Australian Cuisine - Iconic Australian Foods

Iconic Australian Foods

An iconic Australian foodstuff is Vegemite (owned by the American Kraft Foods). Other unique or iconic national foods include macadamia nuts; Violet Crumble, a honeycomb chocolate bar; Cherry Ripe; Jaffas, chocolate with an orange-flavoured confectionery shell; the Chiko Roll, a deep-fried savoury roll similar to a spring roll; and the dim sim, a Chinese-inspired dumpling. Other popular Australian foods include Tim Tams, a chocolate biscuit; musk sticks; fairy bread which is buttered bread with coloured sugar (tasting similar to store bought bread in the USA); lamingtons; and the commercial breakfast cereal Weet-Bix.

The Australian hamburger is, at its simplest, a fried beef patty, served with shredded lettuce and sliced tomato in a (usually toasted) bread roll. Tomato sauce (similar to ketchup but made with less sugar with a more liquid texture) or barbecue sauce are almost always included. Beetroot, pineapple and fried onions are also extremely common additions. Other frequently-served hamburger options are bacon, a fried egg and cheese. US-style pickles are rarely included, except in burgers from the usual American chains.

ANZAC biscuits and the pavlova are considered by some to be Australian national foods, although while the oldest known named recipe for pavlova is from New Zealand, its often said in the Australian history that the dessert took its name from Anna Pavlova at the Esplanade Hotel in Perth during a tour of the state where she danced "as light as air" in reference to the light meringue. It has been suggested that the current pavlova is an improvement on the older recipe for a meringue cake found in a New Zealand magazine.

In the pattern of foods named after famous singers and dancers, Dame Nellie Melba also has several dishes named after her, well known is Melba toast and the Peach Melba, but also less well known is the Chicken Melba, recipes of which can be found in Larousse Gastronomique.

The meat pie (minced beef in a beef gravy, enclosed in a baked flaky pastry shell about 10 cm across) is a well-known take away item as are sausage rolls. Popular variants include steak, onion (diced friend onion), potato (mash potato on top of a traditional pie instead of a pastry top), curry (Indian) and pepper. While well known to Australian expats, the meat pie is becoming popular in the USA, with food chain Pie Face opening its first chain in New York in 2011.

Kangaroo meat is widely available in Australia although it is not among the most commonly eaten meats. In old fashioned colonial recipes, it was treated much like ox tail and braised until tender forming a rich gravy. It is available today in various cuts and sausages. Also eaten (in specialist restaurants) is emu meat, crocodile meat and occasionally (although rarely) wombat. As these need specialist preparation they are not found in mainstream restaurants or at home, however products are now available in supermarkets made of kangaroo and emu meat.

Australians are also well known for highly developed tastes for coffee, as Italian and Greek immigrants bought coffee to Australia early in the 20th century and has contributed to the status fine coffee has today. Vittoria brand for example has been known in Australia since 1958, well before it moved to the USA. and likewise explains why large international coffee chains are not as successful as locally formed coffee houses (such as local brands Miss Maud, Dome Coffee & Coffee Club) as they do not cater for Australian tastes.

Australians also have increasingly developed tastes for quality bread, with local stores such as Bakers Delight (operating in parts of Canada as COBS bakery since 2003) & Brumby's Bakeries found across the country offering traditional European bread products and supermarkets reflecting the pattern. The broader public is now increasingly familiar with various bread types (such as sour doughs, rye breads, spelt etc.) and specialist traditional bakeries such as New Norcia in Western Australia, German bakeries in South Australia and other styles across the continent.

Damper is a traditional Australian soda bread prepared by swagmen, drovers and other travellers. It is a wheat flour based bread, traditionally baked in the coals of a campfire.

Australia is one of the worlds major quality wine and beer producing nations. Australia has also in the past been known for producing high volumes of light lager style beers, mostly for domestic and export consumption, but since the 1990s has been producing many boutique and artisan quality beers that the general standard of public tastes have been improved as has local knowledge of boutique beers. Beers are served chilled in Australia, unlike in other parts of the world.

The nation also has a longstanding dairy industry (virtually from colonisation) and today produces a wide variety of cheeses, yoghurts, milk, cream and butter products. Australians are high consumers of dairy products, consuming (on average) some 102.4L of milk per person a year, which in part is due to its quality-coffee culture, 12.9 kg of cheese, 3.8 kg of butter (a small reduction from previous year, largely for dietary purposes) and a small increase to 7.1 kg of yoghurt products. Dairy products feature frequently in the national cuisine and iconic dishes.