Tuck-in to a feast of goodness this NAIDOC Week


One of Australia’s most acclaimed Aboriginal chefs will be firing-up the burners and sharing his bush tucker secrets at a series of free cooking demonstrations to celebrate NAIDOC Week.

Former Watermark chef and television cooking show host, Clayton Donovan, will host three demonstrations at the City of Sydney’s free NAIDOC in the City event on Monday 6 July at Hyde Park North.

Mr Donovan will show Sydneysiders how to whip-up a quinoa and aniseed myrtle dressing, and tomato with bush tomato sauce. These will be served as condiments alongside marinated meats and vegetables cooked in two earth ovens created in the ground at Hyde Park.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the interactive cooking demonstrations and feasting were designed to give people a taste of traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander foods.

“NAIDOC in the City is a time to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and identity, and the earth oven feast is a great way to bring our local communities together. This is a fun way for everyone to learn more about Australia’s First Peoples,” the Lord Mayor said.

“We created an earth oven at Hyde Park last year and gave everyone a sample taste – it was such a success that this year we are doing it again, so Sydneysiders, city workers and visitors can all enjoy some of the wonderful food on offer.”

Earth ovens are a traditional method of cooking underground using hot rocks and natural materials to seal in the heat and slow cook food for hours.

Mr Donovan honed his skills at Watermark restaurant at Balmoral Beach in Sydney, received a coveted Chef’s Hat from the Australian Good Food Guide in 2011, and last year hosted his own TV cooking show, Wild Kitchen.

NAIDOC Week, from 5–12 July, is a national program that celebrates the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee, which grew from the first political groups seeking rights for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Australians in the 1920s.

The theme for NAIDOC Week is We all Stand on Sacred Ground: Learn, Respect and Celebrate, which highlights Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ strong spiritual and cultural connection to land and sea.

For more information visit City of Sydney