In the 15th Century nutmeg was much sought after and once the Portuguese nailed it for sailing around the Cape of Good Hope to the Spice Islands they had the market cornered. This form of transportation saw the end of the traditional overland spice routes.
The Portuguese achievement was short-lived as the Dutch and the British were keen to get in for their take. What followed was a difficult time for the unfortunate people of Banda, home to the nutmeg tree. The Dutch, in their pursuit of controlling the production of nutmeg in the East Indies, put down any local resistance, usually at great cost to the islands inhabitants.
During the 14th Century in England half a kilo of nutmeg cost the same as a cow or three sheep and the British were very keen to obtain nutmeg and share in the wealth. When the English tried to horn in on the spice trade in the East Indies the Dutch beheaded those merchantmen they caught trespassing on what the Dutch saw as their territory.
Nutmeg is never, ever going to be on the Ausfood list; so what has this to do with Ausfood? It’s a very tenuous link indeed but here it is. Time passed and more explorers and adventurers, some better navigators than others, sailed the Europe - East Indies route.
In the very early 17th century William Janszoon, in the Banda Islands at the time, was ordered to explore the coast of New Guinea. According to Wikipedia at this time Janszoon landed on what we now know as the Cape York Peninsula. Everything went well at first; the Keeweer people allowed them to land but were not interested in the food and tobacco the Dutch offered.
The Keeweer people preferred their own bush tucker. At that time the indigenous people were able to get all the food they needed from the land; nothing was imported and everything , as we now think of it, was Australian.
The original Ausfood.
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