Bush Bread

Bush bread, or seedcakes, refers to the bread made by Australian Aborigines for many thousands of years made by crushing seeds into a dough after which it is baked. The bread was high in protein and carbohydrate, and helped form part of a balanced traditional diet.

With the arrival of Europeans and pre-milled white flour, this bread-making process all but disappeared (women were still recorded to be making seedcakes in Central Australia in the 1970s). The tradition of cooking bread in hot coals continues today.

Bread-making was a woman's task. It was generally carried out by several women at once, due to its labour-intensive nature. It involved collecting seasonal grains, legumes, roots or nuts, and preparing these into flour and then dough, or directly into a dough.