Comments on: Australian Hamburgers, Lamingtons, Meat Pies, and Other Foods

By: theprofessionalhobo

theprofessionalhobo — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 01:11:56 +0000

@BennO – Glad you found the Asian grocer! And yup – always best to grow your own. I love having little herb gardens if I get the chance; it makes home cooking so much more rewarding – and tasty!

By: BennO

BennO — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 23:06:29 +0000

Oh and by the way hobo, I did find the part of town with asian groceries. It’s was amazingly like being at home again…all the same stuff! I got all I needed except for coriander root. The bunches of coriander (or cilantro) are sold with the roots chopped off. Weird. All the shop keepers agreed it was weird but no one could tell me where to get it. Gotta grow my own I guess.

By: BennO

BennO — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 23:03:41 +0000

Just stopped by to see if this was still going.

I dunno Elsie, I think the seppoes have it all over us on the simple food front. Sure there’s the level of stuff that is all corn syrup and sweet etc but you can get away from it pretty easily and I’ve been eating pretty well since i got here (seattle). The cafe food is as good as home too I think (salads and sangas etc). Also very good produce here, and much of it organic.

As for the coffee, here in Seattle it’s as good or close to as good as home. It seems to come from a slightly different roasting profile or blend of beans, I think because of the national emphasis on drip (ironically it’s not as sweet as our espresso in Oz), but it’s still pretty nice.

By: theprofessionalhobo

theprofessionalhobo — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 03:47:41 +0000

@Elsie – The Aussies certainly do have the upper hand on America when it comes to well-made coffee and beautiful eggs hollandaise! Thanks for your input…very well said on every front. Cheers!

By: Elsie

Elsie — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 23:12:58 +0000

As an australian stranded/studying in the middle of Iowa I can attest the to gastronomic abominations of this country.
I can also say that Australia is in fact reknowned for producing some of the best chefs and restaurants in the world – in fact there is one American quite enamoured with such an Australian chef, you may have heard of Oprah and Curtis Stone.
Australian food is reflective of our muticultural society… rather than the American melting pot (or its culinary equivalent: deep fryer) so an average Australian family is as likely to serve up Malaysian Laksa, Indian Vindaloo, Hungarian Goulash, Middle Eastern lamb Kebabs as it is to serve meat and 3 veg or roast lamb. If you ask any Australian you will find that they have a very well developed palate and do not need added sugar, corn syrup, fats or colourings to make food more appealing.
I can safely say that the biggest thing that I miss from home is a proper cafe with an acutal barista working a coffee machine, saucepan /properly poached eggs with fresh sourdough bread and wilted spinach with a side of homemade hollandaise. What I would do for an Australian coffee and breaky…
But I must say that the mexican food and take away pizza superior to that of the “take away” style available in Australia – although I don’t know that it competes with a genuine Italian restaurant/pizzeria or Mexican restaurant in Australia, the fastfood stuff taste much better than out own Pizza Hut or Dominoes.
So yes definitely different strokes for different folks, but there are indeed cultural influences in Australian food take make it so delicious and unique – just like our society.

By: theprofessionalhobo

theprofessionalhobo — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 02:18:19 +0000

@BennO – I can’t speak for all areas of the States, but I certainly know that in major urban centres in Canada (and many of the cities I’ve been to in the US) there’s always an asian grocery store where you can get those awesome ingredients – an inexpensively no less! Enjoy the search…sometimes that’s half the fun!

By: BennO

BennO — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 03:26:39 +0000

I’m with you tho, one of the best things about food in Oz is all the Thai and Vietnamese. Well not all of it, some restaurants are pretty ordinary but you can find some really good places. And the availability of key (tho potentially obscure) ingredients like galangal means you can cook pretty much every south east Asian dish at home from scratch. Hopefully Asian groceries are available here too cos I’ll miss that if it’s not.

By: theprofessionalhobo

theprofessionalhobo — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 02:24:35 +0000

@BennO – Heh heh; I guess it’s all your frame of reference! I agree that simple flavours taste great, but then again I contradict myself by also liking (or rather, loving!) spicy foods. Hot sauce is my friend…

By: BennO

BennO — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 01:55:44 +0000

Funny reading all this. I’ve just arrived in Seattle (from Oz) for a couple of years and was searching where to buy lamingtons here (they want me to bring lamingtons to work for Aust day) and came across this post. It’s funny and interesting reading Dorothy’s and Allan’s comments. The traditional aussie food is pretty bland (meat and two veg etc) and after being in the US for a few weeks and having visited a few times before I can see why it would be thought as such. Food is drowned in so much sauce/dressing here. It’s full on.

I used to always try to cook flavour filled meals at home, infused with Asian or European influences and all that modern food blah. And don’t get me wrong I still love all that stuff. But over time I realised how much I liked the taste of vegies on their own. With no sauce and no butter, broccoli tastes great! As does sweet potato and carrots or green beans. So a nice rack of lamb (or slab of steak) along with some roast carrots and sweet spuds and steamed brocc with no sauce just the raw flavours of the ingredients….man I love it! But for now, the food of the US beckons. Should be fun!

By: theprofessionalhobo

theprofessionalhobo — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 23:01:23 +0000

@Antony – Yum! I too got to experience scones in Britain, at a very special place in York no less (Betty’s Tea Rooms). I love love love scones! (Possibly a little too much for my own good).