Bite and suck - Australian foods, etiquette and other tips.
 

With many Fodorites coming to Australia in the near future I thought it would be good to educate you in some of our foods and idiosyncrasies.

FOOD
Pies – bite and suck is the key. To eat a pie (preferably handmade or from a quality baker) you need to bite a hole in the pastry then suck out some of the filling. Bite off some pastry and suck again. Repeat with care. The contents are often scaldingly hot.

Lamingtons
Very hard to get good ones. They should be a good sponge covered in good chocolate and then desiccated coconut. Jam filled and mass produced are for the peasants (and gullible tourists)

Fairy Bread
A delight wasted on the palates of the young. Good fresh white bread and butter (not Margarine) covered generously in sprinkles and/or hundreds and thousands.

VEGEMITE
We love it. We know you won’t, but it is fun to see the look on your face when you taste it.
Best on fresh bread and butter or toast. Start with a little bit and work your way up.

Coat of Arms.
Occasionally you will see this on a pub menu. It means you will get kangaroo and emu on the one plate. Both should be cooked rare to medium.

LANGUAGE
We will laugh when you try to say G’day. But try anyway, we like a good laugh.

Australian is a very lazy language. It is hard to imitate, as you have to unlearn so much. We use the schwa quite a lot.

Strangely though the first elements of the Australian accent were described as a “pure” form of English, as it did not have the regional accents and dialects of Britain where people found it hard to understand people from other parts of the country.

We do not have fall, we have autumn

We use metric measurements and degrees Celsius. But just to confuse you, many of us still talk in imperial at times, but very rarely for temperature.

Australians will naturally poke fun at you, but will for the most part not mean to be offensive.

Tipping
Generally, we don't and would prefer you not to, but it is your money and we will take it.

I will think of more and others no doubt will add their thoughts. You will have a great time in our country. Just relax and go with the flow.

No worries.

I have just spent a week in Brisbane/Gold Coast area and on the subject of food and in answer to the old posts about the high cost of food in Australia I will say the following:
night 1/ Dinner was held at the beach using a bbq and having steak, sausages and chicken with a fresh salad from the deli and nice rolls from the bakery and paper plates etc- cost for 9 people was $42.50 not including 2 bottles of wine costing total $16
night 2/ We all went to the RSL Club for dinner and that cost $8 per head
night 3/ We had been shopping so stopped for a meal at the food court and that cost us $ 9.95 per head with drinks included.
night 4/ back to the beach and the bbq but we went upmarket and had seafood this time for a total cost of $56 + the cost of a cask of wine but I cannot remember what that cost though. Nevertheless for 9 people it was not a great deal of money for very beautiful food.
night/5 Stayed at home and cooked
night/6 Went back to the food court and had a mix of many different plates of rice, noodles and meat and chicken dishes - costing $7.50 per person

There are bbq facilities everywhere in Australia - you will find that some are gas, some are electric and some have supplied wood. You do not have to go to restaurants every night and the best food sometimes is at Food courts and Clubs for cheap prices. But if you don't want to take on board the suggestions that those Aussies who have said over and over again where to get cheap food then by all means waste your money. Fish and chips at my local shop is $6.80 and I can never eat all of it. The best of all burgers $5.50.... Kabab... $6.80 Fresh salad rolls $5.90 Large and long salad rolls for two people $8.50 and so on and so forth.

As an ex-pat Aussie living in Israel for many years, I once served fairy bread at my daughter's birthday party. Both the children and the the parents thought I was a bit weird! And then my son took my precious last jar of Vegemite to school and his teacher threw it out after smelling it and thinking it was off!
Whenever I go back for a visit there is a long list of things I have to eat - after the meat pie comes the finger bun |(with lots of butter), a violet crumble bar, a neenish tart, a big python snake from the milk bar, Arnott's Mint slice biscuits, Tim Tams of course...and the list goes on. Then I go for some great steak and seafood dinners.
Now I'm hungry!

What about Twisties and Chocolate Teddy Bear Biscuits.

Do you suck port through your Tim Tam?

Twisties of course. And Cheezels. Only sucked coffee through a Tim Tam though...

This has just made me have an urge for potato wedges with chili sauce and sour cream. We loved those!

Bokhara if you're reading this - what about the bargain lunch we had at the Newport Arms not long ago? Admittedly a local discount courtesy of my brother but still a reasonable price anyway.

Certainly was, Pat. Hard to beat for ambience, Pittwater views, too.

Bokhara, what's the name of the pub on Manly wharf? I've forgotten.
Good value there too, fish and chips for one was enough for two people, and straight off the Manly ferry with terrific views back up Sydney Harbour.

That's it, Pat ..." Manly Wharf Hotel"
http://manlywharfhotel.com.au/

The Skiff Club at Manly is good value, too
http://www.manlyskiff.com.au/

Anyone seeking a good scenic harbourside location for very good pub style food, I suggest mosmanrowers.com.au- right on a ferry wharf if you are using public transport

Thanks Bokhara, the Manly Wharf Hotel. Duh, I should have guessed.

What about that terrific seafood takeaway (or you can sit outside at the tables) near the end of the Corso, on the right just before you get to the Esplanade. I think its called Ocean Seafoods, do you know if its still there?

My grandchildren always have fairy bread at their birthday parties.

oh and absolutey love chocolate lamingtons.