What are some interesting food products to bring home?
 

What interesting food products did you find that we don't have in the US that you were able to bring back with you?

Hi Landini -

I don't know how interesting they are, but Tim Tams (chocolate cookies), found in Australia, are delicious!

On my last visit to Australia I brought
back some Australian crispbread - similar to crackers. I found crispbread in several grocery stores near the cheese section - love 'em with flavored cream cheese and marinated sun dried tomatoes.

I also brought back some wine - I've discovered that most of the wine I like in OZ is unavailable outside the region in which it's made - so if I find one I like, I get a bottle or two.

I also brought back Tim Tams for the cookie eaters in my family and Malteasters for us - the best malted milk balls I've ever had. They now make them in both milk and dark chocolate.

Just thought of another one - Worthworth's sells cashews in unusual flavors like cracked black pepper and Thai lime and chile - they're good and easy to transport.

We brought back:

Tim Tams
Vegemite
Pismaniye -- rose-flavored Turkish cotton candy
Bundaberg rum
Coffee -- from Queensland, can't remember the brand name

what about traditional Abiriginol foods? Anyone try any of that?

timtams
vegemite (though we can get it here, it's more expensive)
chicken salt
chicken flavored potato chips
honey ham flavored potato chips
chicken twisties (like cheetos but chicken flavored)
pods

Liz -

What are pods?

Mel-
pods come in different flavors-- snickers, bounty, etc. they are a Mars product. Hard to explain, but here's a photo of the box.
http://www.gavinchew.com/images/PODS.jpg
They're good! My Aussie friend sends me some in the mail once in awhile. My fave are the Bounty.
Liz

Liz -

Thanks - mystery solved. How this chocolate lover missed those is yet another mystery...

I did find the mini Arnott's and Mint Slice balls though.

They do have some interesting snacks down under don't they? I don't usually eat chips (okay, crisps), but will admit to trying some of those chicken flavored things myself. Also tried some lime and black pepper chips, but my all time favorite is salt and vinegar.

landini - suggest you just browse through a couple of OZ grocery stores and you'll find all sorts of interesting things. In fact, just thought of another one - we've brought back honey too - vanilla flavored, ginger flavored, and of course Leatherwood honey from Tas.

Can you tell it's lunchtime in my part of the world?

What do you do with flavored honeys. I love those crazy flavors of crisps. We don't really have that in the States.

Obviously you lot missed the best of all - Bundaberg Royal Rum Liquour - or even the one with chocolate.
I don't think you have too much sparkling red Burgandy in the US or Sparkling Sharaz which I love.
Try some Australian tea as well i.e. Nerada which is made without any sprays and is clean and beautiful. Anyone going to North Queensland can tour the farm. Or those in and around the Gold Coast can go to the Tea plantation in Northern NSW - name is Mareeba Tea I think but just cannot remember the correct spelling. These are available on shelves in the supermarkets too. For those who like ginger the area around the Sunshine Coast grows about 80% of the World's needs and makes all sorts of wonderful things with it from sauces to confectionery etc. Interesting one is Ginger Marmalade or Ginger jam - very good!

As for traditional Aboriginal foods - some chefs are using so-called "bush tucker" ingredients from native plants - wattle (acacia) seed, lemon myrtle and other stuff, even a tomato-like fruit if memory serves. I think the best place to get them (and many other local foods) would be the food hall in a David Jones department store - there'll be one in any major city's downtown area.

I second Liz's suggestion of ginger products. Ginger is the food of the gods, or should be.

If you're in Cairns you can buy all the bush tucker spices at Rusty's market on Friday/Sat/Sun morning. Huge range and high turnover so everything really fresh. Another favourite there with Italian visitors in particular is Gagarra honey from Atherton Tableland and its cheap. Many US visitors are so taken with Tableland coffee after they visit the various plantations and get to taste it that they have it shipped to US regularly. Skybury, near Mareeba has
supplies the enormous UK chain, Sainsbury, and there's other smaller plantations well worth a visit.

Apropos of nothing, Woolworths in Cairns city is the largest retailer of Tim Tams in the country, the Japanese love them too.

Regarding ginger - I have an Australian friend living in the US who loves crystalized ginger - not sure what he does with it though - just eats it or cooks with it???

I cook with fresh ginger, but I'm not sure what to do with the crystalized version.

landini, flavored honey is good on toast.

Liz - rum with chocolate? Sounds like I need to plan another trip to OZ.

Mel, its rum liquour with chocolate liquour and is like heaven!!!!!!!! Even if you cannot get the chocolate one the other is beautiful and very hard to get because there is not enough made to fill the market.
As for ginger, the crystalized stuff is used in cooking say for muffins, cakes, biscuits, puddings, sweet ginger syrup too and as a side effect supposedly it will kill human thread worms. There is a vast difference between the stuff that you use sliced up in Chinese cooking compared with the one that has been crystalized.
By the way its Madura tea and not Mareeba as I said in the last post. Its very nice too. The coffee comes from Mareeba and its beautiful.

I also get requests to send Pods to American relos. I am not sure they are Australian but I can understand the attraction. Yum!

Thanks Liz - I'm taking notes for my next visit.

Good news for Tim Tam fans. They are now available in the US at Cost Plus Markets. I saw them in a circular in my Sunday paper a few weeks ago. I purchased some and thought it odd that the name on the package did not say Tim Tams, but they were called Arnott's Chocolate Biscuits. They are truly Tim Tams though. They had several varieties including my favorite the Caramel Tim Tams.

Thanks. This is awesome. I am intriqued about these bush tucker spices. What other type of Aboriginol products would I be able to bring home?