Whether you’re looking for a beautiful roasting joint, a succulent steak or new ways with mince, check out our delicious beef recipes full of family favourites. Aim for higher-welfare beef from grass-fed cows if you can. Australian cuisine is the food and cooking practices aussie pies and sausages Australia and its inhabitants.
As a modern nation of large-scale immigration, Australia has absorbed culinary contributions and adaptations from various cultures around the world, including British, European, Asian and Middle Eastern. Indigenous Australians have occupied Australia for some 65,000 years, during which they developed a unique hunter-gatherer diet, known as bush tucker, drawn from regional Australian plants and animals. Australian cuisine in the 21st century reflects the influence of globalisation, with many fast-food restaurants and international trends becoming influential. Organic and biodynamic foods have also become widely available alongside a revival of interest in bush tucker.
While fast food chains are abundant, Australia’s metropolitan areas have restaurants that offer both local and international foods. Restaurants which include contemporary adaptations, interpretations or fusions of exotic influences are frequently termed Modern Australian. Indigenous Australians have lived off native flora and fauna of the Australian bush for over 60,000 years. It is understood that up to 5,000 species of Australian flora and fauna were eaten by Indigenous Australians. Resource availability and dietary make-up varied from region to region and scientific theories of bush tucker plants being spread by hand have recently emerged. Food preparation techniques also varied, however a common cooking technique was for the carcass to be thrown directly on a campfire to be roasted.
Native food sources were used to supplement the colonists’ diet following the arrival of the First Fleet in Botany Bay in 1788. Following the pre-colonial period, European colonisers began arriving with the First Fleet at Sydney harbour in 1788. After initial difficulties, Australian agriculture became a major global producer and supplied fresh produce for the local market. Queensland and New South Wales became Australia’s main beef cattle producers, while dairy cattle farming is found in the southern states, predominantly in Victoria. Australia also has large fruit growing regions in most states for tropical fruits in the north, stone fruits and temperate fruits in the south which has a mediterranean or temperate climate. The Granny Smith variety of apples originated in Sydney in 1868.
In the temperate regions of Australia vegetables are traditionally eaten seasonally, especially in regional areas, although in urban areas there is large scale importation of fresh produce sourced from around the world by supermarkets and wholesalers for grocery stores, to meet demands for year-round availability. During Spring: artichoke, asparagus, bean shoots, beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, leek, lettuce, mushrooms, peas, rhubarb, and spinach. Chicken is the most commonly consumed of all meats or poultry by weight, with approximately 47 kg of chicken consumed by the average Australian per year. Lamb will often form part of either a Sunday roast or a barbecue. Lunch at an Australian pub is called a counter lunch, while the term counter meal is used for either lunch or dinner.