Day 6,
you and Tom went to the island today, a wide stretch of sand deposited by the river.
You spear-headed this walk primarily to follow a tip-off of a Prickly Pear (Opuntia Spp.) bush.
“you get to the end of the track, where the rocky expanse is. There, on the left, there’s a group of she-oaks. Just under, the cacti” Randal said.
You found it, a left-over of some previous flood probably, washed down from somewhere to establish itself on the sandy island.
On the way back you collected your dinner, Dandelions (Taraxacum Officinalis), which got served in a luxurious salad with boiled eggs and avocado, and Wood Sorrel (Oxalis Spp.), for the sauce which went with the lamb.
Everyone was very exited in having a dinner from the fields.
The Dandelion where not at its best. You recall gathering expeditions since you where 9 or so.
Dandelion’s salad is a spring business, before flowering the plant is less sour.
Your salad was fantastic though, as the weed was fresh and the leaves where young, after the recent rain.
You where much exited by the Wood Sorrel recipe, a 15th Century’s one, from England, when they accompanied pork and game with the sauce.
One interesting aspect of the botanical booty is that this particular plant of the Oxalis family is NATIVE! (you can tell by the fact it sports yellow flowers), making the whole exercise even more appealing. Aboriginal Australian sure knew of the edibility of the plant, which can be eaten fresh, having a lemony taste.
Doesn’t this legitimize your investigation?
Can it not ethnobotanical knowledge be transported and applied in non-native settings?
You finish the dinner talking about politics and planning for a residency in a restaurant, where you freely experiment with forgotten food.
