Vegemite Chocolate

We bought some special Limited Edition New Release Vegemite Dairy Milk chocolate the other day. As to be expected, it's pretty salty. We were a bit nervous about it, but the vegemite flavor is pretty slight, so as long as you eat the chocolate piece all at once it's not so bad. (Probably won't be buying heaps of it though.)

Meat-flavoured chips*

(*And that's crisps not french fries.)
 
Meat-flavored chips in Australia seem to be really popular, much more popular than in the US.  We tried Burger Rings and some Smoked Ribs potato chips and even turkey and cranberry sauce chips.  The verdict ... not very good.

 

Even the rice-cracker snacks on the plane to and from Orange were chicken flavored (I wouldn't have asked for the savory option if I'd realized beforehand, would have stuck with the sweet biscuits) and more than just being chicken flavored, they actually have dried chicken particles in them.  It... seems a bit weird.

Bunya nuts (pt. 2)

Raw bunya nuts ready for roasting

Each nut requires a bit of bashing before it cracks

The trick is to hold the nut so it doesn't go shooting across the room

The trick is also not to hit your fingers.

All for that tiny little crack in the shell

The second part of our bunya nut saga would be when we had to crack them, roast them, and finally shell.  It's not as easy as you may think... the shells are pretty tough and even after roasting aren't that brittle, but we managed somehow.  It took a couple more hours, but when you eat them, it's totally worth it!

Roasted and shelled (and subsequently frozen.)

The verdict on roasted bunya nuts:  They are so tasty.  So tasty.  Sooooooo tasty.  They're delicious straight from the oven and seem sort of like a potato and chestnut hybrid.  A bit starchy - the texture reminds me of plantains.

For our first bunya dish we added chopped nuts to sautéed mushrooms and braised them with New England Brown Ale.  We've also added them to our minestrone a couple times, which is really good.  I've been making bunya nut pesto for the Keeping Place which is so tasty I want to eat it with a spoon.

The only sad thing about our bunya nut adventures is that we only have about 370 grams left in the freezer ... when we run out, we run out.  Bunya nuts aren't commercially produced or very common in these parts.  It might be worth taking a trip up to Queensland someday and look for some roadside stalls or try out some local markets.  Who knows - we might get lucky.

Throwback to the 90's (make that the 80's)

Reid and I like to joke that Australia is like the US in the 1990s.  There are still way more phone booths, travel agents and video rental stores than you would ever expect, and the internet stops working sometimes when it rains.  Over Australia Day weekend we actually found something to prove us wrong: it is only just 1986 in Australia, because Cool Ranch Doritos have only just made it to this continent.  (We bought them of course.) ;)

And they were delicious.

Bunya nut adventures (pt. 1)

Last week was an exciting week for us when we got our hands on two bunya nut cones.  The Araucaria bidwillii, or bunya pine, is an enormous coniferous tree which grows these giant cones every few years.  The cones are massive.  They don't look it but they're actually really heavy, weighing somewhere between five and ten kilos each (11-22 pounds).  The first task is to break apart the cones, pull apart the seed pods and remove the seeds.  Each seed or nut is about the size of of an avocado pit, albeit a little more elongated. 

We got a full bowl out of the two cones (not all of the seeds are large enough to bother with) and a heaping garbage bag full of the seed pods.  After breaking apart the cones and getting all the nuts out of the husks, we still have to roast and shell them.  (You can eat them raw, but raw we thought they tasted kind of like bitter green beans, and after roasted they are sooo delicious.)  Shelling the nuts involves bashing each one both before and after to get a crack in the shell to be either pried or cut open.  We used a rolling pin and a pliers, and with two people the whole process from beginning to end took a few hours.  Part two we'll have some photos of the second stage!

The seed pods are really interesting - kind of like a giant fish scale

[Water] Buffalo Milk Yoghurt

Just recently we were looking a little closer than we usually do in the yoghurt aisle.  Or yoghourt, rather.  (A lot of the brands in AU spell it with that extra letter, as you do in the commonwealth.)

There are numerous varieties of yoghurt in the store, of course, same as the US.  But here's something that (we thought) seems new and interesting: buffalo milk yoghurt.  We did not buy it, but we've been making more granola and eating more yoghurt as a result, so maybe next time we'll give it a go.

They had goat's milk yoghurt as well, but was apparently not
interesting enough to take a photo.

'Tis the season

I know it is December... but it is really hard to think of it as Christmas when it looks like this outside:

Taylor & Mossman street corner

Back yard / front yard / side yard (not exactly sure which.)

The Christmas decorations are up, of course, around town: at the Centro and the Plaza shopping malls, downtown along the mall, etc.  Not as many houses decorated, perhaps, as you would see in the US, but people do deck out their cars with reindeer-themed ornaments, which I have never seen in the northern parts of the US.

It kind of felt like Christmas was over as soon as we shipped our packages mid-November, but it does feel very festive.  Because it's summer, the atmosphere kind of feels like the Fourth of July to us.  Inside the stores, of course, it's pretty much the same as in the US.  (Only a lot--a lot--more puddings.  Christmas puddings and pavlovas are, as far as I can tell, the most popular.)

Huge Lindor chocolates ... only $25!

I don't know why I was surprised to see a Bundaberg holiday ginger beer!

Didn't take a picture of this one, but last weekend we saw limited edition Christmas Barbeque chips on sale.  I have been meaning to write a post on meat-flavored chips for a while!  We bought some roast turkey and cranberry sauce flavored ones that we'll have to try, so you can look forward to that some time in the new year. ;)

Refreshments at Prue and Olive café

Just for fun, some pictures from lunch at Prue and Olive a couple weeks ago.  We ordered lemonade and ginger beer with our pastas, imagine our surprise when these fabulous beverages came to our table.

The glass is even sitting on a little polka-dotted liner...

Surprised and astounded.

Novelty-shaped ice cubes, mint, and frozen raspberries, but most surprising is the gummy worm tied to the straw.  (Except here I think they're snakes?  They did not have that classic American gummy-worm texture or taste, though admittedly it's been a while.  Anyway, they seemed closer to Swedish Fish.)

The pastas were fine, but it's was these that were the star of the lunch, and what was the most memorable.  The next time we go back, we'll definitely be looking forward to one of these high-caliber refreshments.

The Black Sapote

Probably on par with custard apples and the feijoa, the black sapote (Diospyros nigra) was probably the strangest Australian-grown un-Australian fruit we've had a chance to try.  Related to the persimmon, it's native to Mexico and Central America and we had never seen one before.

It looked like a gigantic green tomato, so soft when it was ripe that
the flesh would indent where you touched it.

(Unfortunately it was pretty dark so none of our pictures are very good.)

It came from Coffs Harbour, which is where we get pretty much all of our interesting fruit.  When we bought it looked like an enormous green tomato, and the woman at the market told us it would be ripe when it was soft and had turned darker in color.  She also warned us it would not be pretty.  And indeed it was not.  We had to wait a few weeks (this was actually about a month ago so our house was still pretty cool all the time) but when it did ripen, it was dark and soft, and when we cut it open it was so... gooey inside.

It's also called the chocolate pudding fruit, but that's more for the appearance and texture rather than the actual taste.  Reid and I both agreed it seems like the color and texture was the only part of it that had any semblance to chocolate pudding, and it had no chocolate taste whatsoever.  As far as the flavor goes, we thought it sort of tasted somewhere between an avocado and a persimmon.  Sweeter than an avocado, and maybe a little more bland than a persimmon.

Disappointing milkshakes

A while ago, we went out for lunch on a Saturday afternoon, and because it was a nice day and finally feeling a bit summer-like, we ordered a milkshake to share for dessert, not thinking that it would be or could be anything other than the kind of milkshake we're familiar with.

Imagine our disappointment when instead we were served with a massive amount of cold frothed milk that tasted like strawberry Nesquik.  (It quite possibly was.)  Really... really disappointing.  Part of it was probably the cafe (I'm sure you can get a milkshake with better flavoring, excuse me, flavouring, at other venues) but most of it is just the fact that I am not a big fan of foamed milk.  Not cold, not hot, either (I don't really care for cappuccinos) and certainly not a pint and a half of it.

That style of milkshake is actually pretty popular here, and popular in the same way milkshakes are generally popular in the US (in that it's not just something for kids, the way I imagine a glass of flavored milk to be).  Upon googling it we found some links such as "the top 10 spots to get a milkshake in Brisbane" and references to people doing "milkshake crawls" in the city and the like.  For some reason it's very foreign to me... adults going out and drinking milk like this.

If you want an American-style milkshake, you must order a thick shake, which seems to be less common (or at least places that sell milkshakes do not necessarily sell thickshakes, but if you sell thickshakes, of course, milkshakes will definitely be on the menu.)  The ice cream culture seems to be just a little different down here, at least regionally.  There aren't Dairy Queens in Australia, or A&W (they don't drink root beer down here, not really).  The only chain we've seen is Cold Rock Ice Cream, which has a location in Coffs Harbour and we also saw one in Airlie Beach.  In the States, you can buy soft-serve ice cream (and/or milkshakes) at pretty much any fast-food chain, so I wonder if you can buy ice cream (and/or milkshakes) at Macca's or Hungry Jack's (McDonald's or Burger King.)  We haven't checked.  There's at least one place in Armidale where you can buy ice cream by the scoop, but it was pretty pricey so we'll probably just keep buying a tub at Woolies when we want a treat.

Maybe it's like this in the US as well, but I am always surprised by the amount of gelato in the selection at ice cream parlors.  We've gone to a couple places to get ice cream as a treat, first in Armidale for fun but also while on holiday, in Coffs Harbour, Bellingen, and Airlie Beach, and gelato definitely seems more prominent than in an equivalent store in the US.  I wonder if this is a part of Australian culture (the way frozen yogurt places are really popular in certain parts of America, maybe gelato is just more popular here), or if gelato has just become more popular recently globally, both in the US and Australia, or if I just notice it now because of my own personal experiences (maybe gelato is popular everywhere these days, maybe it always has been but I haven't been in the right place to notice.  I don't think I had gelato until I went to college.)

I really didn't think I had that much to say about ice cream/milkshakes .... apparently this is an important issue for me.
;)

It's Official

Welcome to Permanent Residency

We can stay here indefinitely.  The government said so.  To commemorate this occasion... we bought some Vegemite.  (Pretty sure they can deport you for not having a container of Vegemite in your pantry.)

Not sure about this.

r:  Here we have Vegemite.  This is our initiation to Australia.
g:  It smells bad.
r:  It's surprising that anyone would buy this and put it in their mouth on purpose, but here we are.  Australia.

The initial verdict was that it's not as bad as it smells....
and then the aftertaste hits you.

r:  It has an odor not unlike my feet ... or like a... really smelly olive.
g:  It smells like a vitamin container.  B vitamins.

r:  Oh.  Salty.
g:  Wait for it --- wait for it ---

r:  It's not .. great.  Why is the aftertaste so bad?
r:  I can see ... if you had no other food to eat, if you were dying of starvation .... and then you still might not eat it.

r:  It's real salty for the most part, I would say.
g:  The saltiness is not nearly as bad as the weird terrible aftertaste.
r:  No.  It's not.  The saltiness is the good part.  It's the best part it has going for it.

r:  Well... we still have about 218 grams to eat.
r:  And now we're Australian.
g:  (Almost.)
r:  It's done.  Mate.
g:  G'day mate.
r:  No worries mate.  Too easy!
g:  Too easy!

Silverbeet

So, I have been wondering this for a while now. (And if you were here, you might be too.)  Silverbeet... what?  It looks like enormous swiss chard.  Is it just enormous swiss chard?  Is this another one of those silly British words for food, like swedes?  Why is it always so big?

We first encountered silverbeet in the beginning of winter, probably mid-June or so, bound in large bunches in a huge crate at the supermarket.  The stalks were all at least two to two and a half feet long.  Needless to say, they did not fit in our shopping bag.

Not to scale.

That first day, and every other day we've purchased (or glimpsed a sight of) silverbeet I've wondered.  Finally, today's the day to get to the bottom of this.  I bought silverbeet at the farmers market this morning, cooked it for dinner and finally got around to asking Google the question: what's the deal with silverbeet?  (Turns out this is not the question you should ask, actually.)

Like (almost) all things, wikipedia has the answers to my questions (or most of them).  First of all, is silverbeet really just the same thing as swiss chard?  (Yes.)  Why do they call it silverbeet here instead of chard?  (Not totally sure, actually...)  Is it just Australia that calls it silverbeet or is this a British thing?  (... British?  I think?  Based off the fact that it's apparently called silverbeet in New Zealand as well.)

Anyway, I feel pretty satisfied with those answers.  They were, after all, the answers I was expecting.  Just wanted to let you know that's the way they do it down here.

Also, silverbeet may be the same thing as swiss chard, but it is most definitely not the same as Silverbeat.  (I regret to inform you that this band name is already taken. Naturally, it's a jazz quintet.)

Sundowner Apples

Most of the apple varieties we see in the store are the same as what you'd find in the States, but we have encountered a couple new varieties (at least ones I have never seen before.)  Last week we bought Sundowner apples for the first time, which were pretty tasty! We ate them plain in lunches but this variety from Western Australia are also recommended for baking.  (If you've seen Sundowners in the US, please let me know.)

We actually haven't eaten too many apples here, actually--when we first arrived we were eating a lot of pears from our favorite fruit vendor at the Farmers Market, and lately we've been enjoying oranges and mandarins. (If you're curious, the Aussie pronunciation is mandareen.)

The other "new" apple variety we've come across is Eve, which we actually only saw in the store once.. we bought it because they was on sale and since then it's disappeared from from the produce section and soon to disappear from our memory as well.  Jazz apples are also widespread: I remember when we first saw them at Busch's in Ann Arbor, imported from Australia--turns out they're from New Zealand. (Maybe they should call them Fit apples in the US?)

Otherwise it's mostly Jonathans and Jonagolds, Galas and Pink Ladies, Red and Golden Deliciouses... nothing that interesting or out-of-the-ordinary.

Love the Aussie Apple stickers with the Australia Tree.  n_n

A lack of simple brewed coffee

Of all things that are impossible to find in Australia, just regular plain brewed coffee on the menus at hotels, restaurants, cafes and coffeeshops.  When we go out my drink of choice is a flat white (similar or perhaps identical to a café au lait) and Reid's is a long black (probably most similar to an Americano, in contrast to a short black, which is just a single shot of espresso).  If you want drip- or french pressed-coffee, you have to make it yourself.  It seems kind of funny to me, but even at the gas station the attendant has to make you an espresso.

The first couple weeks were difficult when we were still getting used to it.  I could never remember what it was that I was supposed to ask for.  Now, I have my go-to, and it is perhaps just a little annoyance; sometimes you just want a cup of coffee and don't want to pay four or five dollars for the Australian version.  Needless to say, we make our own coffee at home.  (And drink a lot of tea.)

I googled "flat white" and "long black" to write this, and turns out there is a wikipedia page for both of them.  (If you want to know the ins and outs of flat whites and long blacks, here are the links.  There is quite the history on flat whites, much more than is necessary.)

We also encountered an ehow website on this topic, which simply states "Australians do not drink brewed coffee".  We'll let you know if we ever find evidence to the contrary.

This instant coffee brand pronunciation tickled me.
(Inside joke for Tasha, maybe)

Chia and Rice Bubbles

One thing that really struck us is the abundance of chia products in Australia.  I know it's catching on in the US in the hipster and health-food scene, but it seems to me to be much more prevalent here.  And what do you know, it's grown commercially here, one of the world's largest producers.

Chia pudding

Just a smattering of the chia products available.

And while we're at it, I suppose I'll post the other picture I took at the supermarket.  Cereal aisle: why else?  Rice Bubbles.  Also, I did not know this, but General Mills is Uncle Toby's in Australia, thanks to a joint venture in 1990 with Nestlé.  Thank you, global food marketing.

Also, Weet-Bix, owned by my favorite Seventh-day Adventist Australian food company.  Wikipedia: "Weet-Bix is seen in both Australia and New Zealand as an iconic national foodstuff. An online poll of 16,000 people in 2006 identified it as Australia's favourite trademark. The product has been marketed in Australia since 1985 with the catchphrase "Aussie Kids are Weet-Bix kids"."

So maybe instead of vegemite, we should try some Weet-Bix Bites sometime, and we can become true Aussie kids as well.

Rice Bubbles and Weet-Bix

Burger Rings at the Asian market, just because.

Burger Rings, another snack from down under.  When you're looking for that Burger Taste without a burger.  The best packages (New Zealand marketing) have a penguin on them, because, you know, penguins and burgers go together like butter and jam.