Growing appetite for nutrient-rich native Indigenous Australian foods

03/10/2023 0 Comments read Climate Change, Environment & Development, Health & Science, Indigenous, Travel

Lilly Pilly and Davidson Plum are some of the native Indigenous Australian produce being used in traditional and modern cuisine, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries. Photo Credit: ©Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 03.10.2023 (IPS): Growing up in Sydney, Kalkani Choolburra, a Girramay, Kuku Yalanji, Kalkadoon and Pitta Pitta woman from Far North Queensland, would frequently travel with her family up and down Australia’s eastern seaboard. Her grandfathers and uncles would bring fresh catch of dugong, her favourite bush food, and she would go hunting for the short neck turtle with her aunties and female cousins.

The traditional or subsistence hunting of dugongs and turtles has been an important part of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous Australians) people’s social and cultural lives. Its meat has been a vital source of protein for these communities, who have sustained themselves on the native flora and fauna for thousands of years.

Now, national and international chefs are incorporating some of these native Indigenous produce — notably Kakadu plum, Davidson plum, lemon myrtle, wattle seed, quandong, finger lime, bush tomato, muntries, mountain pepper, saltbush – into their dishes ranging from sushi and samosa, pizza and pies to cakes and muffins.

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Celebrating the splendour of Sydney Opera House

19/03/2023 1 Comment read Arts, Entertainment & Lifestyle, Travel

Sydney Opera House at Bennelong Point. Photo Credit: ©Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 19.03.2023 (Khaleej Times): Sydney conjures images of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Bondi beach and the world-renowned Sydney Opera House. This year, the Opera House celebrates its 50^th anniversary, offering visitors an array of events to witness its splendour up close. Recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage listed site, the Opera House is regarded as “one of the indisputable masterpieces of human creativity, not only in the 20th century but in the history of humankind.”

Aglow in the mellow morning sunrays, the Opera House sails are an unforgettable sight for the thousands of visitors who visit this harbour city each year and the daily commuters on Sydney ferries. Describing the luminous effect, Louis Kahn, one of the most influential American architects of the mid-20th century once said, “The sun did not know how beautiful its light was, until it was reflected off this building.”

The Opera House precinct provides a fusion of art, culture and nature for everybody to enjoy — whether it is for a stroll or a jog around the building, taking one of the many guided tours tailored to one’s interest, viewing one of the performances or simply savouring the breathtaking views of the harbour and the city skyline from the forecourt.

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Of original oil lamps in the times of LED lighting

26/03/2020 3 Comments read Business and Trade, Travel

By Neena Bhandari

Braidwood (NSW, Australia): In the historic town of Braidwood, tucked away on leafy Duncan Street is a store with perhaps the largest collection of original oil lamps in the country.

A sloping gravel pathway leads to an opaque door, which slides open into a space every inch occupied by antique oil lamps from around the world. A young couple is intently listening to a tall man in his seventies, relating the story of a large floor-standing Egyptian oil lamp. It’s the owner of The Original Lamp Shop, Robert J. Aernout, who greets us and continues to show the couple his collection of myriad lamps. There are lamps of all shapes, sizes and materials, adorning the shelves, the floor, and some hanging low from the rafters.

One can’t help, but wonder, who would still be buying this medieval source of light in the times of LED (light emitting diode), sensor and automatic internet-operated lights?

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