Showing all posts tagged: food
How to define Australian food, if that is possible
15 July 2023
Australian food critic Besha Rodell, writing for The Sydney Morning Herald:
What is Australian food? Is there even any such thing? These are questions I’ve been pondering, researching and, at times, vigorously debating, for decades. We are not Europe. We are not Japan or Korea. Aside from the food of our incredibly diverse — and until recently, often ignored — First Nations cultures, we do not have thousands of years of edible history to draw upon and call our own. This makes the question harder to answer, but it also frees us from some of the bonds that tradition can impose.
I was once part of a community of design creatives called the Australian Infront, where all of these thoughts and questions were raised, except we were discussing design not food.
The group’s objective was to elevate the perception of Australian web design, as we felt the work of local designers was being overshadowed by designers, well, everywhere, but especially in North America and Europe. But we spent a lot of time trying to figure out what exactly Australian web design was, while also working out what it meant to be Australian.
Perhaps we should have framed the question/s from a food perspective instead.
RELATED CONTENT
The Man Who Invented Vegemite, a book by Jamie Callister
21 June 2023
Book cover of The Man Who Invented Vegemite, written by >Jamie Callister.
Strewth, it’s been one hundred years since Australia’s favourite yeast extract, Vegemite, hit the shelves of grocery shops. Although similar (sort of…) to Marmite, which came along in 1902, Vegemite was developed by Cyril Callister, a Melbourne chemist and food technologist in 1922.
In 2012, Jamie Callister, the grandson of Cyril wrote a book, The Man Who Invented Vegemite, to mark what would have been the ninetieth anniversary of Vegemite. And now, ten years later, it looks like the book has been republished to commemorate a century of the viscous, dark brown — and might I add — delicious, spread’s presence in the world.
RELATED CONTENT
Australia, books, food, history, Jamie Callister
The history of the dumpling by Miranda Brown
11 August 2022
An animated history of the dumpling by Miranda Brown, professor of Chinese Studies, at the University of Michigan. While dumplings feature prominently in Chinese cuisine, they may have originated elsewhere, possibly closer to central Asia.
As archaeologists pored over ancient tombs in western China, they discovered some surprisingly well-preserved and familiar relics. Though hardened over 1,000 years, there sat little crescent-shaped dumplings. So who invented these plump pockets of perfection, and how did they spread across the world?
RELATED CONTENT
Bacon butties, the perfect reading companion
25 February 2022
If the fillings of the sandwiches we have for lunch are our only concern, we do indeed live in the lucky country.
While bacon and egg rolls have long been a favourite Australian snack, bacon butties — or, you prefer, sarnies — sandwiches filled with little more than bacon and butter, are apparently becoming more popular in Sydney cafes.
The bacon sarnie (or “butty” if you’re in Northern England) has long been sidelined in Australia in favour of the bacon and egg roll despite massive popularity in the UK. English truck drivers scoff bacon sarnies by the side of the road; Prince Harry once ordered a plate load for a post-wedding party.
I’ll probably stick to my regular coffee-only order in the morning, but for bacon buttie aficionados this sounds like good news.
RELATED CONTENT