To the American way of thinking, Australia seems a topsy-turvy place, and the food is no exception.  Up until recently, for example, Australian cuisine was anything but Australian…. It was a blend of British, Greek, Yugoslav, Italian, Lebanese and a melting pot of others who flooded into the country during the 50's and 60's.   Today, Australians are starting to appreciate the truly wonderful touches of local flavors, which they are blending into their traditional recipes… Contemporary Australian cuisine is full of surprises, which often come in the form of ingredients unavailable elsewhere in the world.  Many of these were used extensively in ancient Aborigine recipes:

Wattle Seed: Certain varieties of Acacia seeds collected by Aborigines west of the Great Divide are dry roasted and ground to enhance their natural nutty, coffee-like flavor.

Quandon: This wild, or desert, peach is the outback’s most famous fruit. It is high in Vitamin C and common to South Australia and arid areas.

Lemon Myrtle:  The leaves and stems of this rain forest tree exhibit a wonderful citrus flavor and aroma.

Kurrajong Flour:  Highly nutritious seeds extracted from hairy pods of Kurrajong and Illawarra Flame Trees. Roasted and ground they produce an exceptional rich, dark flour. 

Macadamia Nuts and Oil:  This delicious crunchy textured nut is grown widely in Queensland and New South Wales, and was Australia’s first indigenous plant to be used commercially.

Warrigal Greens: A sprawling ground cover plant found in many parts of Australia, it was used by Captain Cook in 1770 as a spinach substitute to allay scurvy.

Illawarra Plums:  A unique dark red berry of the Brown Pine which conveniently grows its stone on the outside of the fruit. It is a semi-tropical tree ranging from New South Wales to Queensland.

Samphire: The young green stems form a low ground cover salt bush that is found all over Australia on coastal and inland salt flats.

Bunya Nuts:  Large starchy textured nuts with a tough woody casing from the cone of the huge Bunya pine tree that is native to New South Wales and Queensland.

Lemon Aspen:  Small pale lemon colored fruit with a unique sharp citrus flavor and found in rainforests from Sydney to the far north.

Clove Lilli Pilli or Riberry: This smaller variety of Lilli Pilli is noted for its wonderfully sharp spice and clove flavor.

Paper Bark: The Mellaluca tree has been used by Aboriginals for a multitude of purposes, from cooking, to carrying water, to providing shelter.

Wild Limes: Small round tropical fruit with a sharp grapefruit, lime flavor.

Muntries or Native Cranberries: Small crunchy berry with a deliciously sweet apple flavor from the south-east of South Australia.

Kakadu Plum: This sharp flavored green plum has the world’s highest recorded fruit content of vitamin C, and is found from Katherine to the Kimberly.

Eucalyptus Oil: High grade oil from the famous gum tree is sparingly used to flavor some foods.

Wild Rosella Flowers: Scarlet colored petals of a naturalized tropical climber related to the native Hibiscus, they impart a crisp, berry-rhubarb flavor.

Bush Tomatoes: Also called "Desert Raisins", this small pungent berry is collected by Aborigines in the central desert regions from a shrub related to the tomato family.

Native Pear: This vine from arid areas produces a green pod with seeds which, when young, taste like fresh peas.

OUTBACK COOKING

Although most Australians (80%) are city dwellers, the vast majority of the Australian continent itself isunpopulated wilderness, which is referred to, in general terms, as  the ‘Outback’.  Outback cuisine is a world unto itself, filled with its own wonderful, rugged character.  This is real Australian cooking, as the relative scarcity of these main ingredients in the USA would suggest:

Kangaroo: Sorry to say, these delightful Aussie icons also make a killer steak; it’s tasty and virtually fat-free.  It’s popular smoked, or preserved as jerky.  Some popular recipes include   Kangaroo Tail Soup and Wallaby Stew, and a modern concoction: Pan Fried Kangaroo Steak in Port Wine Sauce.

Emu: This flightless relative of the ostrich is raised commercially throughout Australia, and is increasingly seen in the USA.  The meat is red, richly flavored, and tender.  Emu eggs are also eaten; they’re about ten times as big as a hen’s egg.

Bugs and Yabbies: These are relatives of the crayfish and lobster; they’re sweet-flavored, firm-textured crustaceans from the Australian bays and streams. 

And of course, no overview of Australian cuisine would be complete without Australia’s national paste, the maligned, misunderstood sandwich spread, Vegemite.

THE STORY OF VEGEMITE

Yeast extract is not only good for you, it's tasty as well. At least, that was the opinion, in 1922, a young Australian by the name of Fred Walker, decided to try to make a special "yeast extract" that would be as delicious as it was nourishing.  The chief scientist in the company Fred owned, was Dr. Cyril Callister, and it was Dr. Callister who "invented" the first Vegemite spread. He used brewer's yeast from Carlton & United Breweries, and blended the yeast extract with ingredients like celery and onions, and salt to make a thick dark paste.  Fred Walker's new product didn't have a name, so he held a trade name competition to find it one, and in 1923, Dr. Callister's paste became "Vegemite".   Various names rejected by the company included “Brown sludge”,  “Slagamite”, “Slummock”, “Scurf”, and “Black Fecula”.  (Okay, so maybe this last part’s not strictly true).  Later on, in World War II, soldiers, sailors, and the civilian population all had Vegemite included in their rations, and it got so popular it fell into short supply.   Fred Walker and Company Pty Ltd became KRAFT Foods Limited in 1950, but Vegemite will probably always be Vegemite. After all, it celebrated its 60th anniversary in October 1983, and to mark the occasion, they put a plaque opposite the site of Fred's original factory in Melbourne.