Witchetty grub!

If you have ever seen a grub before, you probably didn’t think to yourself ‘yum!’  However, the Aboriginal peoples in the Australian Outback would beg to differ. Aboriginal people consider the witchetty grub a delicacy, and are happy to eat them as often as possible. It is the women's job to dig for witchetty grubs, and after our Aboriginal aunties showed Elliot how to do it, she is on the lookout for them and enjoys eating them. And would you believe it - we have heaps of them in our garden!

If you wish to try one for yourself, you can harvest your own by finding a witchetty tree, and digging beneath the root system to expose the roots. Once you can see the roots of the tree, you must locate a burrow hole.  After you have located such a hole, you will need to use a shovel or other hard object to split the root in two, to find a witchetty grub deep within the root.

If you will be traveling in Australia and wish to try an unusual local food, there is no better choice than the witchetty grub. They are an excellent source of protein and are definitely a food to include on your list of foods to try at least once in a lifetime. They have a nutty flavour to them and you eat it raw, it tastes like scrambled eggs. And if you cook it, it tastes like chicken. Who knows, you might just like it so much that you ask for a second helping just like Elliot!

The term witchetty grub is used for large white larvae of moths that chew through wood and eat roots or sap of certain trees and plants. The most common type of witchetty grub is the larvae of the Cossid Moth. Witchetty grubs are part of the traditional diet of Indigenous Australians and the word ‘witchetty grub’ comes from the Indigenous Australian language, Adnyamathanha, from the words ‘wityu‘ meaning hooked stick and ‘vartus‘ meaning grub. The witchetty bush (acacia kempeanas) is the main food of certain witchetty grub and it can grow up to 12 cm (4.7 inches) in size. They live in burrows that they create, up to 60 cm (23 inches) underground. Witchetty grub moths have a wingspan of up to 16cm (6 inches) and don’t eat, but instead use stored energy from the grub form. As a bush nurse, we also used the grub to treat burns to the skin in the clinic.

I used to live in a small Aboriginal community on Warlpuri land where the women taught me a lot about bush tucker (foods) and bush medicines. The Napangardi family was good friends and they even gave me their 'skin name' of Napangardi. Below is a videosnippet from Warlpuri land looking for witchetty grubs.