Some of the following dishes were already mentioned in some of my previous blogs and maybe I have even shared the recipe and origin with you but I have made some additions since I have recently discovered a couple of great Aussie restaurants with typical food in downtown Sydney.
Sydney is a delightful melting pot of populations: Australia is a country that attracts an enormous amount of foreigners from the most diverse backgrounds and it goes without saying that its typical cuisine is influenced by the cultures that inhabit its immense territories. The cooking habits of the first settlers have been changed and adapted to local products. Flavoring the menus of Sydney restaurants are Vietnamese, Japanese, Thai, Italian and other foreign cuisines. Meat is the main element of the diet and Australians have an unconditional love for the barbecue ritual, an appreciated moment of socialization with family or friends. Among menus that include emu and kangaroo meat, typical fish such as barramundi are found.
The barramundi is a large and prized fish halfway between tuna and swordfish, with a delicate flavour. It is normally served grilled and accompanied with a side dish such as mashed potatoes in the winter and grilled veggies in the summer.
Until a few years ago, only cheddar was produced here but today the Australian dairy scene is expanding with the production of French and Italian-style cow, sheep and goat cheeses.
As for fruit, both Mediterranean and tropical fruit are grown in Australia. Among the strangest ones the annona, a cone-like apple with a cinnamon flavour.
The most consumed drinks are beer and flavored milk, even if wine is becoming more and more popular.
Other typical products are macadamia nuts and nuts oil, a dried fruit that is not very common in Europe, and Vegemite, a very tasty and acidic cream made from yeast and soy extract, eaten at breakfast and used to flavour some dishes.
My all time Aussie favorites are the following: Pavlova cake, barbecue prawns, mango salad, Aussie-style fish and chips (with local catches of the day), meat pies, oyster soup, surprise papaya salad and braised oxtail.
The Surprise papaya salad is very simply a papaya cut in half, filled with diced papaya, mixed fruit salad and wine jelly. A sort of fruit salad with an exotic twist. Nothing particularly complicated then, but perfect for the hottest days. After an afternoon on the beach or surfing the waves, it's the best snack!
It is sometimes served with sorbet or ice-cream too or even with whipped cream. Yummy!
I must say that, due to the weather especially in Queensland and Northern Australia, exotic fruits such as mangoes and papayas are excellent here.
The oysters soup is a soup that is prepared by cleaning some fish and cooking it with butter in a pan, then the vegetables and then the wine are added making it a creamy fish soup accompanied by oysters; it is a typical dish of Australian cuisine, but of Irish origin, and it is the classic example of how the emigration of peoples brought customs and traditions which then became characteristic of the host country.
I also really enjoy Kangaroo pies which are not made with kangaroo meat.
They are prepared with puff pastry filled with cod and then rolled like a strudel, with onions and gherkins, served with a cheddar sauce. The pie owes its name to the kangaroo pouch because it resembles one.
