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Australian CuisineBy Sunil Tanna
Australia is a large country in the Southern hemisphere. The country includes the Australian continent itself, as well as a number of surrounding islands such as Tasmania. The
region has long been inhabited by native peoples (known as "Aboriginal peoples"), however was colonized the British starting in the late 18th century.
Australia has many links to the United Kingdom.
The first European settlers to arrive in Australia were from Britain, and Australia was a British colony, and later a Dominion within the British Empire. There are still many links between the two countries,
including the fact that they share the same Queen, Australia is a prominent member of the commonwealth, and the Australian flag continues to incorporate the British flag (the Union flag). Australia has also
developed links with other countries in the region, particularly South East Asian countries, and after World War II experienced immigration from Mediterranean countries, and later South East Asia.
Australian
cuisine reflects the country's multicultural nature. You can find British-influenced dishes, dishes inspired by Mediterranean cuisine, recipes inspired by Asian foods, and also "bush tucker", which is
traditional food, often foraged, that was eaten by travellers in the wilderness areas of Australia known as the "outback" (bush tucker is in fact often inspired by traditional Aboriginal recipes).
Some Australianfavorites include:
* Chiko Roll - The Australian version of spring rolls. They are deep-fried, and contain mutton and mixed vegetables.
* Damper - A traditional wheat-based bread that was prepared by outback travellers on the roadside.
* Pie floater - A meat pie, prepared in the British style, covered with tomato sauce, turned upside down,
and served with a thick pea soup.
* ANZAC Biscuits - Oat biscuits. According to Australian (and New Zealand) tradition, they were first prepared for the ANZAC troops participating in the Gallipoli campaign in
World War I.
* Pavlova - Like ANZAC Biscuits, New Zealanders also claim to have invented this dish first, although few Australians would agree. Pavlova is a meringue prepared so that is crispy on the outside
however fluffy on the inside.
Discover more about Australian Cuisine at http://www.recipesmaniac.com/cook_australian.php - visit this site for more information, pictures and details of Australian cookbooks.
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I hate humidity. It gets so hot here in NY, the minute you leave any building, you start sweating immediately. It doesn't help that my apartment becomes a sauna in the summer time. Now I see why people like laptops!
You can work in a nicely air conditioned store!
So anyhow, here's my report on my cookies. You're probably wondering what my custom recipe was for the cookies. I don't blame you, these were some TASTY
cookies. Be warned though, they do pack a caffeine punch, so don't have them with a night-cap!
So this cookie recipe takes the best of both worlds of the Words to Eat By cookie and the Neiman Marcus Cookie
(via Leite's Culinaria).
Here is the final recipe:
Virtual Frolic Caffeinated Chocolate Chip Cookie
Butter: 1/2 cup (1 stick) - melted
Flour: 1 1/2 cup
Baking Soda: 1/2 teaspoon
Baking Powder: 1/2 teaspoon
Salt: 1/2 teaspoon
Sugar: 3 tablespoons
Light Brown Sugar: 2/3 cup (or 1 cup, if you don't have raw sugar)
Raw Sugar: 1/3 cup
Egg: 1 egg
Vanilla extract: 2 teaspoons
Espresso powder: 2 teaspoons
Chocolate chips: 9 ounces
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Combine melted butter, all sugars and mix until butter and sugar are fully mixed.
3. Add egg and vanilla extract to the sugar mixture and mix.
4. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
5. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture.
6. Add chocolate chips and espresso powder and mix.
7. Place cookie dough into the fridge for atleast a hour.
8. Use 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie.
9. Press down cookie dough, using 2 fingers.
10. Bake for 20 minutes.
So as you can tell, this cookie is largely influenced by the Neiman Marcus cookie, but I found the minor changes I made, to make the cookie a bit more chewy. The larger amount of
espresso powder was much more obvious, and did pack a flavor punch, as well as a caffeine punch. As with the original Neiman Marcus cookie, be warned when having this cookie in the evening! As two teaspoons is
equivalent to two cups of espresso, that's quite a bit of caffeine in each cookie!
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Sank Food
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Anyhow, the pasta dish of choice was Spaghetti Puttanesca. Puttanesca is one of my favorite pasta sauces. It's simple, yet contains so many of my favorite things, that it's fantastic. The downfall is, since it's so
simple, I never order it at restaurants, as it's just so utterly easy to make. Anyhow, the other day, Cook's Illustrated listed a simple Puttanesca recipe. I had to try it out, and this blah weekend was the perfect
opportunity. If I made the whole 4-person serving, I wouldn't have to cook for days!! The recipe was fantastic. I also liked the fact that it was a "use up the ingredients" kind of recipe. I hate when
recipes ask you for 5 olives, and then you're stuck with 2/3 of a can of olives. This recipe combined the perfect amounts of garlic, anchovies, and all the other ingredients and made a great pasta sauce. In my
attempt to be healthy, I used whole wheat pasta. It actually matched the pasta sauce really well.
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So this month's BlogParty theme is Manly appetizers and cocktails. BlogParty is a monthly party hosted by Stephanie at Dispensing Happiness. So manly foods eh? The first thing that popped into mind was wings..what
else? It's a finger food, very manly, especially when you make the sauce extra spicy and nothing can beat wings in the summer time. I thought I'd be healthy, by making some baked buffalo wings. I happened to come
upon an excellent and easy recipe at Food & Wine.
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I was shocked to find that making buffalo wings was so easy. I for some reason thought that it was a convoluted process which took lots of time, I was wrong! You put together a simple rub for the wings prior to
putting them into the oven, bake them for about 25-30 minutes and then dip them into a ketchup based sauce, that's it! Since the majority of the flavor is based on the sauce used after baking, it leaves lots of room
for experimenting and also allows you to adjust spiciness levels for various tastebuds. This recipe says that the sauce as is, is "incendiary", but I beg to differ. It was rather mild..or maybe I have a
high tolerance! The blue cheese sauce was great as well. Even though I'm not a fan of blue cheese, I didn't mind this sauce at all. It didn't have any of the typical stinkiness you usually associate with blue cheese.
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Australian cuisine has the most diverse range, quality, and inventiveness than many others in the world. However, it took Australia some time to evolve from the scenes of meat pies, Vegemite sandwiches, and sausage
rolls to the scene of dishes such as "seared kangaroo fillet with wilted beetroot greens and roasted onions". The culinary art of Australia only luxuriated in the 1990s. But at that time, it was already
considered the most adventurous in the world. Each capital city has seen a swarm of new restaurants within the genre 'Modern Australia' cuisine, with inventive chefs at the helm and an audience of willing hedonists
at the ready. This culinary reawakening is due to two factors: the wealth of superlative Australian produce, including native food, and the plethora of international cuisine brought to Australia by its immigrants
from all over the world.
Australia is also well known for its fresh ingredients such as seafood, local fruits, beef and lamb, as well as its world class cheeses. Like in Italy and France, Australia can be
divided into regions that are known for particular produce such as King Island cream, Sydney rock oysters, Bowen mangoes, Coffin Bay scallops, Tasmanian salmon, and Illabo milk-fed lamb. Each state has its
acknowledged specialties, which travelers should take advantage of.
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Popular Foods in AustraliaBy Ian Pennington
Australia is much famed for meat pies, mushy peas and vegemite however more to that is its vastness in cuisine culture. Aussies are fascinated about the fusion of
European and Asian dishes specifically flavored originally by Italians, Thais, Middle Eastern locals, Japanese and the Brits. Popular foods in Australia go beyond the list, though.
Some Australians are fond
of French cuisine that has a small touch of Japanese. Their eating habit depends largely on their roots. Some who've got European ancestry mainly dine the European way while those with Asian blood eat Asian flavored
recipes. Popular foods in Australia during breakfast are fruits, cereals, toasted bread. At lunch, they serve a cake or any type of sandwich and the famous Australian meat pie.
Popular foods in Australia are
barbeque which Aussies term as Barbie normally taken on a half bun with some sauce. The Vegemite comprised of wheat and cereals combined together to produce a dark brown dish that preferences salty. Children are
fascinated of putting vegemite on bread for school lunch. Others do get stuffed with Spaghetti Bolognese placed as meat of the bread.
The fact that most Australian households do not have house maids, dwellers
are attuned to stocking canned goods and ready-to-go ones as chic / stylish / trendy / hip / cool foods in Australia like sausages, giant burger steaks, fish sticks, chips, pizza and fat-rich roasted items. This
scenario is making Australia one of the most obese countries in the globe, however of course there's a healthier option to buy organic foods from supermarkets.
The largest to have given influence to chic /
stylish / trendy / hip / cool foods in Australia is Asiancuisine succeeded by Italian and Greek dishes such as pasta and seafood the Mediterranean way. The older generation of diners has remained loyal to British
dining menus, say lamb in mint sauce or pork in apple sauce dished with three kinds of veggies like potatoes, carrots and peas. No Aussie does get satisfied without potatoes.
Popular foods in Australia are
usually sauced. Sauces range from tomato mixed with cinnamon or sweet ingredient to spicy ones. Seafood is also well followed by Australians while cheeses are less salty. Some are also fanatics of mussels which the
supermarkets offer. One famous one is the New Zealand Mussel famed to be on of the greatest worldwide. Tourists and locals alike agree on it. More of chic / stylish / trendy / hip / cool foods in Australia are
macadamia nuts, bush tucker dishes and kangaroo meats. Beverages that are well-loved are Victoria Bitter beer, The XXXX beer and wine which come in a carton box (termed as cask) so that there isn't a need to get a
cork opener to get yourself a drink. Australian dishes are as assorted as its culture and remain to be fusions of everything from each of the continents of the world.
Ian Pennington is an accomplished niche
website developer and author. To learn more about Australian foods, please visit Australian Vacations Today for current articles and discussions.
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