Australian Cuisine
Breaking the Rules of Fine Dining
For its first 150 years, the Australian cuisine fluctuated in flavour somewhere between salty lard and shoe leather spiced with charcoal. Without doubt, it was the most boring food in the world. It is tempting to blame the English for the blandness. After all, they transported criminals who were able steal bread, but lacked the imagination to steal the condiments to give the bread some flavour. They also transported the Irish whose experience with exquisite meals amounted to little more than adding some grass clippings to potatoes.
Sadly, as unpalatable as it may be to let the Poms off the hook, the more probable explanation is that the harshness of the Australian environment offered little material to work with when creating recipes. Because the poor soils were unsuited to agriculture, it was only basic vegetables that could be grown with any reliability. Furthermore, chefs had to rely upon a limited range of domesticated European animals because, unlike native animals, they could be contained. Kangaroos won’t herd nicely towards an abattoir and jump most fences. Likewise, Wombats are individualistic creatures that if fenced in, tunnel their way to freedom. Possums and Koalas just climb over the top of fencers.
Aside from being shackled with a narrow range of meats, the lack of refrigeration forced Australian chefs to burn, salt or coat the meat in fat in order to reduce the risk of food poisoning. Perhaps some flavour could have been achieved by making sausages or salamis like many Mediterranean nations. Unfortunately, the menace of blowflies posed a significant risk of infusing a maggot flavour.
With ingredients scarce and the risk of contamination high, it was left to the ladies from charity organisations like the Salvation Army to save Australia's culinary soul. As part of their fund-raising drives, the ladies utilised two ingredients that were in abundance, wheat and eggs. They subsequently made pumpkin and mango scones; pavlovas; Anzac cookies, lamingtons and the humble slice. Till this day, the charitable recipes of Australia's culinary soldiers remain of the few that are recognised as Australian in origin and style.
Pavlova
After World War II, Australia underwent a culinary explosion. It is generally accepted that this explosion was due to the influx of Asian and European immigrants who subsequently expanded the Australian pallet. However this explanation seems flawed as Australia also received massive migration from China, Germany, Italy, and France during the gold rushes of the 1850's yet the basic burnt meat and boiled potatoes prevailed. The only lingering change was the addition of the dim sim to the fish and chip shop.
The more logical explanation for the culinary explosion is that the Snowy Mountains Scheme increased the productivity of the land. Furthermore, improvements in transportation and refrigeration allowed food to be transported over vast distances. As the great economist Adam Smith noted "specialisation is limited to market size." As refrigerated transport expanded the size of the farmer's market, the more they could grow niche products with confidence that they could be sold. As the range of produce in Australia increased, immigrants were able to access the ingredients necessary to continue their culinary traditions. Over time, they introduced Australian chefs to the great meals of the world.
Of course, Australians have never showed much respect to traditions and were soon corrupting recipes that have been considered perfect for centuries. They tested the boundaries of Japanese politeness by using sun-dried tomatoes and brie to make sushi. They bemused the French by marinating escargot in beer and throwing them on the barbie. They have even provoked knife sharpening amongst hot headed Italians by using tandoori paste and yoghurt to make pizza bases. The name given to this style of food is " Modern Australian. "
King Fish Tataki with shredded wonton, and cress in an Asian sauce
Today, the average Australian has a great deal of Mediterranean and Asian ingredients to work with when creating recipes. For example, a bachelor may host a party and buy some ham slices, sundried tomatoes, crackers, avocado, olives and cheeses to make some finger food. After the big night, he may wake up in the morning and wonder what he will eat for breakfast. In his pantry, he finds an old packet of Thai rice paper and sees the leftovers from the night before. Soon, the hungover bachelor is wrapping various combinations of leftover cheese, avocado, ham and olives in the rice paper. The result is some very imaginative recipes. Of course, the food that appeals to a bachelor with a hangover doesn’t always appeal to the wider population.
Australia’s café culture and “modern Australian” restaurants create recipes in much the same way. They creatively combine Asian and Mediterranean ingredients in ways that are very unique. Sometimes the combinations appeal to a wide variety of people. Sometimes they only appeal to bachelors with hangovers. Sometimes bachelors with hangovers prefer their own combinations. This diversity of tastes, diversity of ingredients, and diversity of recipes has made it difficult for modern Australian to be defined by a common style or common recipes. Furthermore, the diversity has made it difficult for modern Australian chefs to refine their recipes or create recipes that appeal to a broad audience.
While the Frankenstein recipes are generally coming from Australians with European heritage, Australians with Asian heritage are attaining more refinement by integrating different ideas into existing national cuisines. The most notable of these chefs is Tetsuya Wakuda; a Japanese migrant who blends French concepts with those of his homeland. Other Asian chefs have mixed recipes from different Asian countries to create Asian restaurants that are not indigenous to any Asian country. Such restaurants are highly prized because as well as serving extremely high quality food, they also serve in the Asian social style. Unlike European Modern Australian that serves food in the European style for individual consumption, the Asian Modern Australian serves food for group consumption; thus retaining the social element that is prized in social gatherings and business meetings.
A small minority of Australian chefs have also strived for a distinctly Australia cuisine via the use of native ingredients such as snake, witchetty grubs, crocodile and emu, which are all available in short supply. So far, most Australians have been reluctant to eat the native produce. Perhaps because the native produce still can't be supplied in sufficient quantities to generate a culture. 