Damper

(Aboriginal Style)

Recipe origin: Australia Aborigines and Bush Tucker

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour (not self-rising)
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup water (or enough to make a stiff dough)

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix flour and salt together. Add water slowly until a stiff dough is formed.
3. Pat the dough into a round shape on a greased baking sheet. Bake for one hour.
4. To serve, break off pieces. Discard crust if too hard, and eat the soft center. (Traditionally, the Aborigines would bake the dough in the ashes of the fire. The crust, dirty with ashes, would be torn away.)

(European Style)

Recipe origin: Australia Aborigines and Bush Tucker

Ingredients

• 2½ cups self-rising flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup milk (or ½ cup powdered milk and 1 cup water)

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Grease and lightly flour a baking sheet.
3. Mix flour, salt, sugar, and butter together in a bowl.
4. Add milk and mix well. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes.
5. Shape into a flat circle and place on the baking sheet.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes. (Traditionally, balls of dough might be placed on rocks placed at the edge of a campfire to cook. Alternatively, wads of dough might be wrapped around the tip of a stick and held over an open fire to cook.)