This is an extract of Le Guide Officiel…to becoming Aussie. Today, we are talking about food.
The first installment can be found here: https://murieldemarcus.medium.com/le-guide-officiel-to-becoming-aussie-7afcf127418d
‘I love food, all types of food. I love Korean food, Japanese, Italian, French. In Australia, we don’t have a distinctive Australian food, so we have food from everywhere all around the world. We’re very multicultural, so we grew up with lots of different types of food.’
Hugh Jackman
When I am asked what Australian cuisine is about, an awkward silence usually follows.
That’s because I am confused. After more than three years living in Australia, I am not sure that I can define what Australian cuisine is.
Most people assume Australians live on a diet of passion fruits, avocado toast and coffee. Or shrimps on the barbie. Or meat pies smothered in tomato sauce. But that’s plain wrong.
There’s so much more to Australian cuisine than this. It’s not just Anzac biscuits dipped in tea or vegemite on toasts (don’t try). The English love to argue that Australian dishes are copycats from their staples like Sunday Roast and fish and chips, but the truth is that there is more to Australian cuisine that the traditional British dishes. Much more.
Simply put, you can find everything in Australia. There is a French boulangerie called Bannette, a Thai takeaway, a burger joint and a chicken place just around the corner. We are spoilt with choices. The supermarkets are well-stocked, and cooking is made easy for you. The culture of freshness is very close to what I have experienced in France. There are farmer markets in most cities and finding good, fresh products, is as easy as in my home country. That said, it’s also a lot more expensive! A baguette costs less than one Euro in France, and I have just paid 7 dollars for a loaf of bread. 7 dollars!!! I miss France sometimes.
Come to think of it, maybe the essence of the Australian cuisine is something that you need to experience. It can’t really be described. It’s not just about food.
Why? What am I talking about?
I am talking about the Aussie BBQ, of course!
The Australian barbecue isn’t just food; it’s an experience that’s ingrained into the DNA of Australia, mate!
Aussies usually have big backyards, an enviable summer (well, not this year but that’s another story) and an outdoor spirit that exudes the oh-so-popular surf lifestyle. No wonder the ‘barbie’ is so loved. We live outside most of the year anyway.
And there’s no denying it. Aussies do barbecues right.
There’s something comforting about the simplicity of the Aussie barbie: no fuss, just good food and friends. And some beers of course. As in, a lot of beers. I thought that we French drank a lot, but I am always amazed at the number of beers my Aussie friends can chug.
While there are certainly prawns, meat, gourmet sausages and sometimes skewers, nothing quite compares to the very humble Aussie snag in bread and butter, doused in tomato sauce — where even adding onion or mustard seems over the top (Your Aussie friends will of course deny it, but this is the local version of the hot dog). And don’t make the cardinal mistake of confusing tomato sauce with ketchup: it’s not the same thing. For starters, one is Australian and the other American. Now you are warned. Truth be told, I am not a fan of either…
In order to speed up your integration, I thought I should give you a couple of examples of Aussie specialities that you can safely try, and explain about the eating and drinking habits over here. That said, don’t be scared, Aussies love their food and everything (except maybe for vegemite) can be tried safely. Enjoy the experience and go with the flow. Beware:
The Pavlova
The pavlova, that airy dessert made from crisp meringue shell topped with whipped cream and fruits, is quintessentially Australian — at least according to the Aussies. Kiwis would certainly disagree with such a statement: something of a sibling rivalry exists between the two countries, and they love to argue over who gets credit for pavlova. One of their longest-running disputes is over the origin of the pavlova, or “pav,” as both sides call it. Australians say they invented the recipe; Kiwi say they did. Truth be told, they’re probably both wrong.
Australians have Pavlova (or Pav) all the time. It’s the perfect go-to dessert after a barbie, for Christmas, or at any time really.
The pavlova is named after the famed Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who toured Australia and New Zealand in 1926. As the New Zealand story goes, the chef of a Wellington hotel at the time created the dessert in her honour, claiming inspiration from her tutu. Australians, on the other hand, believe the pavlova was invented at a hotel in Perth, and named after the ballerina when one diner declared it to be “light as Pavlova.”
Anna Pavlova was a superstar of her day, adored and admired all over the world. She was friends with most celebrities at the time, such as Charlie Chaplin. As a result, a lot of chefs named their dishes after her. I was told that there were frogs’ legs à la Pavlova in my home country -mind you, I have never tried them; in America, apparently there is Pavlova ice cream. I wonder what it tastes like.
According to the most recent research by Dr. Andrew Paul Wood and Annabelle Utrecht (a New Zealander and an Australian, respectively, just to be on the safe side), the true pavlova could have originated in Europe. After a two years of digging through old recipes, the pair concluded that they had found somewhere over 150 recipes for meringue-based cakes that looked an awful lot like pavlova. All the recipes were published before Anna Pavlova even arrived down under in 1926.
Wood and Utrecht believe the pavlova recipe as we know it may have travelled to Australia and New Zealand on the back of a cornstarch box. Unlike French meringue, pavlova meringue incorporates cornstarch, which gives it a soft marshmallow-y interior. Apparently, an American cornstarch manufacturer put a recipe for a dessert similar to pavlova on its packaging and began exporting to New Zealand.
In the end, neither New Zealand nor Australia can really claim to have invented the pavlova as they didn’t invent the recipe, and they weren’t even the first to name a dessert after the dancer (Wood and Utrecht also found a recipe for “strawberries Pavlova” dating back from 1911). But one of them was probably the first to put the name to that recipe, and both of them deserve the credit for keeping this dessert alive and vibrant while all the other dishes named Pavlova didn’t make it past the era when Anna Pavlova was the most famous ballerina in the world.
As for mastering the art of pavlova, well, I am told it’s all about the egg whites. They need to be beaten quite hard and at room temperature. A little bit of rice vinegar helps as well. If you don’t want to risk it, just buy the base at Coles or Woolie and pretend you did it yourself. After all, that’s what most people do.
The Brekkie
I was brought up to have a piece of bread or some cereal for breakfast, with coffee or tea. That was it. It was a nice start to the day, and I got used to it.
Over here, things are completely different. The breakfast -or brekkie- is an institution. Breakfast in Australia can last until it’s time for a beer, if you plan it carefully. Brekkie is considered to be the most important meal of the day and, simply put, having a toast with some butter isn’t going to cut the mustard….
Brekkie food is real business over here. Think kale polenta with a fried egg, and linger over pancakes and porridge. Don’t forget to post a photo of the latte art atop your perfect flat white. What is a flat white? Well, to cut a long story short, it’s an Australian espresso-and-steamed-milk drink that is neither a cappuccino nor a latte. If you are Australian, one of your favourite past time is to lecture the barista as to how he or she should master the art of a flat white. It’s a national sport.
Come to think of it, coffee in Australia is a religion. Over here, everybody knows that I am not Australian-born because I simply order a cappuccino. My Aussie friends look down on me for this. Their orders range from a skinny extra hot weak flat white in a take-away cup to a large oak milk double shot extra hot medium latte. I can’t compete. Baristas are the unsung heroes pf Australia, this much I know.
