Australian Cuisine

Variety is the spice of life

"until a foreign visitor can get into a cab and ask the driver to 'take us to the best (insert Australian national dish here) restaurant', then we can't claim to have truly regional cuisine." Peter Howard, author and TV chef

As strange as it may sound, sometimes it is possible to be too creative. No where is this more evident than in modern Australian restaurants. Chefs in the restaurants would rather create their own recipe than refine another chef's recipe that has proven itself to be liked by customers. As a consequence, odd recipies like pineapples in pepper sauce find their ways onto dinner tables when really they should find their ways into the bin.

In Australia, the chefs find it very easy to be creative for numerous reasons. Firstly, they have a huge range of materials to work with. Secondly, they are exposed to varied ideas of the world, and thirdly, they are not constrained by cultural norms that demand food be prepared in a specific style. Although the complete freedom opens the possibility to create dishes of pure genius, often the freedom is used to the dog's breakfast.

While Australian chefs have a wide range of ingredients to work with today, the past was a very different situation. For more than 150 years, a shortage of food resulted in very boring cuisine. In the colonial era, it was only basic vegetables that could be farmed with any reliability. The soils were just too poor and rainfall too variable to experinment. Furthermore, chefs had to rely upon a limited range of domesticated European animals for their protein supply. Although native animals existed in abundance, they couldn't be farmed because they couldn't be contained with wooden fences and wouldn't herd.

Aside from being shackled with a narrow range of meats, the lack of refrigeration forced Australian chefs to burn, salt or coat the meat in fat in order to reduce the risk of food poisoning. This resulted in Australian meat tasting like burnt shoe leather coated in a fat vanish.

Perhaps some flavour could have been achieved by making sausages, jerkies or salamis like many Mediterranean nations. Unfortunately, the menace of blowflies posed a significant risk of maggot infestation. Consequently, salamis and jerkies were rare in Australia.

Unless the colonists decided to live an Aboriginal style nomadic existence, the colonists had to rely upon unproductive foreign animals and plants that struggled in Australian conditions. Even then, the menace of droughts, fires, bushrangers, dingos and kangaroos made this produce unreliable.

 

Pavlova

With ingredients scarce, it was left to the ladies from charity organisations like the Salvation Army to save Australia's culinary soul. As part of their fund-raising drives, the ladies utilised two ingredients that were in abundance; wheat and eggs. They subsequently made pumpkin and mango scones, pavlovas, Anzac cookies, lamingtons and the humble slice. Till this day, the charitable recipes of Australia's culinary soldiers remain of the few that are recognised as Australian in origin and style.

After World War II, Australia underwent a culinary explosion. It is generally accepted that this explosion was due to the influx of Asian and European immigrants who subsequently expanded the Australian pallet. However, this explanation seems flawed as Australia also received massive migration from China, Germany, Italy, and France during the gold rushes of the 1850's yet the basic burnt meat and boiled potatoes prevailed. The only lingering change was the addition of the Chinese dim sim to the fish and chip shop. 

The more logical explanation for the culinary explosion is that the Snowy Mountains Scheme increased the productivity of the land. Furthermore, improvements in transportation and refrigeration allowed food to be transported over vast distances. As the great economist Adam Smith noted "specialisation is limited to market size." As refrigeration expanded the size of the farmer's market, the more they could grow niche products with confidence that they could be sold. As the range of produce in Australia increased, immigrants were able to access the ingredients necessary to continue their culinary traditions. Over time, they introduced Australian chefs to the great meals of the world. 

Today, the average Australian has a great deal of Mediterranean and Asian ingredients to work with when creating recipes, and these are being combined in some very imaginative ways. For example, a bachelor may host a party and buy some ham slices, sundried tomatoes, crackers, avocado, olives and cheeses to make some finger food. After the big night, he may wake up in the morning and wonder what he will eat for breakfast. In his pantry, he finds an old packet of Thai rice paper and sees the leftovers from the night before. Soon, the hung over bachelor is wrapping various combinations of leftover cheese, avocado, ham and olives in the rice paper. The result is some very imaginative recipes. (Of ourse, the food that appeals to a bachelor with a hangover doesn’t always appeal to the wider population.)

Australia’s café culture and “modern Australian” restaurants create recipes in much the same way. They creatively combine Asian and Mediterranean ingredients in a way that is very unique. Sometimes the combinations appeal to a wide variety of people. Sometimes they only appeal to bachelors with hangovers. Sometimes bachelors with hangovers prefer their own combinations. This diversity of tastes, diversity of ingredients, and diversity of recipes has made it difficult for modern Australian to be defined by a common style or common recipes. Furthermore, the diversity has made it difficult for modern Australian chefs to refine their recipes or create recipes that appeal to a broad audience.

King Fish Tataki with shredded wonton, and cress in an Asian sauce

While the Frankenstein recipes are generally coming from Australians with European heritage, Australians with Asian heritage are attaining more refinment by integrating different ideas into existing national cuisines. The most notable of these chefs is Tetsuya Wakuda; a Japanese migrant who blends French concepts with those of his homeland. Other Asian chefs have mixed recipes from different Asian countries to create Asian restaurants that are not indigenous to any Asian country. Such restaurants are highly prized because as well as serving extremely high quality food, they also serve in the Asian social style. Unlike European Modern Australian that serves food in the European style for individual consumption, the Asian Modern Australian serves food for group consumption; thus retaining the social element that is prized in social gatherings and business meetings.

A small minority of Australian chefs have also strived for a distinctly Australia cuisine via the use of native ingredients such as snake, witchetty grubs, crocodile and emu, which are all available in short supply. So far, most Australians have been reluctant to eat the native produce. Perhaps because the native produce still can't be supplied in sufficient quantities to generate a culture.

 

 

 

Witchetty grubs

Macadamia stuffed Emu Fan Filled with red pepper just on summer salad

Crocodile Kebabs with Native Pepperleaf Mustard

Chef: Jayne MacLean
Muddies at Illawong

Degree of difficulty: Medium

You need:
500 grams Crocodile tail Fillet
2-3 Kiwi Fruit
1 cup of wholeseed mustard
1/4 cup of Honey
2-3 desertspoons of dried Native Pepperleaf (infused in warm white vinegar)

Method:
To prepare the mustard, combine roughly chopped Kiwis, purchased mustard, honey and Pepperleaf in a food processor until kiwis are pureed.
Cut crocodile tail into strips and thread onto bamboo skewers.
Cover with mustard mix and put in fridge to marinate for at least 3-4 hours (or overnight if possible)

To Serve, preheat a frying pan, or the barbie, and cook kebabs for about 2 minutes on each side and serve ona salad of mixed greens, slow roasted tomato and warm char grilled eggplant and zucchini

Serving Suggestion: To serve, pre-heat pan, or the barbie, and cook kebabs for about 2 minutes on each side and serve on a salad of mixed greens, slow roasted tomato and warm char grilled eggplant and zucchini.

 

Vegemite recipes

Famous chefs

• Neil Perry (Rockpool) - Credited with refining the art of blending European and Asian recipes and introducing bread and olive oil as a side dish
• Tetsuya Wakuda (Tetsuyas) - Blends Japanese and French food with immaculate presentation and consistent taste.
• Steve Hodges (Pier, Fish Face) - Credited with introducing a Japanese style obsession with freshness to seafood.

 

Persisting against adversity - The story of Vegemite

Australia has few meals that are recognised as Australian and which can be found in the majority of Australian households. One of the very few is the 'Vegemite Sandwich'.

Vegemite dates back to 1922 when the Fred Walker Company hired a Dr. Cyril P. Callister to develop a spread from one of the richest known natural sources of the vitamin B group, brewer's yeast. Following months of laboratory tests, Dr Callister developed a tasty spreadable paste.

Walker then conducted a national trade-name competition, offering a 50 pound prize for the winner. The winning entry was drawn out of a hat and in 1923 Fred Walker launched his product under the Vegemite brand.

Even though Dr Callister's invention has proved to be a formula for success, success was not instantaneous. When Australians first heard about Vegemite, a English spread called marmite dominated the spread market and Australians were reluctant to try Fred Walker's locally made product. In 1928, four years after it's initial launch, Vegemite was relaunched as "Parwill". Walker's rationale behind the name was the slogan "If Marmite . . . then Parwill" . Walker's creative marketing idea was not successful.

Walker persevered but reverted to the Vegemite name. In 1935, a 2-year coupon redemption scheme was launched whereby a jar of Vegemite was given away with every purchase of other products in the Fred Walker range. Australians tried the product and loved it! In all, it had taken almost 14 years before Walker's beloved product finally gained acceptance and recognition.

As for the world's view on Vegemite, frequent comments included that it is the most disgusting, vile and haness spread ever invented. Many uninitiated foreigners have even angrily accused Australians of coating bread with faeces so as to laugh at their misfortune.

Curiously, world rejection seems to have strengthened Australians fondness for the product. Today, it has become tradition for Vegemite sandwiches to be eaten on Australia day and Anzac day. Furthermore, Australian travellers frequently take a jar of Vegemite when venturing overseas.

As for the marketing, despite the failure of the 'Parwill' campaign, it seems the bad puns have also continued. On every jar of Vegemite is the woeful slogan: 'Vegemite - Australian born and bread'

How to make Vegemite.

Brewer's yeast is a good source of vitamin B, but live yeast tastes boring, it is poorly digested. Inactivated yeast lacks the disadvantages, but is still bland. The inventor of vegemite solved this problem using autolysis: a process where the yeast's own enzymes break it down.

Spent brewer's yeast is sieved to get rid of hop resins, and washed to remove bitter tastes. Then it is suspended in water at a temperature greater than 37 C with no nutrients: the yeast cells die, and vitamins and minerals leach out. Then the proteolytic (protein-splitting) enzymes take over, breaking the yeast proteins down into smaller water-soluble fragments, which also leach out. The yeast cell membrane is unruptured during this time, and can be removed by centrifuging. The clear light brown liquid is then concentrated under a vacuum to a thick paste (the vacuum helps preserve flavours and vitamin B1, thiamine). It is seasoned with salt, and a small proportion of celery and onion extracts to increase the palatability.