Australian Cuisine - Take-away Food in Australia

Take-away Food in Australia

Similar to other Western nations, Australia has a wide variety of takeaway food available from other cultures. The meat pie and sausage rolls are take-away food items, and there are also gourmet pies. Found in some takeaway shops is the "Australian Hamburger". This is mainly distinguished from other hamburgers by the range of fillings available. An order with all fillings is known as "The Lot" or "The Works". The fillings include lettuce, tomato, beetroot, pineapple, fried onion and a fried egg. American fast food outlets are common while Australian fast food chains are less common.

Doner kebab - usually called just kebabs - are very popular owing to immigration from Greece, Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, and Lebanon. Shops or vans selling kebabs are colloquially referred to as "Kebaberies" and "Kebabavans" in some parts of Australia. In Melbourne, they are also known as souvlaki and in South Australia they are called yiros. Kebab meat can also be found as a pizza topping in the western suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne, as a "beef pizza" or "Turkish pizza". Doner kebabs in Sydney and Melbourne can be served with all the ingredients placed onto or next to the pita bread on a plate, or more commonly, with the ingredients rolled into the pita bread in the form of a "wrap". The "late night kebab" has become an icon of urban food culture in Australia, with kebabs often purchased and consumed following a night of drinking. Kebabs are considered suitable following consumption of alcohol, due their high content of lipids (fats) which aids in metabolism of alcohol.

A very wide variety of Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese 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 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 ranges from a long established Australian-Chinese style based on the cooking of the Chinese community established during the gold rushes of the late 19th century, to quite different cuisine more recently imported from different regions of China. Asian bakery stores are also a source of fast food such as savoury rolls. Examples of these include cheese and bacon, cheese and pineapple.