 Food & Cuisine: Australia
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One of the best things in traveling is to enjoy the unique foods & cuisines that each country has to offer.
I'm making it a point to try a bit of each culture's food during my travels. You'll be able to join in my
food experiences here.
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Meat Pie   Flakey pie exterior with a minced meat filling with a thick meat sauce. Popular especially
at Football games in Melbourne, similar to getting garlic fries at a Giant’s game. I found the Meat to be quite
tasty and filling. The contrast of the flakey outer layer with the thick sauce with meat was quite good.
Vegemite
Oh, the Famed Aussie Vegemite. The jar proclaims it to be a "Concentrated Yeast Extract." I can’t get my mind around what this really is. What does “yeast extract” really mean? I struggle for words on how to describe this. First of all, despite it’s look similar to a chocolate or hazelnut spread, Vegemite is meant to be used in thinly spread portions. I tried it with toast and butter. It was quite a big show I made at breakfast: taking pictures of the jar, struggling to open it, spreading it on the toast, then finally gasping with disgust after my first bite. Totally disgusting, in my opinion. I really can't describe it. One guy compared it to rotting cheese. For those back home that are curious, I'll try to get the jar I purchased back home. Then you can all be the judge of it yourselves. UPDATE: Unfortunately, my jar of vegemite was confiscated
during my departure from Melbourne. Since I'm not traveling with any checked in luggage, I tried to get it past
security, however, they caught me. Oddly enough, they didn't find the large bottle of sunscreen tucked away with
my clothing. I won't be bringing any home. Kangaroo  Despite having spent time in the Wildlife Park petting and feeding kangaroos, I really did have to try eating
kangaroo before I headed out. It took a week for me to get my mind around the idea, but alas, I succeeded. I
ended up have a kangaroo dish with beets and vegetables. It was a good cut of charred kangaroo made medium rare.
Upon visual inspection, it looked simply like beef. Cutting it, it to be a bit tougher than beef, but the taste was
quite similar. The main difference was the chewiness and that the blood left a bit more of an iron taste in my mouth
after than beef tends to. Overall, I found it quite good, although beef definitely wins out in
my mind.
Tim Tam's
A thin chocolate biscuit with a chocolate layer coating. Inside, there is a light subtle chocolate filling.
Light and perfect with coffee or tea. It was quite tasty. Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar
How can you not fall in love with a city that has numerous chocolate bars and even a weekly Chocolate Lovers tour? I've spent a number of evenings enjoying chocolate at Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar, and man, do I love it. Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar specializes in everything chocolate. You can specify if you want your hot chocolate with dark, white, millk, orange flavored, or reduced fat chocolate. They also have coconut chocolate, Mexican spice chocolate, and mint chocolate. For those who are hungry, they have a great selection of cakes, fondues, and popsicles dipped in chocolate. The atmosphere is inviting; it's a great place to sit with friends over a good treat. Gloria Jean's
Okay, so I realize that we do have Gloria Jean's in the States. However, ever since they closed the one in Valleyfair several years ago, the only other place I've found one is in Southern California. It was a pleasant surprise to arrive in Australia and find that it's one of the major coffee chains. I caved in and got one of the Ice Blended drinks on a hot day in Sydney. It was light, refreshing, and just the perfect consistency of blended ice. Greek Food: Chicken Souvlaki
Melbourne has a great Greek district where I've enjoyed some of the best Greek food ever in my life.
I'm quite keen on the souvlaki wraps -- pita wraps with meat, lettuce, tomatoes and tzatziki sauce. Absolutely delicious. Sri Lankan Cuisine: Chicken Curry with savoury rice, mixed vegetables and papadam
Melbourne is home to many Sri Lankans, and with them come some great cuisine. I stopped by the Curry House to get some Sri Lankan food, hoping to truly enjoy the meal. It was pretty good until the spiciness of the vegetables started to kill me. I ended up with tears streaming out of my eyes and a runny nose. Good food under extreme pain. The chicken was quite tender; the curry 'sauce' is quite different from Indian curry. The vegetables were made to kill even those with a high tolerance for spiciness. |
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Global Cuisines Click on one of the links below to explore the foods enjoyed in other regions in the world. Vietnam Thailand Taiwan Nepal
Tibet Jordan Egypt Peru
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