Australian cuisine facts for kids

A typical Australian meat pie with tomato sauce

Australian cuisine is all about the yummy food and cooking styles found in Australia. Because many people from different parts of the world have moved to Australia over time, the food here is a mix of many cultures. You'll find influences from British, European, Asian, and Middle Eastern cooking!

For about 65,000 years, Indigenous Australians ate a special diet called bush tucker. This food came from the native plants and animals found in Australia. When British settlers arrived in 1788, they brought their own foods like beef, sheep, and wheat, which became very important. Later, during the Australian gold rush, people from China came and added their cooking styles. After World War II, even more people arrived from places like the Mediterranean, East Asia, and South Asia, making Australian food even more diverse!

Today, Australian food is influenced by global trends, meaning you'll see many international fast-food places and new food ideas. There's also a growing interest in organic and biodynamic foods, and people are rediscovering traditional bush tucker. Australia also sends a lot of its farm products, like meat, milk, fruits, and vegetables, to other countries. Plus, Australia makes its own wine, beer, and soft drinks.

Even though there are many fast-food chains, big cities in Australia have lots of restaurants that offer both local and international dishes. When restaurants mix different food styles, it's often called "Modern Australian" cuisine.

History of Australian Food

Indigenous Australian Bush Food

Bush tucker fruits

For over 60,000 years, Indigenous Australians ate food from the unique plants and animals of the Australian bush. This traditional way of eating is now known as Bush tucker.

It's believed that Indigenous Australians ate up to 5,000 different types of plants and animals. They hunted animals like kangaroos, wallabies, and emus. Other common foods included bogong moths, witchetty grubs, lizards, and snakes. They also gathered wild berries, fruits, and nuts, like the macadamia nut which is now grown all over the world. Wild honey was also a treat! People caught fish using spears, hooks, and traps. In some areas, they even built clever systems to farm fish.

The types of food available changed from place to place. How food was prepared also varied, but a common way to cook meat was to throw it directly onto a campfire to roast. When the first British settlers arrived in 1788, they sometimes used native food sources to help their own diets.

Fruits and Vegetables in Australia

Australian Fruits

A Granny Smith apple

Australia has many native fruits, such as the quandong (which is like a native peach), wattleseed, muntries (or munthari berry), Illawarra plums, and riberry. There are also native citrus fruits like the Desert Lime and Finger Lime. These are usually part of bush tucker. While some restaurants use them, and they are found in jams, most Australians don't eat them often because they are not widely available.

Australia also has big fruit farms in most states. Tropical fruits grow in the north, while stone fruits (like peaches) and temperate fruits (like apples) grow in the cooler southern areas. The Granny Smith apple first came from Sydney in 1868. Another famous Australian apple is the Cripps Pink, known as "Pink Lady" apples, which was first grown in 1973.

Common fruits eaten in Australia include: apples, bananas, kiwifruit, oranges, mangoes, mandarins, avocados, watermelons, lychees, pears, grapes, pineapples, and berries.

Australian Vegetables

In the cooler parts of Australia, vegetables were traditionally eaten only when they were in season. However, in cities, supermarkets bring in fresh vegetables from all over the world, so you can find almost any vegetable year-round.

Some vegetables you might find in Spring are: asparagus, beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, and spinach. In Summer, you'll see: capsicum (bell peppers), cucumber, eggplant, tomato, and zucchini.

Meat & Poultry in Australia

Chicken parmigiana, often called a chicken "parma" or "parmi", is a popular pub food

Chicken is the most popular meat in Australia. On average, Australians eat about 47 kilograms of chicken each year!

Sheep grazing in rural Australia. Early British settlers brought Western animals and crops.

In 2018-19, Australians ate about 25 kilograms of beef per person. Beef was the most popular fresh meat, making up 35% of all fresh meat sales.

Lamb is also very popular in Australia. Common cuts include roasted legs and shoulders, chops, and shanks. Lamb is often part of a Sunday roast or a barbecue. It's also used in gyros and doner kebabs, which were brought by Greek and Turkish immigrants in the 1960s and 1970s. Australia eats more lamb and mutton than almost any other country! In 2017, Australians ate about 8.5 kg per person.

When you go to an Australian pub for lunch, it's called a counter lunch. If it's for lunch or dinner, it's a counter meal. Popular dishes include steak and chips, chicken parmigiana and chips, a mix of grilled meats, or roast lamb or beef with roasted vegetables.

Game Meats

Kangaroo meat is available in Australia, but it's not as commonly eaten as chicken or beef. In older recipes, kangaroo was cooked slowly until it was very tender, like ox tail. Today, you can find kangaroo in different cuts and sausages. Kangaroo meat is also a common dog food in Australia.

Even less common game meats are emu and crocodile.

Fish and Seafood in Australia

Typical serving of fish and chips

Australians are eating more seafood, but it's still not as common as chicken and beef. Australian cuisine features local seafood like southern bluefin tuna, King George whiting, Moreton Bay bugs, mud crab, and yabby (a freshwater crayfish). Australia is also one of the biggest producers of abalone and rock lobster.

Fish and chips is a popular take-away food that came from the United Kingdom. It usually has deep-fried fish covered in batter, served with thick-cut chips. In Australia, especially in the southern states, the most popular fish for fish and chips is "flake," which is a fillet of Gummy shark.

Flathead is another popular fish found all over Australia. Barramundi is a fish found in northern Australian rivers. Bay lobsters, also known as Moreton Bay bugs, are often found in seafood restaurants. You might even see them served with steak as "surf & turf"!

The most common seafood grown in Australia's aquaculture (fish farming) industry are: salmon, tuna, oysters, and prawns. Other farmed species include: abalone, barramundi, Murray cod, and mussels.

Australia's rivers and lakes, though not many, still provide freshwater fish and crustaceans for eating. Fishing and aquaculture are very important to Australia's economy. About 600 different types of seafood are caught and sold in Australia, both locally and to other countries.

Dairy in Australia

Australia has had a dairy industry since the first British settlers arrived in 1788. Today, Australia makes many different dairy products like milk, cream, butter, cheese, and yogurt.

Australians eat a lot of dairy products. On average, each person drinks about 102.4 liters of milk per year and eats about 12.9 kg of cheese.

Australian Beverages

Tea

Tea was the most popular hot drink in Australia for a long time, especially since the early British settlers. However, since the 1990s, coffee has become even more popular.

Since the 1800s, billy tea was a common drink for people working or traveling in the Australian bush. Boiling water for tea in a billy (a metal pot) over a campfire and adding a gum leaf for flavor is a classic Australian way to make tea. This is even mentioned in the famous Australian folk song "Waltzing Matilda".

Tea and biscuits or freshly baked scones are often enjoyed for afternoon tea with friends and family.

Coffee

Pellegrini's Espresso Bar in central Melbourne opened in 1954

Australia today has a strong "coffee culture." The coffee industry has grown a lot since the early 1900s. The flat white coffee first became popular in Australia, and some say it was invented in Sydney. Greek cafes in Sydney and Melbourne were the first to sell locally roasted coffees in 1910.

In 1952, the first espresso machines arrived in Australia, and many Italian coffee houses opened in Melbourne and Sydney. Pellegrini's Espresso Bar and Legend Café, which opened in 1954 and 1956, are often said to be Melbourne's first "real" espresso bars. This time also saw the start of Vittoria, one of Australia's most famous coffee brands.

The flat white is thought to have started in a Sydney cafe in the 1980s.

Even today, big international coffee chains like Starbucks don't have a very large presence in Australia. This is because Australia already had many independent cafes and local coffee chains like The Coffee Club long before the international chains tried to enter the market.

Other Hot Beverages

Milo is a chocolate and malt powder that was created by Thomas Mayne in Sydney in 1934. It was made during the Great Depression to be a healthy and affordable drink. You mix Milo with cold or hot milk to make a popular drink. Milo is now also very popular in Southeast Asia and is even used in some desserts there.

Alcoholic Beverages

Beer in Australia has been popular since the time of the first settlers. James Squire is thought to have started Australia's first commercial brewery in 1798. The Cascade Brewery in Hobart, Tasmania, has been making beer since the early 1800s. Since the 1970s, Australian beers have become popular around the world. While Fosters is a well-known export, other beers like Victoria Bitter and Carlton Draught are more popular in Australia itself. Craft beer is also very popular, with smaller breweries making unique products.

The Australian wine industry is one of the largest wine exporters in the world. It sends 760 million liters of wine overseas each year and adds $5.5 billion to Australia's economy. Wine is made in every state, with over 60 special wine regions. These regions are mostly in the cooler southern parts of the country, like South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia. Some famous wine areas include the Hunter Region and Barossa Valley. In Australia's tropical areas, wine is even made from exotic fruits like mango and passion fruit.

In the past, during the late 1700s and early 1800s, rum was sometimes used as money in Australia because there wasn't much metal currency available.

Take-away and Convenience Foods

A traditional milk bar in the Melbourne suburb of North Fitzroy

A fish and chip shop in Finley, New South Wales

For a long time, the usual places to buy take-away food in Australia were local milk bars, fish and chip shops, or bakeries. However, in recent years, fast-food chains and convenience stores have become very popular too.

Some famous Australian take-away foods include meat pies, sausage rolls, pasties, Chiko Rolls, and dim sims. Meat pies, sausage rolls, and pasties are often found at milk bars and bakeries, kept warm in a special oven. Meat pies are also a must-have at AFL football games. Chiko rolls, dim sims, and other deep-fried foods are usually found at fish and chip shops.

Australian hamburgers and steak sandwiches are also sold at fish and chip shops. An Australian hamburger usually has a fried beef patty, shredded lettuce, and sliced tomato in a round bun. Tomato sauce (like ketchup but less sweet) or barbecue sauce are almost always added. Bacon, cheese, fried onions, a slice of beetroot, or a fried egg are also common additions. Steak sandwiches are similar but use a thin steak instead of a patty and are served on toast.

At community events and fundraisers, you'll often see "sausage sizzle" stalls. Here, sausages are cooked on a barbecue and served in a slice of white bread, with or without tomato sauce and fried onions. It's a popular snack or light lunch. On election days, a sausage sizzle at a polling station is so common it's known as a "Democracy sausage"!

The Halal Snack Pack (or "HSP") started in Australia. It's a mix of Middle Eastern and European flavors, often found at kebab shops. It has doner kebab meat served over hot chips, covered in sauces like chili, garlic, or barbecue sauce.

Baked Goods and Desserts in Australia

Damper is a traditional Australian bread, similar to soda bread. It was often made by swagmen (travelers) and drovers (people who move livestock). It's a wheat flour bread, traditionally baked right in the hot coals of a campfire.

Toast is a common breakfast food. A very famous Australian spread is Vegemite. It's a salty, savory spread made from brewers yeast that's usually eaten on buttered toast or in sandwiches. A fun treat for kids that started in the 1920s is fairy bread, which is buttered bread covered in colorful sprinkles.

A classic Australian biscuit (cookie) is the ANZAC biscuit. These were often homemade and sent by families to Australian soldiers fighting in the First World War. A popular brand of commercial biscuits is Arnott's Tim Tams.

A classic Australian cake is the lamington. It's made from squares of sponge cake covered in chocolate sauce and rolled in shredded coconut. Another popular cake and dessert is the pavlova, which is a dessert made from meringue. However, both Australia and New Zealand claim to have invented it!

The mango pancake, often found in Yum Cha restaurants in Sydney, is thought to have started in Sydney in the late 1980s or early 1990s.

Regional Foods

The famous pie floater of Adelaide

Besides national favorites, there are many special foods found only in certain regions of Australia.

South Australia is known for FruChocs (chocolate-covered fruit and nut treats), King George whiting fish, and German-inspired foods like mettwurst and fritz (a type of sausage). The state also has its own famous brands like Farmers Union Iced Coffee and Balfours frog cakes. In Adelaide, a special version of the meat pie is the pie floater, which is a meat pie served in a bowl of pea soup!

Victoria is famous for the dim sim, which was invented in Melbourne. Tasmania is known for its leatherwood honey and abalone. Queensland has the Weis Fruit Bar and also claims the lamington.

Cities and Their Food

Brisbane Cuisine

The food in Brisbane is a mix of mainstream Australian cuisine and many international foods. Some native foods from the Brisbane area often used in local cooking include: the macadamia nut, lemon-scented myrtle, Australian finger lime, bunya nut, and Moreton Bay bug. Brisbane's food scene is often described as relaxed, with lots of outdoor dining. Rooftop restaurants are popular, and there's a big street food scene with food trucks and pop-up bars. Brisbane also claims to be the origin of ""smashed avo"," a popular dish that was common there since the 1920s, even though it became famous in Sydney in the 1990s. Brisbane also claims the Lamington and the Conut.

Images for kids

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  Tea and damper - Alfred Martin Ebsworth (1883)

See also

In Spanish: Gastronomía de Australia para niños