• EmmaGoldman [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    ·
    12 days ago

    Vegemite, flathead lobsters, macadamia nuts, finger limes, and musk sticks are the only uniquely Australian foods I can think of. Lots of other stuff we don’t really get in NA/EUR is widely available in South Asia so I don’t think of most of the tropical fruits like lychee or rambutan as Australian.

    Oh, also stuff like Tim-Tams, but the sleeve of store brand ones I bought at Loblaws a few weeks ago was actually made in the Netherlands so idk.

    e: Tasmanian pepperbush! I’ve been trying to get this for my spice collection to no avail for so long I forgot about them.

    • KuroXppi [they/them]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      12 days ago

      Fairy bread (party food)
      Dim sim (thick skin pork dumplings)
      Chiko roll (thick skin spring roll)
      Lamington (sponge cake with dessicated coconut)
      Pavlova (meringue cake with usually seasonal fruits or other toppings, we beef with the kiwis over this one)

      Most native fruits and nuts aren’t really commercially harvested at scale. South Africa is the largest producer of Macadamia nuts, even

      Things like quandong, kakadu plum, finger lime (like you mentioned) are often seen as garnishes, preserves, powders etc. processed or high-end foods not every day tucker. Even other stuff that can be harvested locally like pigface, bunya pine nuts, warragul greens, figs and salt bush are not widely consumed outside of people who forage.

      • EmmaGoldman [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        12 days ago

        RATS! I forgot pavlova was Australian because my Filipina SIL is obsessed.

        Australia has such good forageable foods compared to north Ontario, basically my only options are chanterelles and fiddleheads aside from berries in the spring.

        • KuroXppi [they/them]@hexbear.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          12 days ago

          Yeah there’s tons, we have fiddleheads and bird’s nest ferns (Asplenium sp.) too, the latter which is apparently a traditional foodstuff in Taiwan, for example.

          I don’t forage because I live in the suburbs, but there’s plenty to find a bit further out.