Food and Drink

Being heavily influenced by a number of foreign cuisines, such as British, Italian, Greek or Asian, Aussie cuisine comprises an interesting mix of healthy foods and fattening desserts, while the Australian wine is popular all over the world.

Influences and Background

Traditionally, Aussie cuisine is based on the British cuisine brought by the first settlers. It consisted of pies, grilled steak and all type of roasted meats, accompanied by vegetables. The English influence is still present particularly in the widespread tradition of having roast turkey and ham followed by plum pudding for Christmas dinner.

Modern Australian cuisine has been influenced by Asian countries, particularly by the Chinese, Thy and Vietnamese cuisine. Italian and Greek influences are also very common since 1950s.

Since a lot of produce is available fresh pretty much all the time, the trend is to eat low-fat and low-salt incorporating cooked lean meats and steamed or stir-fried vegetables.

Bush Tucker

Before the European settlement, Australians ate a balanced diet consisting of nuts, fruits, roots, vegetables, fish and other meats, all native to Australia. The typical bush tucker ate varied foods depending on what was available in the region.

Roasting on hot colds is one of the preferred methods for cooking meats. Meats are usually cooked this way when it’s consumed immediately. A kangaroo or rabbit is tossed on the open fire to remove the fur. After about 10 minutes the intestines are taken out and the fur scraped off. Then the animal is returned to the fire, which is now a bed of hot coals. If larger animals, such as wallabies, are cooked like this, the result is a near raw meat. Large animals are usually cooked in ground ovens.

Seeds, nuts and root vegetables are cooked in hot ashes. Acacia wood is preferred for this type of cooking.

Iconic Aussie Dishes

The unique and iconic Aussie dishes include:

• Vegemite: a dark brown paste made from yeast extract, usually used as spread on toast
• Chiko Roll: a deep-fried roll, resembling the Chinese egg roll and spring roll. It consists of mutton, cabbage, celery, barley, rice, carrot, spices, all wrapped in dough and then deep fried.
• Violet Crumble: a chocolate bar
• Jaffas: a round sweet made of a chocolate center and hard covering of orange flavored candy
• Tim Tams: a chocolate biscuit
• Weet-Bix: breakfast cereal
• Anzac biscuits: snack made from rolled oats, coconut and syrup
• Frozie cup: a frozen dessert
• Lamingtons: sponge cake cubes coated in chocolate icing and coconut.
• Pavlova: a meringue dessert, crispy on the outside but fluffy inside
• Vanilla Slice
• Musk stick: pink candy stick

Though sometimes you will find kangaroo in menus, crocodile is an option only in Queensland and Northern Territories. Although emu is approved for consumption as “poultry”, only tourists seem to be interested in such dishes. The wonderful local seafood is a favorite both of tourists and locals although the dishes are offered as “fusion” of French, Italian and Asian cuisine.

Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney have the reputation for best restaurants and high quality dishes.

Typical Australian Breakfast

A typical Australian breakfast strongly resembles the typical Western breakfast. In the warmer regions, breakfast typically consists of cereals, toast and fruit. In the colder regions, you will find the typical English breakfast consisting of fried bacon, egg, sausages, toast with spread or porridge. The breakfast drinks of choice include tea, coffee, milk or juice.

Typical Australian Dinner

Dinner is considered the most important meal of the day and traditionally the entire family gathers for the evening meal. Depending on the family’s background, some common choices would be roasted meats with veggies, salads, stir-fries, pizza or casseroles.

A typical Australian restaurant would offer for dinner sandwiches and Focaccia –flat oven-baked Italian bread, topped with onions and strongly resembling pizza -, pasta, steak or chicken based dishes, cakes, juices, soft drinks or coffee.

Australian Wine

Australia is the fourth largest wine exporter in the world.

The major grape varieties include, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Shiraz. Australia doesn’t have any native grape, but local viticulturists created Cienna and Tarrango. Many other alternative varieties, originating in France or Spain, are becoming more and more popular.

The most famous Australian wine is Penfolds Grange, a red wine which won countless gold medals. Other red wines include Henschke Hill of Grace, D’Arenberg Dead Arm, Clarendon Hills Astralis and Torbreck Run Rig.

Home » Information » Food and Drink

Subscribe Australia RSS Feed

Print

Share