Saltbush Flakes
Saltbush Flakes
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Old man saltbush is the largest of Australia's native saltbushes, and these dried saltbush flakes are its leaf, grown here in Australia. Atriplex nummularia stores real salt in the silvery cells on its leaf surface, which is why a pinch of saltbush seasons a dish the way salt flakes do, only with a savoury, herby depth the salt shaker cannot match.
Key Benefits
- Season with the bush, not the shaker: a naturally salty leaf that replaces the final salting on meats, vegetables and breads with something far more interesting.
- Naturally rich in minerals: the dried leaf carries notable calcium, magnesium and iron alongside its natural saltiness, with around 20 per cent protein.
- The saltbush lamb pedigree: this is the same shrub behind sought-after saltbush lamb. Chefs already trust it to season from the inside; the flakes do the same job from the outside.
- An easy first native herb: savoury rather than floral, it works in everyday cooking, lamb rubs, roast potatoes, eggs, focaccia, even popcorn and chips.
- Grown where little else will: a deep-rooted, drought-hardy shrub planted in its millions to bring saline and worn-out farmland back to life.
Rub one to two teaspoons over lamb or beef with olive oil before roasting or barbecuing, or mix a teaspoon and a half into a breadcrumb coating. Toss a couple of pinches through roast vegetables, knead a tablespoon into bread or damper dough, or finish eggs, avocado toast and hot chips the way you would with salt flakes. One rule: taste before you add any extra salt, because the saltbush seasoning has already done the job.
It pairs beautifully with Tasmanian Native Pepper Berries for heat and Lemon Myrtle Leaves for citrus lift, the classic native seasoning trio, and sits happily next to rosemary and garlic in everyday cooking.
Saltbush belongs to the same family as spinach, silverbeet and quinoa, and Aboriginal people have long valued it as food, from leaves cooked with meats to seed roasted and ground for damper. The "old man" in the name is old bush slang for the biggest of its kind, the same way a big roo is an old man kangaroo.
The plant is pastoral folklore in its own right. Its deep roots kept sheep country alive through the droughts of the 1800s, and Banjo Paterson gave its name to his drover hero Saltbush Bill.
Those silvery flecks on the flakes are not a coating. They are the plant's own salt bladders, tiny surface cells where it parks the salt it pulls from the soil.
Saltbush is naturally salty, so count it as you would any salty seasoning if you are watching your sodium. Like its spinach relatives it contains oxalates, worth keeping moderate if you are prone to kidney stones. This information is not a substitute for medical advice. Consult a healthcare provider before use, especially if pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking medication.
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Regular Post - $10.95
Express Post - $12.95
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