AUSTRALIAN CUISINE : A CRY FOR ACTION

 

 

The James Beard Foundation promotes good food for good™. For more than 30 years, the James Beard Foundation has highlighted the centrality of food culture in our daily lives.

So, what is Australian cuisine? Australian traditional food is the result of Australian history. It has a foundation of British cooking from the settlers, with Asian and European ingredients from migrants. There’s our iconic foods of lamingtons, pavlovas, and meat pies – dishes that will continue to be reinterpreted over and over and native Australian ingredients are on the rise. Add some great weather and easy lifestyle, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for a distinctly Australian cuisine.

When it comes to food, Australians have always been open to experimentation, adaptation, and innovation.  We’ve taken ingredients from all over the world and fused them with techniques and flavours from other countries. 

Today, whether it's food gathered from the deli, a well-chosen horsd'oeuvre platter, or a shared platter, current food is defined by the use of seasonal, local produce. This was not always the case, as lamented by Adelaide author, Michael Symons, in 'One Continuous Picnic - a Gastromonic History of Australia', revised in 2007 after being published in 1982.  

Unlike other societies with a dominant agrarian history, Symons says that Australia's citizens have not developed a true contact with the land; have not had a peasant society.  Therefore we haven't inherited a cuisine; in the traditional sense; instead Australia's food history has been dynamic, urban and industrial.

A cry for action, 'One Continuous Picnic', successfully launched a new Australian taste for fresh produce, farm markets, and international flavours - one that still exists today.  

"On launching the updated book, Symons says, "In the 25 years since writing the book, it has become easier to eat much better, and much worse, in Australia."

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Saturday, January 16, 2021

"A Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse..." Omar Khayyam

 

A Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough
A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse — and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness —
And Wilderness is Paradise enow.
Omar Khayyam

Time for ALFRESHCO  dining  

After exploring your refrigerator for cold cuts and leftovers, hunt and gather from delicatessens and cafes around Mosman to complement your picnic.

Is the BBQ the answer to the elusive search for an Australian Cuisine?

 

Australia Day brings out our iconic foods of lamingtons, pavlovas, and meat pies – dishes that will continue to be reinterpreted over and over. 

Australian traditional food is the result of Australian history.  It has a foundation of British cooking from the settlers; Asian, European and Middle Eastern ingredients from migrants and travellers; with native Australian ingredients on the rise.  Add some great weather and easy lifestyle, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for distinctly Australian cuisine.

However, the elusive search still goes on. Trying to define an Australian cuisine isn't easy, as I discovered when writing 'ALFRESHCO foreshore flavour' as there are of course many factors to consider, most importantly our outdoor culture.  So for this post, I'm going for the 'barbie' since Aussies have always tried to claim the BBQ as our own where it is considered traditional, if not sacred.

A common factor uniting the barbequing world, whether born in Australia or elsewhere is that it's mainly the men who do the cooking.  And as they do so, they talk.  Richard White, Australian historian and author of 'Inventing Australia', says "Australian men aren't known for their ease at social chat. Beyond the footy scores and house prices, even a soulless electrical grill appears to have the ability to stir genuine yarning and conversation in the way a campfire might once have done."

We've had a tendency for everyday backyard cookout fare  'to cook the food, hot and fast on the grill'.  "We've probably been brought up with the burnt sausage and well-done steak," Australasian BBQ Alliance Co-founder, Adam Roberts, said.  "Whoever was doing the BBQ probably said, 'That's the way I like them'; when in reality they've just stuffed it up."

The Aussie BBQ has evolved; these days tong-wielding enthusiasts are embracing global influences, turning down the heat, and transforming the humble backyard barbie into another excuse to pit mate against mate in healthy competition.

Summarised from ALFRESHCO, foreshore flavour

Celebrate the Picnic

Out to Lunch


"I FELL ASLEEP halfway through lunch the other day.  It's not something I'm proud of, but at least I was lying down at the time.  The sun was warm, the picnic blanket was soft, the wine was working its magic and suddenly I was zzzzzzzzz."

Picnicking should be greatly encouraged - it's good for us.  It gets us out in the fresh air, breaks our routine and brings us back to basics.  Picnicking means drifting off to the cry of children on the swings or in the surf.  In its own way, it is practicing mindfulness, being in the moment while letting your mind drift like a cloud.

Really a picnic can be anything you want it to be.  Chicken sandwiches and a bottle of bubbly;  cheese and crackers with hummus; a baguette with jambon and fromage and a bag of cherries.  

Words by Terry Durack  Summarised from GoodWeekend