Oceania and Food
A mixture of Western and Asian cooking techniques and exciting local ingredients.
Oceania adds something different to food. Find exciting recipes and ideas from down under. Wit a mixture of Western and Asian cooking techniques and exciting local ingredients, you will certainly taste the difference.
Oceania and a different kind of food
The beautiful name Oceania is the term used by many authors and many languages to define one of the continents. Oceania includes Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea and many other islands.
Food in Australia
Because Australia was colonized by people from England most of their cuisine is based in that of Great Britain. There are plenty of meat pies, steaks -steak is a staple in the Australian diet- and grilled chicken, often accompanied by vegetables. Some exotic meats like kangaroo, crocodile, or buffalo might also appear in an Australian menu. Seafood like mud crabs or yabbies (shrimp) are also well-liked. Australia major cities are on the coast, so they always have the freshest seafood. With such a huge range of fresh produce, Australia can boast of one of the finest cuisines in the world.
I have heard stories of whole beer barrels of oysters surrounded by enthusiasts cracking the sells open in and oyster frenzy, accompanying them with mini-shots of vodka.
Eating outdoors is popular and most Australian houses would have barbecues. Aussies also share the British tradition of afternoon tea which consists mainly of sandwiches and cookies with tea or juice to drink.
You will find pubs with a cook it yourself service: you choose your steak and throw it on the barbeque and you cook it to your taste. Accompany with some beer, please.
In Australia there are a lot of immigrants -in the 50s they were from Italy and Greece, in the 70s it was Vietnam and Asia- so Australians appreciate a whole range of foods and are not averse to stealing from them all. In the 60's finding a packet of dried pasta in the supermarket was a thrill. Nowadays you can find arborio rice or Malay, Indian or Thai curry pastes in any small town supermarket. Italians brought their love of coffee with them, and in the past 15 years this has grown to be one of Australia’s biggest love affairs, black, strong coffee always with the cream floating on the top.
We bring you some recipes from Australia, so you can cook like they do down under. Anzac biscuits, Aussie version of the Scotish rolled oat biscuits, are a popular snack, and you can also enjoy other recipes, such as Lamington cakes, have them with a cup of strong coffee, bread swagman's damper style, a refreshing balmain bug salad or surf 'n' turf Aussie style.
Get to know the food in New Zealand
Though there is a love for fish and chips inherited from British settlers, New Zealand cuisine, varied, young and fresh, it is relatively new in the world of food and this relative youth brings a willingness to experiment with dishes. Newly picked ingredients from its fertile farms and sea make it fresh. New Zealanders feel relaxed at meal times and meals progress slowly; that’s the way they like it.
Who does not know about New Zealand lamb? But there is also pork, venison, salmon, oysters, paua (abalone), mussels and some varieties of New Zealand clams, kumara (sweet potato) and kiwis. Kiwi cuisine would be New Zealand’s.
Food slang
A different English.
Barbie - barbecue.
Bickies - biscuits (i.e. cookies)
Bush tucker - plants, birds, reptiles and insects from the bushes that would make it to the Australian aborigines dinner table.
Chook - chicken.
Grog - alcohol.
Lollies - candy.
Sanger - sandwich.
Snags - sausages.
Tucker - food, particularly bush tucker.
Tuckshop - snack shop or deli.
Witchetty grub - a delicacy and a popular bush tucker treat. It is a fat white worm, eaten alive or cooked. It tastes of almonds.
In Australia they go further than the British meat and two vegs to make it meat and three vegs.
New Zealand cuisine is a melting pot of cultures and traditions. The country's diverse landscape provides an abundance of fresh produce, and New Zealanders are known for their creativity in the kitchen.