Australian Cuisine

Haha, that's a bit harsh!

Um to my understanding, modern / contemporary Australian is pretty much a conglomerate of other cuisines.

I think I personally would be struggling to define "Australian cuisine", and a lot of restaurants seem to have the same problem.

Plus of course I am first generation, so that doesn't help in understanding classic dishes.

Steak and three veg perhaps.

Vegemite sandwiches? :P

Mark Lipton

It doesn't get much more Australian than Kangaroo. Can be very good, beware overcooking but not too rare. Would certainly go well with most shiraz. Whether you can get it is another matter but there may be specialist meat suppliers in your area? Ihave no idea where we export roo too (if at all). You should be able to get some good Aussie beef though.

"Modern Australian" is a bit meaningless but seems to be a fusion of Asian & Mediterranean influences with French ideas and some residual British (meat &

Googling on recipe sites in the .au domain might be helpful. good luck!

Vegemite sandwiches indeed! Very droll! Modern Oz cuisine ranges from very good traditional French/Italian styles, to what wankers regard as Pacific Rim. Wanker restaurant reviewers and chefs are really into the Pacific Rim stuff, which I loathe - it is an excuse for laziness; you don't have to bother reducing sauces, just pile chili into everything - oyster shooters indeed, PLEASE!! Incidentally a Barossa shiraz is by far not the best wine produced here, and Grange is overpriced nonsense.

Ron Lel

There is also a growing market for possum and emu apparently. As well as buffalo. Crocodile is apparently quite popular.

Koala, kookaburra, cockatoo and platypus do not seem to be going on the menu anytime soon.

Perhaps some barracudda. Thats a uniquely Australian fish *I think*.

Macadamia nuts [I know they're grown in Hawaii as well].

Perhaps some authentic Aboriginal cuisine. Witchity grubs, goanna, snake, various crustaceans such as crab, muscles, oysters, various berries. I'm not sure thats exactly what you're after however. :-)

a I think is correct in that kangaroo seems to be the most exported Oz meat, with crocodile starting to catch up I think.

Well said Ron.

If you've downgraded Barossa shiraz so much, what would you say far outstrips it?

I've told this anecdote before I think, a guy I work with used to buy Grange by the case in the 70's and keep cases in the garage when it was less than $20 a bottle, and give it away as gifts, and drink it as a cheapie with meals. He was never particuarly impressed with it.

IIRC, Morton Bay Bugs (looking somewhat like a horse-shoe crab) are unique to Oz.

Several of my Australian friends have told me at one time or another that eating kangaroo is like an American eating Bambi. They just don't do it

Barracuda is found around the world in warmer waters and the larger ones ( > 20 lbs ) are considered toxic.

I have had many great meals in Australia with various seafood or game birds but I always go back to the lamb or venison. ( with vegemite of course )

How about meat Pie ?

Cheers Cassandra

Hi Bill, Ah, vegemite. I became aware of this some years ago after hearing an Australian rock group, Men at Work, in their tune "Down Under" I recall that you can make sandwiches with this stuff, and I think it's green. I've never tried it but just in case, any wine suggestions? :-)

Dick R.

They protest that they don't do something else, too, but I've heard that a dark night, a barbed wire fence and a nice plump lamb stuck halfway throught it can bring out certain appetites in your average Aussie.

But then I'm just going by what my Kiwi friends have told me.......

All the vegemite that I have seen is dark brown as though it was filled with bilirubin. There is a US wine that is the perfect match for vegemite. Rappazini Garlic wine will kill all the taste of the vegemite. And if you are having the vegemite on toast for breakfast, this an is especially good eye openner.

Do you need some Rappazini Martin?

Whoa, sounds a little frightening to me. Maybe I'll stick with my toast with jelly and a cup of coffee. :-)

Dick R.

You might want to substitute ostrich for emu, and alligator for croc. Of the former, there should be several high-end meat markets near you that offer it, and for the latter, there are several purveyors in the S Louisiana area. Unfortunately, I don't have any URLs handy.

Sorry, Hunt

I think BARRAMUNDI is the fish you are thinking of. Croc is certainly on some menus, especially in the Northern Territory, as is emu, but possum I have *never* seen or heard of on a menu. Maybe in NZ where they are regarded as a pest.

Croc is a lighter coloured meat, more like pork/chicken, not so suited to shiraz imho. Another idea is a good bush tomato chutney.

And was the lamb a jumbuck named Matilda?

\/

Um that's changing fairly steadily. Its reasonably popular on resteraunt menus these days. I know a number of ppl who have had it.

I'm personally a bit squeemish about meat, so have not tried it.

Ooops. I did say *I think*. I'm sure there are some Australian fish.

A lot of larger animals are considered toxic these days, as they pool the toxins from smaller prey / plants.

I much prefer Clare wines. Birks age exceptionally well and are not the over ripe fruit bombs that Barossas often are. In addition, some of the wines from West Australia, such as Cullens and Moss Wood are exceptional.

Ron

It's actually a dark brown to black colour. It comes in a black and yellow jar. Kraft own it now. It's not disimilar to bovril or marmite I think. Though I suspect only the English would know what they are, and would probably be well aware of vegemite anyway.

It's nice thinly spread on toast. Nice in sandwiches. Very easy snack is vegemite and sliced cheece. Some ppl make various bastes combined with other ingredients. Crackers.

Its an acquired taste, but its actually nice. A lot of problems arise when ppl try to use it like jam, ie very thickly spread.

Its actually an extract of yeast. It is very high in some B vitamins, and some studies have shown it to be quite good for your health.

He just smiled and gave me a vegimite sandwich. And he say "Do you come from the land down under". :-)