Where is the Kimberley ?
The Kimberley Region is the remote and beautiful northerly portion of Western Australia. It covers an area of 423,517 sq km or twice the size of Victoria, three times the size of England, and comparable to California. The Kimberley Region has a diverse ever-changing landscape. From wide-open vistas of the Derby Region in the west, the impressive ancient reef system of the Napier Range, awesome sandstone ranges and plateaus of the central Kimberley with spectacular gorges and waterfalls, the immense Lake Argyle in the east, to the green irrigated valley of the Kununurra Region nestled amongst red sandstone hills. Immense skies, mighty rivers, spectacular sunsets, abundant wildlife – this is God’s Country!
The Australian Boab
Unique to this magnificent part of Australia is the iconic boab tree – Adansonia gregorii. With its distinctive bulbous shape and network of stark leafless branches silhouetted against an azure sky, the Boab has become a symbol of the Kimberley Region. This ancient tree is found only in the Kimberley and western Victoria Region of the Northern Territory. There are eight species of Adansonia known in the world. Six are indigenous to Madagascar, with one native to mainland Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (Adansonia digitata) where they are known as the Baobab, and one in Australia – our Boab.
Baby Boab as a Bush Food
Australian Aborigines know the tree as larrkardiy and for thousands of years they have used it as a source of water, the fibrous outer bark for rope, the leaves, sapling tap root, and pulp from the seed pod as food and in medicines, and featured the tree strongly in art and dreamtime stories. These ancient trees are regarded as cherished individuals with unique personalities. Baby Boabs are the tap root of the seedling tree. They grow like a carrot, and the texture of the tuber is similar to water chestnuts. They are crisp and white, with a sweet delicate flavour. Boab leaves are also edible and have a nutty flavour, and can be used in salads, soups and stir-fry, or as a garnish.
Boabs in the Kimberley
Originally started by Denise Hales and Peter Fox in 2000, Boabs in the Kimberley is the only producer of boab tuber as a bush food in Australia. Unlike most Australian bush foods, the Baby Boab tuber is available all year. Today, Amanda Dietrich and Georgina Rockett welcome you to Boabs in the Kimberley. We are situated in Kununurra in the East Kimberley’s Ord Valley. In this beautiful location, we grow our Baby Boabs, and produce a range of gourmet preserves and confectionary. May you enjoy the information presented here, savour a taste of Australia’s beautiful Kimberley, and our products be a delight to your palate.
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