Top 10 Australian Foods

Australian food has come a long way thanks to the multicultural development of the country. Today, we are blessed with a rich and unique food culture. Anything that you could want to eat is available in Australia, from falafel to fish n chips, tom yum to tacos but there are a few local foods that are true blue Aussie.

Here is our top 10! (Psst, other native foods that didn’t quite make the list but are nonetheless delicious include: kangaroo, barramundi, Warrigal greens, crocodile and finger-limes)

1. Vegemite

Aussies enjoy Vegemite for breakfast, lunch and tea, or so the jingle goes, and strangely enough – given that Vegemite is a powerfully tasting yeast extract, with the consistency of tar – it’s true. Vegemite is such a staple of our diet that it’s available in squeezable travel tubes, so no one ever has to be without, even on the road.

2. Meat pies

There’s no denying that meat pies have had somewhat of a renaissance in recent years.  Where once a meat pie was limp pastry wrapped around a warm mix of questionable meat and gravy, meat pies now have flaky buttery pastry with fancy fillings like; kangaroo, mushroom and thyme or even Thai green curry.

Whether it’s Four’n Twenty or a gourmet variation, meat pies are undoubtedly one of the most popular food of Australia.

3. Sausage sizzle snags

Nothing could be more fair dinkum than the Aussie backyard barbie complete with the ubiquitous snag snaga. Be it fresh off the Barbie or from the weekend sausage sizzle outside the Hardware store, nothing beats a slice of white bread wrapped around a snag, and a tong-full of onions all covered in tomato sauce.

4. Tim Tam

Around 35 million packets of TimTams are sold each year according to Arnott’s -that’s 400 million biscuits! The deliciousness of TimTams cannot be overstated, and quite frankly the numbers speak for themselves that Aussies love a good biccie. The Tim Tam Slam is the best way to enjoy one. You bite off the opposite corners of the biscuit and use it as a straw to slurp up hot chocolate or Milo.

5. Anzac biscuits

Anzac Biccies were first made by the women folk of Australia, who sent them to the troops during WWI. Thanks to the perfect recipe, soldiers who were fighting in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) received tins of anzac biscuits which were still crunchy despite the long journey. It is arguable that the only reason golden syrup is still in production is because of the popularity of Anzac biscuits.

6. Pavlovas

The pav was first cooked in the 1920s, in honour of Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova who was touring Australasia. Pavlovas are a popular celebratory treat in Australia. Simple yet satisfying, Pavlovas are just meringue, decorated with whipped cream and fresh seasonal fruit – what’s not to love about that?

7. Fairy bread

How is it possible that something so simple could contain so much magic? There is something comforting about the never changing recipe for fairy bread; sliced white bread cut into triangles, spread with margarine and then sprinkled with hundreds-and-thousands. Bam! What could be more satisfying (to my 5-year-old self) than that? Let’s hope fairy bread and chocolate crackles remain in the country’s culinary consciousness forever.

8. Hamburger with beetroot

Australian’s aren’t particularly fussed with beetroot. It’s not like it’s in every dish and it’s not flying off the shelves at supermarkets either. But strewth mate, if your burger’s got no beetroot on it (and preferably an egg too), it’s just un-Australian.

9. Damper

This simple soda bread is made using the least ingredients possible; flour, salt and water. It is baked on the coals of a campfire and has the ability to recall memories of the typical Aussie childhood camping trips, like the Madeleines in Swann’s Way. Quintessentially Australian, it goes perfectly with either campside stew or cuppa billy tea.

10. Macadamia Nuts

Crunchy buttery macadamia nuts are popular the world over, but did you know that they are native to Australia? In Australia, macadamias are dipped in dark chocolate, added to salads, churned into nut butter and even used for their oil.