Even the large influx of Chinese and Italian immigrants early in Australia’s history did little to alter the diet of the country. These cultures did a good job of retaining their own culinary traditions from one generation to the next, but these traditions never managed to filter out to the rest of the country. It was finally the integration of a large population of Italians and Greeks after World War II that is credited with starting the seismic shift towards a style of cooking that would eventually make Australia one of the most intriguing and cutting-edge centers for gastronomy in the world.
In transitioning to its newer and more experimental cuisine, Australia has done a good job of keeping those elements that are uniquely identifiable as Australian. In developing a cuisine from a broad base of external influences there is always the possibility that you will simply end up with an imitation of what other people cook, without ever truly expressing the region and culture that you are cooking for. This is why, ultimately, a true cuisine takes time to develop and requires that top chefs (as the most visible representation of a region's cuisine) are taking their inspiration from the lives and tables of real people and not making “regional” dishes that people in the region would find unrecognizable.
The most obvious icon of traditional Australian life is the Barbecue. Both as a style of cooking and a center of social activity, the grill has remained at the center of Australian life for over a century. Some culinary purists (i.e. snobs) may question the barbecue's place in Haute cuisine. The fact remains, however, that in Australia the barbecue is as much a part of culture as it is cuisine. And because of this, Australian chefs are world leaders in pushing the creative envelope beyond well-done slabs of beef. Today dishes like Grilled Barramundi with Lime Pickle Infused with Coriander and Barbecued Mussels with Sweet Chili Vinegar are as much the rule as the exception.
There is also a wide array of individual dishes that are Australian to the core:
Meat Pies: Flaky pastry shells filled with seasoned meats.
Pavlova: A meringue based dessert topped with fresh cream and fruit.
Sausage: Bangers or snags in local speak.
Fish and Chips: Served from a shack on Bondi beach is true Aussie tucker.
Lamingtons: Sponge cake squares coated with chocolate icing and sprinkled with coconut.
Arnott's Biscuits: A famous cookie-maker
No article on Australian food can truly be complete without at least a mention of Vegemite. Vegemite is a dark brown paste made from yeast extract and flavored with onion, celery and salt. It is the single most identifiable food and possibly cultural element (neck-in-neck with the boomerang) of Australia. In Australia the term “dinky-di Aussie as Vegemite” is the equivalent of “American as Apple Pie.”
For those who have never tried this unique food item, it may be difficult to acquire a taste for it or even recognize it as actual food. For Australians that have grown up with Vegemite sandwiches, however, there is nothing finer. It is a testament to the strength of Australia’s modern culinary development that recipes for Vegemite have taken a distinctly gourmet turn. The Vegemite Web site lists Pumpkin and Leek Risotto, Honey Ginger Chicken Wings and Spiced Pork Stir-fry as potential uses of Vegemite to keep step with Australia’s rapidly evolving cuisine.
It will be interesting to see in 10, 20 or 50 years what elements are then considered “dinky-di Aussie as Vegemite.” Current contenders are the bamboo steamer, a tumbler of wine, Meredith Blue cheese, great Thai food, and Quandongs (sort of like an acidic crimson-colored peach). These are very incomplete guesses, however, because given Australia’s unfettered curiosity, and the wide range of influences at its disposal, the essence of Australia in the future will be better experienced then guessed.
Bush Tucker
If you want real, true original Aussie cuisine there is, of course, only one place to really look, Aboriginal cooking. A far cry from the fusion nouveau that is making its mark today, traditional Aboriginal foods are far more fundamentally connected to a way of life and a relationship with the Earth. The aboriginal people of Australia have a strong tradition of hunting and gathering. The bountiful availability of plants and animals in Australia eliminated any need for native peoples to plant crops or raise domesticated livestock. For them, a detailed knowledge of local plants, weather, food preparation and hunting techniques provided ample sustenance for the last 50,000 years.
Traditional Aboriginal cuisine consisted of a wide range of fruits, vegetables, berries and animals. Some of the many common vegetables and plants included bulbs, yams, shoots, wild onions and Quandongs. Their meats included kangaroo, emu, possum, snakes, grubs, ducks and fish. Preparations for these ingredients are remarkably simple. Vegetables, seeds and fruits are often eaten raw or very simply cooked over hot ashes. Meat is prepared by placing it directly atop of a blazing fire, hot coals or in a pit filled with heated rocks. Techniques such as boiling were rarely used, but the introduction of pots and pans in the last few hundred years has made it more popular among modern Aboriginal families.
It is curious to note that despite a large natural abundance of novel plants and animals around them, immigrants to Australia seemed content to only use their native bounty as a last resort. Most often, native plants were only used as direct replacements for specific plants that the immigrants were accustomed to eating. They found an Australian equivalent for cabbage, teas, and beans, but never looked beyond their self-imposed limitations to explore what the land had to offer.
There are many theories about why it has taken almost 200 years to find an interest in local flora and fauna. The two largest factors seem to be the conspicuous lack of an agrarian sub-culture. The Aborigines were/are hunter/gatherers, while most of the immigrants from Great Briton were not farmers. There was also a consistent supply chain from Europe that meant residents could rely on imports without truly having to turn to the land for support. Luckily, despite these reasons, Australia has started to fully embrace its native abundance.
Traditional Aboriginal and native foodstuffs have become very popular in modern Australian food circles. Starting in the mid-1980’s, farmers, chef and consumers started looking with more and more interest into what Australia's backyard had to offer. "Bush Food" restaurants and suppliers started springing up to fill demand. Now, more than a decade later, native Australian ingredient can be seen everywhere from top restaurants to flavors in jam. The experimentalism has paid off with dishes such as Corn-fed Chicken breast Stuffed with Quandongs on Wild Mushrooms, Warrigal Greens, and Native Thyme Broth.
In The Future
Integrated into Australia’s culinary revolution is the rapid advance they have made in the world of wine. The growth and appreciation of wine has inspired the development of the new Australian cuisine. Although we in America have only recently gotten to know Australian wines, they have almost always had a greater wine culture than we have had in the States. Aussies drink more than double the amount of wine that Americans drink per capita. To a great degree this is because they have done a better job of integrating wine into the lives of average Australians without a lot of the pomp and snobbery. They have also developed a strong culture of BYO’s which make wine more accessible at restaurants for dinner by encouraging diners to bring their own wines. This is in marked contrast to the U.S. which either flat-out prohibits this practice or charges prohibitive corkage fees to discourage it.
Australia is well on the way to building a recognizable and delicious culinary tradition. A key test for the future will be to see how far outside Australia their cuisine can develop. Can you see yourself eating at an Australian restaurant? Is it “Australian” because the food is different or is it just a standard steakhouse with boomerangs on the walls and the staff is trained to greet you with “G’Day” and “No worries mate?"
Hopefully, it will be a restaurant that understands the delicate balance of using a multitude of influences without loosing a single focus; one that knows greater flavor can lie in fewer ingredients; and believes that every component that you cook with should speak about where it comes from. If all these elements come together, then you will know that Australian Cuisine has arrived as one of the great cuisines of the world.
Talkin’ Tucker
Along with fascinating food, Australians have also developed an equally fascinating language to describe what and when they eat. Below are a few interesting phrases and a glossary of terms to gain a better understanding Australia's relationship to what they eat.
You may never pass for a Banana Bender or a Sandgroper, but we’ll still throw a chook in the billy for ya and pour you some bewdy grog.
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Food
Bugs: A smaller cousin of the lobster
Chips: French Fries
Chook: Chicken
Crisps: Potato Chips
Dagwood dog: Battered, deep fried hot dog
Goog: Egg
Mushies: Mushrooms
Sweet Bickies: Cookies
Sangers: Sandwhiches
Snag or Banger: Sausage
Tucker: Everyday Food
Yabbies: Crayfish
Dead Horse: Tomato sauce
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Meals
Brekky: Breakfast
Morning Tea: Coffee break
Tea: Dinner
Other Useful Vocabulary
Bewdy/You bewdy/beaut: Great or fantastic
Beyond the Black Stump: Outback; back of beyond
Billy: Cooking pot
Bombo: Cheap wine
Grog: Alcohol
The Never Never: The Outback
Plonk: Cheap wine (alcohol)
Wacko: An exclamation of enthusiasm
Barby: Barbecue
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Australian Wine
Although the Land Down Under has been producing wine for more than 175 years, it's only been within the last 20 that Australia has been recognized as a producer of world class wines. Table wine production just recently surpassed that of fortified wines, as Australians shift from a cheap, wholesale product to a more refined, quality-oriented market.
This shift is a result of a keener focus on vineyards planted in cool-climate districts, such as Coonawarra and the Adelaide Hills. Aussie winemakers have realized the need to concentrate on wines with more elegance, clarity of fruit flavor and complexity in order to satisfy discriminating palates worldwide. Areas once abandoned because of their inability to produce ripe fruit are now back in production, as winemakers use the strengths of this continent's diverse growing regions.
Wine production in Australia is concentrated in four states: South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia. Some of the more famous regions producing the majority of its world-class wines are:
- Hunter Valley, known for semillon and shiraz (the Australian name for syrah) and more recently chardonnay.
- Barossa Valley, producing high quality old-vine shiraz and grenache, along with cabernet sauvignon and riesling.
- Coonawarra, with its Bordeaux-like climate producing cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and riesling.
- Padthaway, known for its intense chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and riesling.
- Adelaide, with its chardonnay and pinot noir for sparkling wines along with riesling.
- McLaren Vale, producing fine shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc and grenache.
- Clare Valley, which recently has been praised for outstanding riesling and shiraz.
- Margaret River, which excels in cabernet sauvignon, sauvignon blanc and merlot.
As for the most famous and consistently best Australian red wine, it is Penfolds' Grange from South Australia. It's also the most expensive. Extremely expensive. Produced from the shiraz grape and capable of aging for decades, it's one of the most sought after red wines in the world.
Resources
Recommended Reading
(For the best prices check out Campusi.com)
Links
Map of Australia (University of Texas at Austin)
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/australia/australia_pol99.jpg
Rosemount Estates
http://www.rosemountestates.com/index_noFlash.html
Penfolds
http://www.penfolds.com/
Lindemans
http://www.lindemans.com.au/
Wine Brats Aussie Wine Walk About- Downloadable Dinner Party
http://www.winebrats.org/events/02/aww/download.html
A Taste of the Bush- A guide to Australian bush foods a.k.a. 'Bush Tucker'
http://www.arts.unimelb.edu.au/amu/ucr/student/1997/silva/
The Official Vegemite Website- Made in Australia, by Australian’s, for Australian’s
http://www.vegemite.com.au/
Fun-Food-Wine Australia
http://www.food-fun-wine.com.au/
Divine Food & Wine- A quarterly food and wine magazine focusing on the best Australia and New Zealand.
http://www.divinemagazine.com.au/
Dez1.com - A great overview of Australian Food
http://www.dez1.com/
Australian Wine Online- A great databasebase of information for everything you need to know about Aussie wines
http://www.winetitles.com.au/awol/
Convict Creations- An interesting perspective on Australian food, culture and history
http://www.convictcreations.com/culture/foodwine.htm
Winestate - Australia’s oldest wine magazine
http://www.winestate.com.au/magazine/article.asp?articleno=164
