Australian cuisine
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Historically Australian cuisine was based on traditional British cooking brought to the country by the first settlers. This generally consisted of pies, roasted cuts of meat, grilled steak and chops, chicken and other forms of meat generally accompanied by vegetables (the combination known colloquially as "meat and three veg").
These origins have been mostly overtaken by the growing multicultural emphasis of Australian culture over the last forty to fifty years, with Australian cuisine now influenced by a variety of Mediterranean and Asian foods originally introduced by migrants. British traditions still persist to varying degrees including in the takeaway food sector, with pies and fish and chips remaining popular.
A native Australian cuisine movement has also emerged, evolving out of the Australian themed restaurants of the mid-1980s. The discovery of the spice-like qualities of many native Australian plant ingredients formed the basis of a gourmet cuisine. This contrasted with the Bush tucker or foraged food unfamiliar to gourmands and foodies.
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[edit] Background
Australian cuisine is some of the most diverse available anywhere, due to the many cultural influences. Modern Australian cuisine has been heavily influenced by the country's South-East Asian neighbours, and by the many waves of immigrants from there, and all parts of the world. Similarly, Greek, Lebanese and Italian influences are very common with many of these influences arriving in Australia during the 1950s and 1960s. Fresh produce is readily available and thus used extensively, and the trend (urged by long-term government health initiatives) is towards low-salt, low-fat healthy cookery incorporating lean meat and lightly cooked, colourful, steamed or stir-fried vegetables.
Australia's wide variety of seafood is also popular and barbecues are common at weekend family gatherings. Barbecues are also common in fundraising for schools and local communities, where sausages and onion are served on white bread with tomato sauce. These are most often referred to as "Sausage Sizzles".
Some English trends are still evident in domestic cuisine. Among these is the widespread tradition of having roast turkey, chicken and ham with trimmings followed by a plum pudding for Christmas lunch or dinner, despite the fact that Christmas is at the height of the Southern Hemisphere summer.
[edit] Breakfast
The typical breakfast of Australians strongly resembles breakfast in many Western countries. Owing to the warm weather in some parts of Australia, generally breakfast is light but in the colder regions porridge or meals similar to the full English breakfast may be consumed. The light breakfast commonly consists of:
- toast (with a spread)
- fruit juices rather than cooked items.
A heavier cooked breakfast will frequently include:
- fried bacon
- egg
- mushroom
- sausages
- tomatoes
- toast with spread
- with a drink ranging from: tea, flavoured milk or coffee and juice (similar to the full English breakfast).
[edit] Lunch
The most traditional lunch item, particularly for school students, is the sandwich. Fillings might include salad, cold meats, cheese, vegemite or peanut butter. However items such as soup, sushi, pasta, fruit or wraps are also commonly eaten.
[edit] Dinner
The evening meal is the main meal of the day for most Australians, and when consumed at home, is often eaten with members of the immediate family or household. The dishes served will vary widely according to the tastes and/or background of the family. Common choices would be roast meat and vegetables; pasta; pizza; casseroles; barbecue meat; vegetables and salads; soup.
A typical 'Australian' cafe or restaurant (not adhering to any particular ethnic cuisine) might offer sandwiches and foccaccias; a range of pasta, risotto, salad or curry dishes; steak, chicken or other meat-based dishes; cakes or other desserts; and juices, soft drink and coffee.
[edit] Takeaway food in Australia
Despite the best intentions of government health schemes and cultural marketing initiatives, the traditional Australian palate is amply serviced by an extensive takeaway food industry. Two of the most traditional takeaway dishes are the meat pie and sausage roll. These come in varying grades, ranging from the mass-produced factory outputs of Four-and-Twenty and Big Ben, sold on every street corner in milk bars, through to gourmet pies sold by specialist pie shops. There is an annual competition to find the 'Great Australian Meat Pie', and the winners are greatly removed from their fat-laden antecedents.
American-style chain stores are common including Subway, Pizza Hut, KFC, Burger King (known as Hungry Jacks due to a trademark issue), Domino's Pizza, and of course McDonalds (commonly called Maccas by locals). An alternative to the US imports is offered by the Australian chicken fastfood chain Red Rooster, pizza chains Eagle Boys and Pizza Haven, The Portuguese chicken franchises Nando's and Oporto, and by the corner Pizza shops, charcoal chicken stores, stores selling items such as kebabs and gyros (referred to as 'yiros' or 'yeeros' in some regions), and fish and chip shops. Many of these sell high-quality food for reasonable prices.
A very wide variety of Chinese, Indian and various Asian restaurants provide eat-in and take-away services, and are very popular in the cities. With the high levels of immigration from the Middle East, South and South East Asia, Korea, China and other countries from all over the world to Australia, many authentic and high-quality restaurants are run by first and second generation immigrants from these areas. Chinese cuisine, however, ranges from a long established very Australian-Chinese style based on the cooking of the Chinese community established during the gold rushes of the late 1800's, to quite different cuisine only very recently imported from different regions of China.
[edit] Unique and Iconic Australian foods
"Research has shown that 85% of the products in the average Australian supermarket trolley are imported or made by foreign-owned companies with $100 million of profits a day going out of the country." (Dick Smith - quoted in Foodweek)
Possibly the foodstuff most strongly associated with Australia is Vegemite (owned by the American Kraft Foods). Generally considered an acquired taste, it is a strongly flavored spread, somewhat similar to the British product Marmite and mostly used in sandwiches or on toast.
Other unique or iconic national foods are include the Chiko Roll, a deep-fried savoury roll akin to a spring roll; Violet Crumble, a honeycomb chocolate bar; Jaffas, a candy-coated chocolate; Tim Tams, a chocolate biscuit; and the breakfast cereal Weet-Bix.
Australians also enjoy their own meat pie, generally made with beef or other meat and gravy.
Damper is a traditional type of bread but is no longer commonly eaten.
[edit] Australian native food
Native meats and plants have long been traditional in Aboriginal diets, and in rural white Australia. They can be seen on the menus of some of Australia's top restaurants.
Meats and fish that are genuinely Australian include:
Native food and spice plants include:
- Akudjira
- Illawarra Plum
- Mountain Pepper
[edit] Sweets
[edit] Desserts
There are a small number of desserts and sweet dishes that are popularly thought of as being peculiarly Australian:
[edit] References
- Bruneteau, Jean-Paul, Tukka, Real Australian Food, ISBN 0207189668.
- Cherikoff, Vic, The Bushfood Handbook, ISBN 0731669045.
- Kersh, Jennice and Raymond, Edna's Table, ISBN 0733605397.
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