Australian Cuisine - Regional Cuisine

Regional Cuisine

Regional Australian cuisines commonly use locally grown vegetables. In the Southern states of Victoria and South Australia, in particular the Barossa Valley, wines and food reflects the region's traditions and heritage. Barossa's early settlers brought their food traditions with them, instilling the region's cuisine with a strong German influence. Preserving, smoking and baking are techniques used in this regional cuisine. The area is famous for its vineyards and the abundance of fresh produce including fruit, nuts, vegetables and citrus. Dishes are made with poultry, livestock, yabbies and hare, some examples are: smoked Mettwurst, Lachsschinken and Bratwurst sausages. Traditional breads and yeasted cakes like Bienenstich and Streuselkuchen, pickled onions and gherkins, olives and olive oil, egg noodles, and a variety of chutneys, pickles and preserves, as well as dried fruits, Barossa cheese and quince paste - are all featured in the cuisine.

The climate does also create smaller regional variations. Areas in southern Australia which has a mediterranean or temperate climate allows cooking for richer hot dishes, or slow cooked dishes in the winter which is not always desirable in the warmer regions further north at the same time of year, as well as experiencing greater seasonal change in local produce. In the north of the country, which often has just two seasons for the tropics and subtropical regions as hot and wet, or cool and dry, this region produces year round fruits and vegetables as well as tropical produce which is not possible further south.

Regional cuisine often is also reflected in more recent migration patterns, with European influences (such as Italian, Greek, French, German, Polish etc.) as well as Asian, African & South American cuisines tend to be found in the regions where the climate is similar to their homelands. Northern regions and island communities for tropical or desert climates use cooking methods that reflect their environment with a higher proportion of cooking outdoors and using barbecues more frequently than the southern regions that may have cold and wet winters.

As the majority of the populous live in capital cities relatively close to the sea, the cuisine of these regions has been influenced by involving quality fresh seafood. Filleted "ready to cook and eat" preparations are more popular as opposed to whole fish or any seafood product which contains bones. Fish that is served containing bones is undesirable almost to being a modern taboo in Australia, although whole fish preparations can found in specialist metropolitan restaurants. The catchphrase many outside of Australia associate with the country itself "put another shrimp on the barbie" is in cooking terms (opposed to the welcoming hospitality context), largely a misnomer in metropolitan regions. Australians cook land meat products (beef, lamb, chicken, pork etc.) on the barbecue far more than seafood, as the cooking method can be too dry and harsh for the delicate flesh and a little too complex to do well for the average home.

Seafood is most commonly cooked either pan fried as well as stir-fried, deep-fried or cooked on a flat hot plate (a plate similar to that which teppanyaki chefs use) or frequently in pasta dishes. Metropolitan areas with older generations are more often to bake, poach or steam their seafood simply, or eat it fried. International forms of cooking seafood - especially South East Asian, Japanese, Korean and Middle Eastern or Mediterranean cuisines are increasingly popular.

Inland areas with good river or wetland systems also tend to use much of the local freshwater fish & crustaceans as part of their diets, which can be prepared either using a local ingredient with mainstream methods, or cooked whole in traditional Aboriginal styles wrapped using leaves such as native ginger (where available) or in bark such as from the paperbark tree, which is common in wetland or marshy areas and river systems. As the climate and environment is not favourable for keeping fresh fish, it is typically cooked soon after catching with minimal preparation as delays can increase food poisoning risks.

Dry area communities further inland in modern times have access to frozen seafood as well as other fresh food products as food has been shipped in refrigerated trucks from the cities and can be stored where infrastructure exists to do so. This has consequently influenced local regional cuisines by increasing the scope of products they can use as they are no longer dependent on what can be sourced or grown in the local climate.

In various states there are regions well known for being food production and fine dining centres. South Australia is famed for the above mentioned Barossa Valley; in Western Australia the Swan Valley, Margaret River and Manjimup regions, as well as Broome in the north; Victoria is famed for the Murray River regions and the Mornington Peninsula. In Southern regions, these are often traditionally wine producing areas that expanded into meat based smallgoods, cheese and dairy, artisan foodstuffs (such as breads, confections and preserves) and restaurants.