Great Australian Food

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How Tucker turned into Cuisine

Once we lived on English food - it was all we knew. Meat, lots of meat, roast lamb, roast beef, lamb chops, grilled steak, marinated mutton and beef, lamb, lamb and more lamb. We had sausages and bacon for breakfast, lamb cutlets for lunch and at dinner we sat down to roast lamb and 'three veg'.

And three veg it was too. Potatoes, pumpkin and something vaguely green that had been boiled in salted water for at least 20 minutes.

Thank heavens for our wonderful migrants! Just after the Second World War we were blessed with the tastes of Italy and Greece, followed by food which was Lebanese, Turkish, Balkan, Hungarian and, in recent years, Vietnamese, Chilean, Chinese, Thai, Korean, Sri Lankan and Indonesian.

Put them together and what have you got? Great Australian Food!

The Great Australian Pavlova

Comfort Food, Nostalgia Trip and plain Delicious Dessert


You can't mention Australian food without paying homage to the Pavlova. Leave the lamingtons, forget the ANZAC biscuits, the great Australian sweet is a Pavlova.

Not surprisingly the Pavlova raises more passion than old fashioned greed, this Australian contribution to International Cuisine is a source of envy for the New Zealanders. Frequently one of them will lay false claim to the Pav. It's just not true! The Pavlova is Australian!

Bush Tucker

More than Witchetty Grubs


Bush Tucker isn't just witchetty grubs, although Wijuti are incredibly high in protein and free for the eating, but all of our unique native foods.

How about smoked kangaroo steak rolled in kurrajong flour, seasoned with wild lime and lemon myrtle, lightly tossed in macadamia nut oil and served with bush tomatoes, native cranberries and warrigal greens. Followed by wattle seed ice cream, lilly pilly berries in native honey and stewed quandongs.

Bush tucker is becoming widespread, thanks to a spate of recent health studies showing that native Australian meats, especially emu and kangaroo, are lower in fat and higher in iron than other conventional meats. The fruits are also known to be healthier, with the Kakadu plum thought to be the world's highest source of Vitamin C.

Most of what European settlers believed to be inedible is now considered very much the norm on the menus of top restaurants around the country.

Deeeeelicious!

Would you want a Wijuti?

The real Bush Tucker

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Throw some Prawns on the Barbie

BBQ brings out the best in shrimp


500 grams shelled green prawns (roughly 1 lb)
1 Tablespoon soya sauce
1 Tablespoon sherry
1 Teaspoon sesame oil
1 clove garlic minced finely
About 1 inch long stem of green ginger minced finely

Place the prawns in a single layer in a flat bowl.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together and pour over the prawns, stirring to ensure all prawns are coated.

Cover and refrigerate for an hour, turning the prawns over a couple of times.

Heat up the Barbie to medium and lightly oil the plate.

Throw the prawns on

Cook for about 2 minutes then turn and cook for another 2 minutes. Do NOT overcook!

Spoon over any remaining marinade while cooking.

Serve and scoff!

Cooking with Quince

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Cooking with Crocodile

The simpler, the better

The white meat of the Crocodile is slightly higher in cholesterol than other meats, but is low in fat, high in protein, and a good source of niacin and vitamin B12.

Crocodile is simple to cook, and takes hardly any preparation time. The choicest cut is the tail fillet and the best way to cook it is frozen. The flavour is lost during any thawing process.

Crocodile has a delicate flavour so strong marinades aren't recommended, and don't use a large number of other ingredients which will mask the taste.

Believe me, with crocodile, the simpler the better.

Two Bush Tucker recipes

Crocodile with Rosemary
Cooking with crocodile
Kangaroo Tail Soup
Classic rich soup

Bush Tucker

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Recipe :Tasty Lamb Shank

Cooking with Lamb

Favourite lamb recipes from my kitchen

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Mango


What could be more refreshing, colourful and instantly appealing than an Australian mango salad?

A perfect and traditional accompaniment to the Australian Christmas lunch table.

Also gorgeous with a sliced banana added to the mango

Recipe : Mango Salad

Come on over to my Kitchen

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  • Reply
    OutbackJack Jan 11, 2012 @ 6:41 am | delete
    Your opening statement flawed me! . Fortunately Not all of us had such a limited palate. Many of us grew up with variety perhaps you were just living in an English enclave. I remember things such as Kassler and sauerkraut, pork belly and rabbit. Roast Duck on Sundays yum. Then there was all of the wine and the orchards full of fruit, apples, apricots, nectarines plums, quandongs, lillypilly jam and 30 different varieties of grapes. I see now how blessed I was to grow up in South Australia and benefit from the German, Italian and Slovian peoples. My family lived on this type of food from the time they got of the first ships that help colonise the state.
  • Reply
    susannaduffy Jan 11, 2012 @ 6:59 am | delete
    My part of inner urban Melbourne was indeed an English enclave
  • Reply
    Helene-Malmsio Jan 7, 2012 @ 8:42 am | delete
    Yum - prawns, mango, pavlova - I'm sooo glad I live right here in downunder!
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