Australian Food

For about 40,000 years before European settlement food traditions were based on the native bushfoods of indigenous Australians. Anglo-Celtic British and Irish food was brought to the country upon the arrival of the earliest settlers from the British Isles in the late 18th century, forming the foundation of the cooking of modern Australian for the next century. In the 19th and especially 20th century, Australian cuisine was influenced by Mediterranean and Asian cuisine, introduced by immigrants to Australia.

Australian cuisine of the 2000s shows the influence of globalisation. Organic and biodynamic, kosher and halal food has become widely available.

Restaurants whose product includes contemporary adaptations, interpretations or fusions of exotic influences are frequently termed "Modern Australian".

British traditions persist to varying degrees in domestic cooking and the takeaway food sector, with pies and fish and chips remaining popular. Fast food chains are prevalent.

Elements of traditional Bush tucker have sometimes been incorporated into modern cuisine.

Background

Immigration has influenced Australian cuisine. Major influences have come from China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam. Mediterranean influences from Greek, Italian, and Lebanese cuisine are strong. There are also influences from France, India, Spain, and Turkey .


ANZAC biscuits, made without coconut.Fresh produce is readily available and thus used extensively, and the trend (urged by long-term government health initiatives) is towards low-salt, low-fat healthy cookery incorporating lean meat and lightly cooked, colourful, steamed or stir-fried vegetables. With most of the Australian population residing in coastal areas, fish and seafood is popular.

Australia's climate makes barbecues commonplace. Barbecue stalls selling sausages and fried onion on white bread with tomato or barbecue sauce are common in fund raising for schools or community groups. These stalls are called "Sausage Sizzles".

Some English trends persist in the domestic cooking of many Australians of Anglo-Celtic descent. Among these is the tradition of having roast turkey, chicken, and ham with trimmings followed by a plum pudding on Christmas day, despite the fact that Christmas is at the height of the Southern Hemisphere summer.

Breakfast

The typical breakfast of Australians strongly resembles breakfast in many Western countries. Owing to the warm weather in some parts of Australia breakfast is generally light but in the colder regions porridge or meals similar to the full English breakfast may be consumed. The light breakfast commonly consists of cereals, toast (with a spread) and fruit. A heavier cooked breakfast will frequently include fried bacon, egg, mushroom, baked beans, sausages, tomatoes, toast with spread. Beverages taken at breakfast include tea, coffee, flavoured milk or juice.

A popular breakfast food in Australia is Vegemite, a black, salty spread similar to Marmite, applied to toast or bread.

Dinner

Kangaroo meat at a supermarket.The evening meal is the main meal of the day for most Australians. Most of the time it is consumed at home, and often eaten with members of the immediate family or household. The dishes served will vary widely according to the tastes and/or background of the family. Common choices would be roast meat and vegetables, pasta, pizza, casseroles, barbecued meat, vegetables, salad, soup and stir-fries.

A standard cafe or restaurant in Australia not adhering to any particular ethnic cuisine might offer sandwiches and focaccias, a range of pasta, risotto, salad or curry dishes, steak, chicken or other meat-based dishes, cakes or other desserts, and juices, red and white wine, soft drink, beer, and coffee.

Take-away food in Australia

Similar to any other Western nation, in Australia there is a wide variety of takeaway food available from other cultures. The meat pie and sausage rolls are examples of traditional take-away foods. These come in varying grades, ranging from the mass-produced factory outputs of Four-and-Twenty, Mrs Macs, Balfours, Villis, J. R. Pinders and Big Ben, through to gourmet pies sold by specialist pie shops. There is an annual competition to find the 'Great Australian Meat Pie'.


Typical serving of fish and chips in Williamstown.American-style chain stores are common; including, Subway, Pizza Hut, KFC, Hungry Jack's (the local Burger King franchise name), Domino's Pizza, and McDonald's. An alternative to the US imports is offered by the Australian chicken fast food chains Red Rooster and Chicken Treat, pizza chains Eagle Boys and Pizza Haven, the Portuguese chicken franchises Nando's and Oporto, and by the corner pizza shops, charcoal or fried chicken stores, stores selling items such as kebabs and yeeros (gyros), and fish and chip shops.

Many of these sell high-quality food for reasonable prices. Typically found in many 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, cheese, beetroot, grilled onion, bacon, a fried egg and pineapple.

A very wide variety of Chinese, Indian, 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 and South East 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 1800s, to quite different cuisine more recently imported from different regions of China. Asian bakery stores are also a source of fast food, for example savoury rolls. Examples of these include cheese and bacon, cheese and pineapple, which are toppings over a thick piece of bread, and the pork/chicken roll (Banh Mi Thit), which is a crusty baguette, cut with sliced pork or chicken, carrot, spring onion, soy sauce, pâté, coriander, cucumber and often chilli.

Iconic Australian foods

Vegemite on toast.An iconic Australian foodstuff is Vegemite (owned by the American Kraft Foods). Other unique or iconic national foods include Macadamia nuts; Violet Crumble, a honeycomb chocolate bar; Cherry Ripe; Jaffas, chocolate with an orange-flavoured confectionery shell; the Chiko Roll, a deep-fried savoury roll similar a spring roll; and the Dim sim, a Chinese-inspired dumpling. Other popular Australian foods include Tim Tams, a chocolate biscuit; Musk sticks; Fairy bread; Lamingtons; the Boston bun; the Vanilla slice; and the commercial breakfast cereal Weet-Bix.

ANZAC biscuits and the pavlova are considered by some as Australian national foods, however the oldest known recipes for these items are from New Zealand.

The meat pies is a well known take away item. In South Australia pies are sometimes served inverted in pea soup and covered in tomato sauce, a dish named the Pie floater. Kangaroo meat is readily available in Australia although it is not a commonly eaten meat. It is available in various cuts, and sausages.

Damper is a simple and traditional type of bread, traditionally made by placing the dough in the coals of a fire. It is not commonly consumed in modern times.