Green ants, from the Aboriginal diet to award-winning gin “Diario La Capital de Mar del Plata

by Rocío Otoya

ADELAIDA, Australia.- The traditional knowledge of the Australian Aborigines, the oldest living culture on the planet, is presented commercially in a Gin that has a citrus flavor to go green ants and which has already won international awards in the world of spirits.

Green ants (Rhytidoponera metallica), rich in protein and medicinal properties, are collected by the family of former rugby player Daniel Motlop on the land of the Larrakia people in the Northern Territory of Australia to make the Green ant gin, which looks like these insects inside their bottles.

“We were the first company to market green ants,” Daniel Motlop, founder of the Green Ant Gin brand, sold in Australian liquor stores, told the Australian Foreign Press Association in Adelaide.

Green ants, sold for around A $ 650 (US $ 494 or € 420) per kilo, add lime and cilantro flavor to the award-winning Green Ant gin. gold medal at the 2018 San Francisco Spirits Competition.

The fame of these endemic Australian insects has also reached haute cuisine at the hands of Danish chef Rene Redzepi of Restaurant Noma, considered one of the best in the world, and who used them to decorate mango ice cream sandwiches. and give it that spicy citrus flavor. .

Respect for nature

The demand for green ants has not led the family of Daniel Motlop, former Australian rubgy player and owner of the Something Wild company which markets Aboriginal gourmet products, to put commercial interests above the need to protect traditional practices and the environment.

For this reason, the anthills harvested from the forests of northern Australia are placed in refrigerators to put them to sleep and then force the workers to leave with heatstroke.

“But we don’t catch the larvae or the queen,” Motlop said in his popular Adelaide Central Market stall, insisting that his business not only creates jobs for his community, but also respects nature, which provides food and medicine to 60,000 people. years to the indigenous peoples of this country.

Tradition is not lost

Sustainability is key for the Larrakia, one of the First Nations people who traditionally owns a region of northern Australia, encompassing the city of Darwin.

The Larrakia are ruled by seven seasons that mark their food-gathering activities, many of which are carried out exclusively by men or women, who are also ruled by a complex system that gives their world balance and harmony.

This dual system called “yirritja-dhuwa” is similar to the concept of Asian “yin yang” and encompasses “basically everything, stars, sun, people, language groups, animals, fruits. These are yirritja-dhuwa and that tells us what we can collect, ”Motlop explained.

“For example, crocodiles are ‘yirritja’ animals. I am a “yittirja” man and that prevents us from eating them to protect them, ”added the Aboriginal businessman, explaining this complex system of kinship and sustainability which results in eight“ yirritja ”clans and eight“ chuwa ”in this region.

The ban on alcohol

But the harmony of the First Nations of Australia, which was shattered by colonization, has been lost in the modern life of several indigenous communities where the Australian government has banned the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages and where Green gin Ant is unreachable.

The authorities justify this “dry law” in some aboriginal territories to prevent domestic violence and alcoholism, although some activists describe this measure as paternalistic and fueling negative stereotypes.

“It’s a thorny question (alcoholism among the aborigines) but we try to overcome it in Australia, it’s a stereotype,” said the former rugby player, who after leaving professional sport devoted himself to this profession. with which he financially helps his family. and its community.

EFE.