.
After her first tour, Ms Nakamura had several meetings with Ms Verma to learn about the native ingredients and where to source them from.
Chocolatier Yuki Nakamura incorporates the knowledge of native bush tucker passed from Marissa Verma (Bindi Bindi Dreaming local guide) into her chocolates. Source: Yuki Nakamura
“Not only does Yuki’s chocolates look beautiful and taste amazing, but it’s also another avenue to tell the world about our culture whilst supporting local Aboriginal businesses. It’s wonderful,” says Ms Verma.
Ms Nakamura also has her chocolate stores in Japan, and she says her customers often ask, ‘what is bush tucker?’
Her well-trained staff would direct them to taste the chocolates first.
“I don’t want to give them any preconceptions that may stop them from enjoying the chocolates,” she says.
“Once they have tasted it, I talk about bush food and the Aboriginal culture.”
She says she is experimenting with ingredients every day.
Source: Nakamura Chocolates
For her, chocolate is her vitality.
Ms Nakamura has shared a straightforward and delicious chocolate ganache recipe which can be turned into 35 truffles or to coat 24cm cake or fill 24cm tart.
Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients: 80g fresh cream, 15g butter (room temperature), 150 dark chocolate
Method:
- Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan and turn off the heat.
- Add finely chopped dark chocolate to the cream and leave it for one minute.
(this will allow the chocolate to melt a little, and easier to mix) - Mix until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is glossy.
- Add the butter
- If making truffles, leave it until it is firm enough to squeeze through a piping bag.
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Patissier SENA KANEKO
