The
guide to eating in Oceania, its intricacies,
methods and secrets. If you feel you can
improve or add to this section please email
us.
Eating in Oceania is an enjoyable experience
and a lot cheaper than you would expect.
Pub meals are great value, especially in
outback areas, and traditional island food
is often a chance to appreciate local culture
as well. Don't be afraid to try some of
the more exotic dishes. If budgeting is
a problem have a look at our cost saving
tips.
AUSTRALIA
One of the standard jokes about Australian
cuisine is that there are four meals a day:
breakfast, lunch, dinner and beer. There
is no real authentic Australian cuisine
as waves of immigration have brought in
dishes from all corners of the world and
moved away from traditional English foods.
A common Australian diet could include anything
from Greek moussaka or souvlaki, to Lebanese
tabbouleh, to Indian, Thai or Malaysian
curries, German dumplings, Italian pasta,
Chinese sweet and sour to a beef steak.
Often these items may all be served on the
same menu. Exotic local and "bush" foods
are also popular menu items like emu pate,
kangaroo tail, wattle-seed ice cream etc.
Seafood is also a regular addition with
some favourites John Dory, barramundi, Moreton
Bay bugs, yabbies, crayfish and lobster.
Vegetarian food is also becoming increasingly
common and popular. Food is grown locally
so it's always fresh and cheap.
Specialities
The BBQ - BBQs are probably known as the
quintessential Australian meal thanks to
Paul Hogan and warm weather that encourages
Australians to picnic outside in family
and friend groups as much as possible. Mostly
Australians will meet in parks, gardens
and seasides on the weekend to use public
plates but most families will also have
a plate at home.
Shepherd's Pie - Meat and potato bake with
other vegetables thrown in. Meat Pie - These
are very popular at sports events. They
are doughy shells contain meat of unknown
origins or vegetable fillings. Usually they
are coated with tomato sauce (ketchup).
Vegemite - Dark yeast extract that is spread
on bread and something all Australian children
grow up on.
The Fry Up - Anything you can thrown in
a saucepan and fry - usually for breakfast
or brunch eg. mushrooms, tomatoes, eggs,
meat, potatoes etc.
Pavlova - Generally for festive occasions
like birthdays or christmas and summer picnics
or get togethers. A meringue base of whipped
white egg covered in cream and topped with
seasonal fruits.
Lamington's - Coconut covered pound cake
dipped in chocolate.
Anzac Biscuits - Plain biscuits that were
traditionally sent to soldiers during WWI
and common cuisine amongst Australian families
now.
Vegemite - This yeast by-product is something
all Aussie kids grow up on, and is definitely
an acquired taste. It is meant to be scraped
thinly on bread or crackers.
Meat and Three Veg - Any meal with some
meat and a few kinds of boiled vegetables.
Often served in country areas or for basic
home cooked meals.
The Pub Meal - These meals tend to be more
of the "meat and three veg" and can vary
dramatically in quality. Bistro meals eaen
in the dining room or lounge bar are usually
$10-15 with a self-serve salad bar. Bar
or counter meals are usually eaten in the
public bar and may cost as little as $4.
Common items include steak with eggs and
salad or chicken schnitzel with vegetables
etc.
Fish n' chips - Fried and battered fish,
rolled in newspaper and served with British-style
chips (thick french fries).
Fried Chook (chicken) or BBQ chicken - A
popular meal, and a common supermarket item.
Flavoured Milks - Almost every corner street
has a milk bar which sell pies, sandwhiches
and milkshakes.
Aboriginal Specialities or Bush
Tucker
These foods are generally being increasingly
incorporated into Australian menu's. For
example meats like kangaroo filet, crocodile
meat, Northern Territory buffalo and wild
magpie geese may be found in supermarkets
and menu's or wild foods like bunya nuts,
Kakadu plums and wild rosella flowers. It
is actually forbidden for non-indigenous
Australians to hunt on native title land
to eat these foods mentioned below. However
if Aboriginal peope procure and prepare
them for you as a gift there is no harm
accepting and you will be privileged to
take part in their native customs. Some
of these include: Goanna, Crayfish, Yabbies
(freshwater shrimp), Witchetty grubs, Roo
tail, Wild honey, Turtle and turtle eggs
Terminology
Breakfast or "brekkie" is rarely eaten out,
although trendy inner city areas a "brunch"
is commonly taken in cafes (a meal between
breakfast and lunch). Breakfasts for Australians
can consist of spaghetti, eggs, toast and
sausage.
"Tea" refers to dinner and is the largest
meal of the day.
"Entree" is an appetizer in Australia
A "cuppa" is a tea or coffee or snack between
meals.
Alcohol
Australians do not drink alcohol as a
rule with their meals. An increasing number
now take wine regularly with their meals
but beer is more of a social drink before
or after eating. Take heed of the strict
drink driving rules in Australia. The
legal age for drinking in Australia is
18 years. People driving under the invludence
lose their license. The maximum permissible
blood-alcohol concentration level for
drivers is mostly 0.05%
Beer
Australians love their beer but depending
on where you hail from it will affect
your choice. Visitors to Australia must
take their choice from what is offered.
Queenslanders will mostly drink XXXX (pronounced
Fourex), in Victoria it's VicBitter, in
New South Wales Toohey's or Fosters. Standard
beer usually contains around 4.9% alcohol,
although light beers will have between
2% and 3.5%
Local drinking taverns and bars are generally
referred to as the pub and there is some
etiquette to pub drinking. Generally payment
is via the shout, where drinking mates
alternate rounds. Some other common phrases
for beer are a slab (24 containers of
beer) that you might throw in the esky
(ice chest) to take to a picnic, sports
or the beach.
However ordering a glass of beer is not
as easy as you might think. Beer by the
glass comes in three sizes - 200, 285
and 425 ml. A 200ml beer is called a "glass"
in Victoria and Queensland, a "butcher"
in South Australia or a "beer" in Western
Australia or New South Wales. A 285ml
or 10 oz beer is a "pot" in Victoria and
Queensland, a "schooner" in South Australia,
a "handle" in the Northern Territory,
a "middie" in New South Wales and Western
Australia and "10 ounce" in Tasmania.
The largest drink is called a "schooner"
in New South Wales and Northern Territory
and a "pint" in South Australia.
Punch is a common wedding and celebratory
drink and can be alcoholic or not.
Wines
The Australian climate is great for producing
wines and they are gaining international
recognition and aclaim. The overseas export
is now huge. Some of the best-known wine
regions include the Hunter Valley of New
South Wales, the Barossa Valley and Clare
Valleys of South Australia, the Swan and
Margaret River in Western Australia and
Derwent and Tamar Valleys in Queensland.
It is possible to sample wine direct from
wineries, otherwise you can pick up wines
in supermarkets or bottle shops (some
are drive-through) for as little as $10.
Specialities
The BBQ - BBQs are popular all throughout
Oceania and also in New Zealand. When the
weather allows family and friends will meet
in parks, gardens and seasides on the weekend
to use public plates but most families will
also have a plate at home.
Pavlova - Generally for festive occasions
like birthdays or christmas and summer picnics
or get togethers. A meringue base of whipped
white egg covered in cream and topped with
seasonal fruits. Both Australia and New
Zealand claim heritage to this dish.
Lamington's - Coconut covered pound cake
dipped in chocolate. This is also eaten
a lot in Australia.
Vegemite - This yeast by-product is something
all New Zealand (and Australian) kids grow
up on, and is definitely an acquired taste.
It is meant to be scraped thinly on bread
or crackers.
Meat and Three Veg - Any meal with some
meat and a few kinds of boiled vegetables.
Often served in country areas or for basic
home cooked meals.
The Pub Meal - These meals tend to be more
of the "meat and three veg" and can vary
dramatically in quality. Bistro meals eaen
in the dining room or lounge bar are usually
$10-15 with a self-serve salad bar. Bar
or counter meals are usually eaten in the
public bar and may cost as little as $4.
Common items include steak with eggs and
salad or chicken schnitzel with vegetables
etc.
Fish n' chips - Fried and battered fish,
rolled in newspaper and served with British-style
chips (thick french fries).
Fried Chook (chicken) or BBQ chicken - A
popular meal, and a common supermarket item.
Flavoured Milks - Almost every corner street
has a milk bar which sell pies, sandwhiches
and milkshakes.
PACIFIC ISLANDS If you're planning a trip to any
of the Pacific Islands you can rest assured
to find good quality, often home-grown food
in copious qualities. Food is always cooked,
not eaten raw, and is almost never spiced
or heavily peppered.
Traditionally food consist predominately
of fresh fish, root crops, coconuts and
leafy vegetables. Taro, breadfruit, sweet
potato or banana and fruits, yams, rice
and potatoes are common staples. If you've
never eaten or even heard of these foods
here is a brief description:
Yams - these are similar
to sweet potatoes and often confused with
them, although they are different plants.
They contain more sugar and have a higher
moisture content, grow very large at times
and there are over 150 species of them.
They can be all colours - off-white, yellow,
purple or pink, and the skin anywhere from
off-white to dark brown. They tend to be
fairly mealy.
Every year festivals are held to celebrate
the yam harvest throughout the Pacific.
Papua New Guinea's Trobiand Islands possibly
hold the most famous of these in June-July.
Special yam houses are built to store the
yams and the entire islands have a bit of
a "free-love" period during the festival.
Taro - this is a starchy,
potato like vegetable but it has fibrous
skin and gray-white (sometimes purple-tinged)
flesh. It can be boiled, fried or baked
and is eaten in the Polynesian Islands.
It is a little nutlike when cooked but easy
to digest.
Breadfruit - this is actually
native to the Pacific. Breadfruits are quite
large, about 8-10 inches in diameter and
have a bumpy green skin. The centre tastes
rather bland and is cream in colour. It
is usually eaten before it ripens and becomes
too sweet. It can be baked, grilled, fried
or boiled and served sweet or savoury.
Sweet Potato - very similar
to the normal potato but usually reddish
in colour or light-yellow with a sweeter
flavour. Not to be confused with yams above.
Cassava - the skin of
the cassava is tough and brown, whereas
inside it is crisp and white. There are
both sweet and bitter cassava's but the
bitter cassava's are poisonous unless cooked.
Cassava is used to make Tapioca.
Tapioca - this starchy
substance is extracted from the root of
the cassava plant. It can be used as a flour
or starch as a thickening agent for soups,
glazes etc.
Kava - This is used as
a natural stimulant, herbal medicine and
recreational drug. You chew the roots and
spit intoa bowl and drink. It is bitter
and medicinal and can give you a bit of
a buzz. It is used in Tahiti, Polynesisa,
Fiji and Micronesia.
