Mangrove worms, magpie goose, desserts garnished with green ants — the Indigenous ingredients traditionally eaten in Australia's most remote areas are making their way to menus in its major cities.
Now, international Michelin-starred chefs have had a go at putting Arnhem Land on a plate.
Adelaide-based chef Jock Zonfrillo, who has been travelling to remote communities for nearly two decades, last week led a group of top Italian chefs on a tour of North-East Arnhem Land.
He is keen to promote Indigenous foods as more than just a fad, but believes it should be done with the ingredients' long connection to Indigenous culture in mind.
"I guess we were pinpointing local knowledge rather than doing some kind of tokenistic tour," he told ABC Radio Darwin's Liz Trevaskis.
"We were really more there working with friends as opposed to doing some kind of weird food tour, which is often uncomfortable."
The chefs were based in Yirrkala for a week and worked with Indigenous rangers as they foraged mangroves for maypal — the local word for shellfish — including hermit crabs, mud whelks, and the long, slimy mangrove worm.
"I've got these Italians with me who are watching this lady pull a worm out of a tree, and I'm about to tell them they're going to eat it," Mr Zonfrillo said.
"It's like with a lot of Indigenous culture and Indigenous food particularly, it's about how you frame it."
The chefs included Norbert Niederkofler, whose restaurant in Italy was recently awarded three Michelin stars and is surrounded by snow for several months of the year.
Conditions were a little different in Yirrkala, where native foods are abundant but the temperatures are still reaching 30 degrees.
Also on the tour were Christian and Manuel Costardi, described by Mr Zonfrillo as the "risotto kings of Italy", who gave many children at the local school their first taste of the dish.
Mr Zonfrillo said he saw the exchange as another step in the rising profile of native foods, which will be front and centre at the second Taste of Kakadu Festival next week.
"Certainly for these guys, who were guests from Italy, they had never seen something like that before," he said.
"It was obviously a very different experience for them."
More restaurants learning about ingredients
Mr Zonfrillo, whose restaurant in Rundle Street was last year named Gourmet Traveller's Restaurant of the Year, has long incorporated native foods into the plates he serves.
He said the restaurant was partly responsible for the increasing popularity of Indigenous foods, and many venues were following suit and positioning the foods as more than just a trendy drawcard.
"And sadly, historically, that's not been the case," he said.
"There's been this push for us to explore the culture first and learn to understand it, appreciate it, acknowledge it and come at it from a different angle as people might have in the past."
"And I suppose that's a trend we're seeing other kitchens do now all over the country, whether they're looking for more information, looking for some kind of understanding about that ingredient, the people it comes from, their culture or what it means to them."
Culture through food
Indigenous chef Zach Green, who found in native foods a way to connect to his culture, recently opened a bustling pop-up restaurant in Darwin's inner suburbs.
"No-one can get magpie goose in any restaurant around Darwin, but I'm doing it and people are loving it," he said as dozens of office workers tucked into their meals.
The bird is prolific in Darwin and often seen as a pest, but here it is a signature dish, smoked for three hours and then chargrilled.
Also on the menu is a beginner's guide to native animals: barramundi, mussels, squid salad, camel, kangaroo and crocodile laksa.
Named after the Gunditjmara and Palawa chef's late son, the pop-up restaurant has been drawing droves of locals interested in engaging with an aspect of Indigenous culture that is often overlooked.
"Over the road we've got a Thai restaurant and it's almost like you go into that Thai restaurant and you're literally celebrating that culture," he said.
"You go into an Indian restaurant, you go into an African restaurant: we're celebrating all cultures around the world but we don't do it with our own mob."
Mr Green agreed that non-Indigenous chefs should understand that using the ingredients should come hand in hand with a responsibility to share Indigenous stories.
"It's about time that we start telling non-Indigenous chefs about using our ingredients in their restaurants to let them know that they've got a pivotal role to play, where they can really put our culture on the map," he said.
"I want the world to listen to our stories and our culture through our food like we do with every other culture."
