Sugarbag on Damper is a tribute to the skills, resourcefulness and endurance
of earlier generations of Australians, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal.
Sugarbag is the English word used by Aboriginal people
for the delicious wild honey which women sought,
and often still seek, in the bush.
It was prized, not just for its wonderful flavour,
but also as an important addition to the traditional diet
which contained little sugar.
Women would walk for many kilometres
looking for the tiny native bees, often high in trees.
At times they concentrated on finding this sweet delicacy
in preference to more readily available sources of nourishment,
risking hunger if their search was unsuccessful.
Sugarbag for non-Aboriginal Australians
was a more mundane commodity,
but a very useful one, nevertheless.
Sugar was sold in 70lb (about 32kg) bags made from strong hessian cloth.
The empty bags, in an era of waste-not-want-not customs,
were recycled to be used for many purposes.
They made excellent door mats.
Wet sugar bags were used in fire fighting.
They were used as the base for beds.
When the seams were unpicked and multiple bags sewn together,
they were even used as linings for walls and blankets for beds.
The list is almost endless.
Damper is a type of bread which has no yeast.
It can be cooked in the hot coals of a fire.
Aboriginal women in the old days made it
from ground seeds of various grass plants,
much like wheat (which is, of course, a type of grass).
If each small loaf is kneaded until it is very smooth,
when it is cooked, ashes from the fire will fall off easily.
Another method of cooking was in a camp oven,
a heavy iron pot which was completely covered with hot coals.
Other sites of interest:
Hazel Davidson, ESL teacher
The Language Centre Bookshop
Bridge Bookshop
Qld Assoc. of TESOL
