RFI: Australian Cuisine

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The GF and I are inviTed to a dinner at the Hotel with a guest chef from down under. We eat seafood, but no other meat.

What does Wakha Pukha Dukha mean?
What is Kutjera?
Pan Roasted Pave of Wakha Pukha Dukah Barramundi?
Wattle seed?
Moreton Bay Bugs?

?????????????

― researching ur life (grady), Saturday, 28 October 2006 03:25 (nineteen years ago)

barramundi is a fish. wattle is a tree, can't imagine eating the seeds. moreton bay bugs are friendly crustaceans, very expensive. kutjera is a "bush tomato". the rest is gibberish as far as i can tell.

― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Saturday, 28 October 2006 03:42 (nineteen years ago)

What, no "Bloomin' Onions"?

― The Real Esteban Buttez (EstieButtez1), Saturday, 28 October 2006 03:44 (nineteen years ago)

googling for "dukha" kinda makes the barramundi sound a little unappealing

― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Saturday, 28 October 2006 03:51 (nineteen years ago)

Apparently, Wakha Pukha Dukah is "a blend of sunflower seed, wattleseed and cummin."

― researching ur life (grady), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:01 (nineteen years ago)

Wattleseed!

― researching ur life (grady), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:03 (nineteen years ago)

i'd spell that dukka. and it's middle eastern... i'm not sure if using wattleseed as an ingredient is really sufficient to reclassify it.

― gem (trisk), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:04 (nineteen years ago)

so, dukka = cumin?

― researching ur life (grady), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:05 (nineteen years ago)

no dukka is a mixture of seeds and spices... it's popular here to dip pieces of bread in olive oil and then in some dukka. it's yummy! but hardly 'australian cuisine'.

― gem (trisk), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:07 (nineteen years ago)

although i suspect cumin would invariably be one of the spices in the mixture

― gem (trisk), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:07 (nineteen years ago)

would wattleseed be native to Australia though?

― researching ur life (grady), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:08 (nineteen years ago)

Also, it's a shame we don't eat meat because (I SHIT YOU NOT) Kangaroo Tenderloin is one of the options.

― researching ur life (grady), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:08 (nineteen years ago)

assuming 'wattleseed' is somehow derived from wattle trees.... wattle trees are very common native plants here, for sure... they are beautiful this time of year. but i think wattle trees (or acacia as they are also known) might also be found on other continents.

― gem (trisk), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:09 (nineteen years ago)

i don't really like kangaroo myself. lots of people do... but still, i think you would usually only see it in restaurants, it's not something that is served up on people's dinner tables every day

― gem (trisk), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:10 (nineteen years ago)

kangaroo's delicious, you can buy it from supermarkets in plastic packs in steak and roast and kebab and sausage form. you are blowing no-one's mind here!

X-POST WRONGO GEM!

― occasional mongrel (kit brash), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:13 (nineteen years ago)

I understand how it may not be out of the ordinary for Aussies, but people eating kangaroo blows this American's mind. Seeing Buffalo on the menu at American restaurants blows my mind.

― researching ur life (grady), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:15 (nineteen years ago)

http://static.flickr.com/118/277189987_49c80ebb97.jpg?v=0

Here is a kinda crappy photo i took of a beautiful wattle bloom in a park near my house a few weeks ago. sadly doesn't do it justice.

wrongo! are you saying you dine on roo on a regular basis? i thought people just gave it to their pets!

― gem (trisk), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:16 (nineteen years ago)

roo is the only red meat I eat regularly!

― occasional mongrel (kit brash), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:22 (nineteen years ago)

really! my apologies... obviously i stand completely corrected. although i can't say i've ever eaten it anywhere except at restaurants myself. is it cheap?

― gem (trisk), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:24 (nineteen years ago)

Are Moreton Bay Bugs closer to Prawn or Lobster?

― researching ur life (grady), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:25 (nineteen years ago)

closer to lobster.

― gem (trisk), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:26 (nineteen years ago)

lobster apaz

xpost

― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:26 (nineteen years ago)

they're pretty tasty. though i prefer freshwater yabbies.

― gem (trisk), Saturday, 28 October 2006 04:27 (nineteen years ago)

Roo meat is vastly overrated.

― The Real Esteban Buttez (EstieButtez1), Saturday, 28 October 2006 05:19 (nineteen years ago)

you're probably overcooking it

― eb strunk (Seuss 2005), Saturday, 28 October 2006 05:47 (nineteen years ago)

is it cheap?

I checked today - roo was $11.45/kilo, cow blade was $9.99, cow rump $18.99.

― occasional mongrel (kit brash), Monday, 30 October 2006 11:46 (nineteen years ago)

The one time I had kangaroo it was pretty strong and gamey. I'm not sure I really liked it.

I don't think there's any such thing as Australian cuisine.

― Revivalist (Revivalist), Monday, 30 October 2006 12:06 (nineteen years ago)

Thanks for all your help the other night (afternoon for you all, I suppose).

I ended up getting the Moreton Bay Bugs. They were excellent. Girlfiend got Wattleseed/ Kutjera Linguine. So-so.

The wattleseed was mixed in with some chocolate stuff for dessert- quite tasty.

― researching ur life (grady), Monday, 30 October 2006 22:08 (nineteen years ago)

I don't think there's any such thing as Australian cuisine.

haha you loser

― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Monday, 30 October 2006 22:35 (nineteen years ago)

Well what IS Australian cuisine? It seems to involve some wanked-out melange of bush foods, south east asian flavours and Jamie Oliver stupidity if the above is anything to go by.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 00:16 (nineteen years ago)

Plus pies.

― luna (luna.c), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 00:34 (nineteen years ago)

and lamingtons.

My kingdom for a lamington.

― luna (luna.c), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 00:35 (nineteen years ago)

I actually overheard an aussie saying they'd never had a lamington the other day and "what are they like?" I almost died.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 01:06 (nineteen years ago)

But yeah. Pies, lamingtons, pavlova, BBQ sausages (must be burnt), good espresso coffee, chinese and thai takeaway, and seafood.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 01:07 (nineteen years ago)

But yeah. Pies, lamingtons, pavlova, BBQ sausages (must be burnt), good espresso coffee, chinese and thai takeaway, and seafood.

Doesn't really add up to a cuisine though, does it? I think the food in Sydney and Melbourne, whether it's what people cook at home or what's served in restaurants, is generally pretty good. But I don't think it really represents a distinctive cuisine. Your typical trendy Sydney restaurant takes a bit of Italian/French Mediterranean and mixes it up with a bit of South-East Asian. It's not wildly different from what you might get in a good restaurant in Los Angeles or London.

― Revivalist (Revivalist), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 09:31 (nineteen years ago)

Well isn't that it anyway? "Australian cuisine" IS a mix of many different traditions, precisely because of the diverse population base from the very beginning of European settlement and 40 000 odd years of indigenous inhabitance.

― salexandra (salexander), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 09:46 (nineteen years ago)

Yes and no... the mix of Mediterranean and South-East Asian is not just prevalent in Australia but across the English-speaking foodie world in general. Leaf through a Jamie Oliver book and it's all Italian and South-East Asian influences.

― Revivalist (Revivalist), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 10:10 (nineteen years ago)

Well sure, because there's been a breakdown in national boundaries due to tourism, migration and globalisation.

I suppose because Australia is a young nation in terms of European settlement (and the marginalisation of Aboriginal people) we don't have a ye olde authentic cuisine like European or Asian or African countries. Even then, while there might be recognisably eg Italian food, I'm sure there has also been an appropriation of other influences within these countries.

We don't really have a cohesive cuisine that is quintessentially Australian unless you look at traditional indigenous foods, and those are not widespread enough to identify them as OUR food. Maybe there are different preparation techniques and types of a generic food like barramundi (which incidentally is an Aboriginal word) which are really only used/eaten here, but that's about as far as it goes.

― salexandra (salexander), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 11:15 (nineteen years ago)

Snags are better burnt as fuck, y'know.

Other great Australian dishes: Fairy Bread, Burgers with Beetroot (WHY?!?), Twisties...and I think that is all...

― The Real Esteban Buttez (EstieButtez1), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 13:04 (nineteen years ago)

Burgers with Beetroot (WHY?!?)

Because they taste good!

― luna (luna.c), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 19:22 (nineteen years ago)

oh my god they taste good

― sunny successor (katharine), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 20:40 (nineteen years ago)

Food served in Restaurants in America /= American Cuisine

So I would think:

Food served in Restaurants in Australia/= Australian Cuisine

The food on the menu Saturday night focused on the terms I laid out at the top of this thread.

― researching ur life (grady), Tuesday, 31 October 2006 21:48 (nineteen years ago)

oh i love beetroot in my burgers too. mmmmm retro betty's in leederville. best burgers IN THE WORLD.

i definitely would identify foods that you can only find in australia, which have become recognised as delicious things to eat, as australian cuisine... moreton bay bugs are a case in point, no?

― gem (trisk), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 00:30 (nineteen years ago)

From Wikipidea:

"Research has shown that 85% of the products in the average Australian supermarket trolley are imported or made by foreign-owned companies with $100 million of profits a day going out of the country." (Dick Smith - a notable and passionately chauvinistic Australian businessman quoted in Foodweek)

― researching ur life (grady), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 02:39 (nineteen years ago)

lets get some dick smith aussiemite up in this area, son

― The Real Esteban Buttez (EstieButtez1), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 02:46 (nineteen years ago)

dick smith spaghetti sauce

― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 02:46 (nineteen years ago)

Who is this Dick Smith?

― researching ur life (grady), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 02:55 (nineteen years ago)

food and electronics magnate

http://www.galstonfestival.com/Galston_2005/2005sponsors/Dick-Smith-Foods-Logo.gif

― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 02:59 (nineteen years ago)

So he's a spokesman for "Keep Australian money in Australia"?

― researching ur life (grady), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 03:00 (nineteen years ago)

"the electronic dick" used to be his company's slogan

id definitely call moreton bay bugs australian cuisine.

― sunny successor (katharine), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 23:27 (nineteen years ago)

australian cuisine: stolen babies

― gbx (skowly), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 23:29 (nineteen years ago)

yum

― sunny successor (katharine), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 23:32 (nineteen years ago)

especially with beetroot

― sunny successor (katharine), Wednesday, 1 November 2006 23:33 (nineteen years ago)

and a burnt fried egg

― estela (estela), Thursday, 2 November 2006 00:53 (nineteen years ago)

I expected that joke so much earlier in this thread's life.

― researching ur life (grady), Thursday, 2 November 2006 00:57 (nineteen years ago)

Fuck putting beetroot in everything. Every time I thought I had bought a nice ciabatta or something in Oz it had a huge hidden slab of fucking beetroot in the middle. Also, your kebabs are weird.

Other than that, I was generally impressed with quality and price of Australian cusine.

― chap who would dare to welcome our new stingray masters (chap), Thursday, 2 November 2006 01:32 (nineteen years ago)

how would anyone know if the kebabs are weird? surely no one ever remembers eating them. the only way you know you had one is if there is a trail of shredded lettuce from the front door to the lounge and a pitiful little pile of greaseproof paper and pita bread left on the coffee table when you get up after a bender.

― gem (trisk), Thursday, 2 November 2006 01:35 (nineteen years ago)

Haha :D Mmm souvs.

Hey we're forgetting an essential:

PUMPKIN SCONES.

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 2 November 2006 01:36 (nineteen years ago)

oh yes i LOVE the pumpkin scone. hot with butter.

― gem (trisk), Thursday, 2 November 2006 01:37 (nineteen years ago)

beetroot rules, it should be in everything

I actually overheard an aussie saying they'd never had a lamington the other day and "what are they like?" I almost died.

My new favourite morning coffee shop makes these. I must give them a go (what are they?)

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 2 November 2006 07:03 (nineteen years ago)

Basically it is a plain sponge cake, cut into a cube shape, coated in chocolate icing/covering (not the hard stuff, just liquidy) and then dried coconut. Sometimes, the cubes are cut in half and cream and jam is put in the centre. V tasty.

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 2 November 2006 07:08 (nineteen years ago)

The lambington was very good. Up their with Koala Tacos; a Few more native dishes and you'll have a cuisine.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 2 November 2006 10:51 (nineteen years ago)

you can just replace the sponge cake with actual sponge. same difference

― no grundies (bulbs), Thursday, 2 November 2006 11:00 (nineteen years ago)

is deep fried camembert australian? i dunno but it just seems like it might be...

― no more grundies (bulbs), Thursday, 2 November 2006 11:02 (nineteen years ago)

Don't know about the Camembert, but Australia has a fine tradition of inedible deep-fried foodstuffs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiko_Roll

― Revivalist (Revivalist), Thursday, 2 November 2006 11:13 (nineteen years ago)

o the chiko! i cld go one now! vegetarian food f the deep fried gods

― sans grundies (bulbs), Thursday, 2 November 2006 11:43 (nineteen years ago)

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