Wattleseed

Acacia aneuro, Acacia victoriae
Family: Fabaceae (legume family).

Wattleseed is a nutritious roasted grain (acacia seeds) which boasts an amazing coffee, chocolate, hazelnut flavour which can be used in both savory and sweet dishes. Edible wattleseed comes from a relatively small number of acacia trees which bear edible leguminous seed pods. There are over 700 species of acacia and the majority of them have poisonous seeds, so one must be absolutely sure the variety being eaten is not toxic.

Description
One variety of 'food wattle' is mulga whose seeds have high nutritional levels including protein, much of which is contained in the tail-like connecting tissue which is attached to the seed. Mulga trees grow in the Australian outback to heights of 20 ft. (6 m) and are thoroughly unlikely looking members of the legume family (Fabaceae) until one observes their pea-like pods that contain seeds typical of legumes. Many acacias do not have leaves at all, but stalks which are flattened to a leaflike shape and act as leaves, their structure making them resistant to prolonged drought. A parasitic insect that attacks the mulga causes swollen lumps to appear on its branches. These are sweet and juicy inside and are referred to as 'mulga apples'. Although the Australian Aborigines ate cooked green wattleseed for sustenance, it is only the roasted and ground wattleseeds that are used as a spice to flavor food. The spice is a dark-brown, grainy powder which resembles ground coffee in appearance and has a distinct, light coffee-like aroma and pleasing, slightly bitter, nutty, coffee taste. a mottled brown.

Wattleseed is available either as a ground powder or liquid essence for ease of use. The ground wattleseecd is easily softened in hot water and is ready to use in just a few minutes. Because of wattleseed’s uniquely chocolate, coffee, hazelnut flavour there are a number of commercial products now available featuring wattleseed such as bread pre mixes, chocolates, ice-creams, granola and mousse mixes to name just a few.

Origin
Acacias have a special significance for Australians, as it is the blossom of the golden wattle that has been adopted as the nation's floral emblem. Indigenous to Australia, Africa, Asia and America, it is Australia's acacias that are most decorative, bursting into various shapes of fluffy, glowing masses of blossoms ranging from creamy-white to the most vibrant of yellows. Australian acacias were called 'wattle' because the early colonists included their thin branches and trunks with mud and clay in the construction of houses, a method known in Europe as 'wattle and daub'. Wattle is sometimes referred to as mimosa, however although related, it is not the true mimosa.

fFor over 6000 years aboriginal people used to parch and mill wattleseed from around 100 species of Acacia, to make a coarse flour which was then baked into seed cakes. However, it wasn’t till 1984 when Vic Cherikoff took a phone call while he was experimenting with lightly toasting wattleseed and accidently roasted them too much to create the modern day product.

Harvesting and Prepartion
While wattle trees grow and bear pods prolifically, the task of gathering and preparing the seeds for consumption is painstaking and labor intensive. The seed bearing pods are harvested when green and immature. The traditional method of processing is to simply throw the pods on an open grass fire where they will steam, producing something akin to an edible but almost tasteless pea. Steaming reduces a certain amount of background astringency and makes the seeds and attached membrane easier to remove from the pod.

Roasting of the whole, steamed seeds is performed by adding them to a dish filled with glowing hot embers from a fire where they are left until some of the seed coat shows signs of cracking. After this the roasted seeds are removed to cool and are then sieved to separate them from the ash, an extremely dusty, sooty task. The cleaned, roasted seeds are milled to make 'roasted and ground' WATTLESEED that is ready to use in cooking.

Buying and Storage
Roasted and ground wattleseed is available from specialty spice shops, adventurous delicatessens and food outlets that sell Australian native foods. Wattleseed is somewhat expensive when compared to the majority of spices (about five times the price of ground nutmeg) because of the labor in processing. In addition it is mostly wild crafted (gathered from its wild state) and not commercially cultivated. It is best if not stored for longer than two years. Keep roasted, ground wattleseed in an airtight pack, just as for other ground spices, and avoid extremes of heat, light and humidity.

Culinary Uses
Wattleseed is one of those iconic central Australian bush foods that is used in everything from pavlova to bread. It flavors sweet dishes such as ice-creams, sorbets, mousse, yoghurt, cheesecakes and whipped cream. It is delicious in pancakes and goes well with breads. In these applications, roasted wattleseed grounds should be infused with the liquid ingredients (preferably boiling or at least heated) and either the strained infusion added on its own or, as they will have softened, the liquid including wattleseed grounds may be included for extra color and texture.

Wattleseed complements chicken, lamb and fish particularly well especially when a small amount is blended with ground coriander seed, a pinch of lemon myrtle leaf and salt to taste. Sprinkle this over the food before cooking (it is particularly delicious with salmon steaks) and then pan-fry, grill or barbecue the meat. The wattleseed adds a subtle barbecued note.

I find the best preparation for most wattleseed dishes is to put the ground wattleseed into an espresso machine and extract it as if I was making an espresso coffee. Depending on the recipe you may have to allow the wattleseed liquid to cool before using it in your recipe.

Here are some suggestions:

• If you make your own bread, try a substituting some of the wheat flour with 5% besan or chick pea flour along with 3% wattleseed.
• Use wattleseed as a crusting or coating mixed with polenta, crushed macadamia nuts or cracked buckwheat over any meat or poultry.
• Add wattleseeds to casseroles, lentil spreads, meatloaf for a nutty, roasted flavour.
• Try a baked sweet potato (kumara), mushroom and wattleseed risotto or pilaf
• Replace some of the flour (about 3%) with wattleseed when baking – muffins, banana bread, pancakes and other appropriate baked items.
• Use wattleseed extract in frappes, smoothies and juices.
• Boil wattleseed in water and store the mixture in the refrigerator, adding a dash of the liquid and some of the grounds to muesli, porridge and breakfast cereals.

Wattleseed is a great inclusion in anyone’s diet as it has an unusually low glycaemic index which means that the carbohydrates in it are slowly absorbed and therefore better for you than sugary, quick release alternatives. Wattleseed can also be incorporated into foods to lower the overall GI and either just improve its nutritional value or to actually make some food acceptable for people with non-insulin dependent diabetes.

Other Names
mulga, coastal wattle, Gundabluey watle, wirilda, golden wattle

Wattleseed Ice Cream

4 cups half-and-half
2 tablespoons ground wattleseed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon wattleseed extract
1 cup sugar
Pinch salt
5 egg yolks

In a nonreactive saucepan, combine the half-and-half, powdered wattleseed, vanilla, wattleseed extract, sugar, and salt, over medium heat. Bring the cream to the boiling point and scald it. Remove from the heat. Beat the egg yolks in a bowl. Add the cream mixture, about 1/4 cup at a time, to the beaten eggs, whisking in between each addition, until all is used. Pour the mixture into a saucepan, and cook, stirring, over medium heat, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve. Pour the filling into the ice cream machine and follow the manufacturer?s instructions for churning time.

Yield: about 1/2 gallon

Serves 4

1 tsp wattle seeds (roast & ground)
50 g dark chocolate (min. 70% cocoa solids)
3 medium eggs (separated)
1 pinch cream of tartar
60 g fine caster sugar
2 figs (cut in wedges)
1 heaped tsp sugar
100 ml madeira

You'll also need 4 small buttered ramekins (10 cm in diameter).

Preheat the oven to 220 C.

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. Toast the wattleseeds in a dry pan, making sure that they don't burn. Combine with the yolks. and 30 g of the sugar. Let the melted chocolate cool down slightly, then incorporate the yolk mixture. Beat the egg whites with the remaining 30 g sugar and tartar until very stiff.

Slowly fold into the chocolate mixture. Spoon the chocolate foam into the buttered ramekins and pop in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until risen and starting to brown on top.

In the meantime, heat the madeira and sugar in a pan, then add the figs. Cook until going soft (should not take longer than 5 minutes).
When the soufflés are done, arrange on a plate with the figs to the side, then spoon some of the madeira over figs and souffle, dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.

Panna cotta is Italian for “cooked cream” and generally refers to a sweet, creamy and set dessert from the Northern Italy. Traditional panna cotta is flavoured with vanilla beans or espresso, however in this recipe I’ve used Wattleseed as the flavouring.

Wattleseed has a strong coffee, chocolate and hazelnut flavour which pairs with the cream well. Most panna cotta recipes have 5 times the amount of sugar than mine; this is because too much sugar reduces the Wattleseed flavor. Also by using Wattleseed we’re reducing the glycemic index of the dessert.

Panna Cotta is usually served with fresh raspberries or strawberries, however for this recipe, I've served the Wattleseed Panna Cotta with Rosella Confit.

500ml (2 cups) of thickened cream
500ml (2 cups) of skim milk
2 tablespoons of ground wattleseed
1 tablespoon of castor sugar
10g (2 teaspoons) gelatine powder or 5 gelatine leaves
60g (2 oz) Rosella Confit

Place the cream, milk, sugar and Wattleseed in a pan over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves. When hot, remove from heat and allow to stand. Add the gelatine into the mixture and stir until combined. Leave the mixture for five minutes, then strain with a fine mesh strainer into a jug. Then pour the mixture into 4 x 180 ml (6 oz) moulds.

Allow to cool, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours. To serve, briefly dip the base of each mould into warm water and turn out onto plate. Garnish with 1 or 2 flowers of Rosella Confit and drizzle with the confit syrup around the plate for garnish.

Caviar with Wattleseed Blini

40g premium caviar or roe
100g sour cream
3g alpine pepper
3 chive stalks

For the blinis:

125g (½ cup) plain flour
60g (¼ cup) buckwheat flour
5g (1 teaspoon) wattleseed ground
5g (1 teaspoon) baking powder
150 ml (2/3 cup) milk
2 medium eggs
30g (2 tablespoon) melted butter
Pinch of salt
macadamia nut oil

It’s best to prepare the alpine pepper sour cream the day before or at least a few hours prior to serving, as the flavour intensifies the longer it’s left. Simply mix the sour cream and the Alpine Pepper, cover and set aside and refrigerate.

For the blini's, combine in a bowl the plain flour, buckwheat flour, ground wattleseed, baking powder and salt. Add milk, eggs and butter and mix well to form a batter. If the batter is too thick, then add a little more milk, but be careful not to make the batter too thin. Cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes.

In a warm frying pan, add a little macadamia nut oil and make small bite sized Wattleseed bilinis. Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side or until cooked through and golden. Remove and set aside on kitchen paper before cooking the next batch.

If you are serving the Caviar with wattleseed blini for canapés or finger food, you might like to assemble them yourself by placing a spoonful of alpine pepper sour cream on top of the blini followed by the caviar and garnished with finely chopped chives. If you’re serving this as a starter then you can arrange on a plate separately for each person to make up.

You may also be interested in Bush Tomato, Lemon Myrtle and Mountain Pepper | Tasmanian Pepper

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