A First Nations delegation is preparing to take Australian bush food knowledge to Italy for Terra Madre 2026. The world’s biggest event dedicated to food that is good, clean and fair is this year focusing on protection and promotion of biodiversity of foods, knowledge and cultures.
Ahead of the trip, Prepare Produce Provide and Mandoon Estate on Monday August 17 hosted the From Country To The World bushfoods and cultural showcase.
Prepare Produce Provide is a non-profit organisation that inspires vulnerable youth to realise their potential through innovative food education and creating opportunities to work with some of WA’s best chefs.
The event provided practical training for students from the inaugural WA Secondary School Bush Foods Competition while helping raise funds for the Terra Madre team.
Guests dined on the competition’s two gold medal-winning dishes, finger lime chicken katsu by Dianella Secondary College students Angela Moran and Summer Perry, and wattle seed and chocolate tart with Biscoff cream by Armadale Senior High School students Catherine Mwamba and Adam Montallana, as well as chicken, mushroom and warrigal greens wontons by Mason Hofman and Mason Nicholas from Armadale SHS.
Students prepared dishes under the guidance of Mandoon executive chef Michael Hartnell, Wild Swan executive chef Anthony Power, chef and bushfoods specialist Rohan Park from WA poultry and game supplier Mahogany Creek, Peter Tischhauser from the Australian Culinary Federation, acclaimed Perth pastry chef Julia Buri, and members of the Australian Culinary Federation WA Youth Culinary Team.
PPP founder Catherine MacDougall says the event demonstrated what could be achieved when culture, education, community and industry worked together.
“It’s next-level cooking for more than 100 people and was a good practice run for the national event in Melbourne,” she says.
“Our whole mantra, all of our work, is about giving young people opportunities in the food industry.”
Michael Hartnell was excited to see the new generation of young chefs working in his kitchen with indigenous ingredients, and the potential to showcase them internationally.
“Events like this will only benefit that growth of awareness,” he says.
“I’d like to see more availability at a local level, in the mainstream supermarkets so people can experiment for themselves and in turn be more familiar with these really diverse ingredients.”
“We’re incredibly proud to have hosted an evening that celebrated Aboriginal culture and bush foods while creating tangible opportunities for the next generation,” says Andrew Pruyn, general manager of Mandoon Estate.
Catherine says the Terra Madre team has been preparing with PPP head chef Tanya Healy, Rohan, and long-time PPP patron, cultural adviser and bush foods educator Dale Tilbrook.
“It’s an opportunity to put bush food on the world stage. It has the capacity to tell the Australian story if you have the right young person telling it,” Catherine said.
“The practical workshop will showcase their love of Country and culture, while demonstrating youth leadership guided by the wisdom and mentorship of elders. Tanya is supporting the team and helping integrate traditional and contemporary food practices into the experience.”
Dale shares her knowledge of Aboriginal art, culture and bush foods with visitors to Maalinup Aboriginal Gallery at Mandoon Estate. This will be her third visit to Terra Madre.
“We’ve got a spot in Kitchen Without Borders, and we have one hour to showcase our hero Western Australian ingredients cooking a couple of simple dishes,” she says.
“We have chosen saltbush, wattleseed, sandalwood nuts, quandong, native lemongrass and boab.”
Dale’s team comprises PPP lead program developer Dee Hedland, apprentice chef Ben Williams, artist and lead youth ambassador Molly West and youth ambassador Quenlyn Clifton.
Molly is excited to mentor the next generation at Terra Madre.
“I have been looked after by really incredible people, and I now also get to showcase our culture,” she says.
Terra Madre takes place from September 24 to 27 in Turin, with hundreds of activities planned across the city.
Held every two years, the previous Terra Madre in 2024 attracted 3300 delegates from 121 countries including more than 200 Indigenous delegates and 300 delegates aged under 30.
The PPP team is part of a WA delegation led by chef Vincenzo Velletri of the Swan Valley and Eastern Regions Slow Food Convivium.
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To donate to the team, search Prepare Produce Provide at gofundme.com
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