Sydney - eating out

Australia over the years has utilised fairly little common native cuisine compared to the day of the Aboriginals who ate a wealth of natural, diverse foods from the land. You can today see these time honored foods creeping their way back into modern cooking and on your plate in some of Sydneys restaurants.

English settlers brought with them the salty, gritty tastes of Great Britains diet such as roast beef, potato dumplings, irish stew and jam pudding to name a few. The palate of the orient hit Australia around the same time as the Gold Rush, Chinese immigrants began opening markets, greengrocers and restaurants managing them succesfully. Opening up their taste buds to a whole new world, which was grasped swiftly.

For over 200 years Australia’s plate has continued to change and add flavours from around the world including the Mediterranean and European, our menus now reflect Australia’s multicultural society, although good Aussie tucker (food) has stood the test of time and is strong lived today.

Australia’s modern food reflects the diversity of its land, cattle and lamb grazing in the lush forests, lobster, crayfish, oysters and scallops picked out of the clean oceans, fresh fruits and vegetables growing along the golden plains and valley floors, and tendrils of world recognised wines sunning themselves along the valley slopes. Some particular varieties of seafood that must not be missed are Balmain Bugs, a soft, sweet crayfish found around Sydney’s harbour and Barramundi, an Aboriginal name given to a big freshwater fish found in Northern Australia’s regions.

As Australian as Uluru (Red Rock), Vegemite has been loved by Aussies since the 1920s. This thick dark spread is made from the yeast left-overs of the beer making process and used on toast or bread in most households of a morning or after heavy nights of drinking. A very particular flavour that is usually detested by other parts of the world.

Make sure you stop by a local bakery in your area and tantalize your tastebuds with some Aussie sweets and pastries. Anzac biscuits, lamingtons, pavlova, pumpkin scones, soldier’s cakes, or macadamia nut slice are just a few of the scrumptious varieties.

The Beer and Barbie is a tradition dating back years in Australia’s (relatively young) history. The outdoor barbeque is a way of life, but also a time to get together with mates, have a game of cricket and enjoy nature. VB, 4X, Hahn Premium, Tooheys, or Carlton Cold are some of the more popular choices of beers you will see cooling in the esky (portable cooler). Sausages (called Sangers in Aus), onion, white sliced bread and tomato sauce (known as ketchup to the rest of the world) are all the essentials you need, along with a barby ofcourse, which you will find down along the shores of most coasts or parks for use with just a few coins.

The meat pie is Aussie tucker at its finest, small round pastries with any choice of filling, meat and mushroom, meat and onion, meat and peas, get the drift. Topped with tomato sauce and washed down with a cold beer. Australians also love fish and chips, especially at the beach on a summers day. Wrapped up in paper with fried calamari, fish pieces, crab sticks and cruncy chips. Dusted with chicken salt!

Indigenous Foods

Aboriginals ate rich, exciting and balanced diets of fruits, nuts, roots, vegetables and insects (such as the Witchetty grub), they also trapped and hunted game and fished the endless oceans with great success. The variety and quality of culinary experience these bush foods offer is enormous, through trial and error the Aborigines have been sharing their knowledge for over 50,000 years.

Yabbies are another source of food that has been utilised for centuries by indigenous and modern Australians, you will spot many a person sucking up these freshwater crustaceans through metal pipes from the bottoms of streams and lakes. Damper is a perfect example of a food passed from one tradition to another. The aboriginal people have traditionally ground seeds to make a kind of flour, added water and baked a kind of Damper in the coals of their cooking fires. Damper became the means of having fresh bread for the outback stockmen, using the more traditional flours and a camp oven for baking in the hot coals of a camp fire.

Australia today is slowly tending more towards its native side, offering specialities of emu, kangaroo, crocodile and even snake on pizzas or in fancy smancy restaurants with native nut and fresh jam sauces.

Paddington Inn on Oxford St is a little more classy than your average pub, but has good clientele and great food!

Forrester’s - Riley St, Surry Hills. Sun/Mon/Tues nights $5 steaks, that are worth changing those vegetarian ways. Sushi on Stanley - Darlinghurst, near the hard rock Café. Very cheap and fresh excellent sushi.

Thai Potong - King St, Newtown is one of many many Thai restaurants in this area. The cuisine is fresh, colourful and tasty.

Arthurs Pizza Oxford St Paddington, for friendly staff and a traditional pizza or pasta. This place is often packed due to it’s popularity, but not to worry, the crazy kids that work there have been known to come fetch you from the pub next door when your table is ready. Check out the funky pizza cutter- all the way from the Pompidou Centre in Paris!