10 must-see food wanders of Australia | discover the top picks
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“Food Wonders of Australia” is a true representation of the varied culinary history of the nation. Ranging from the savory richness of Vegemite on toast to the sweet ephemeral delight of Pavlova, Australian food caters to diverse tastes. Be it a burger with the lot or the smoky goodness of damper bread, Australia’s food wonders pay homage to special regional ingredients and flavors. Local favorites such as meat pies and lamingtons bear testament to Australia’s love for hearty, comforting fare. If you want a quintessentially Australian experience, the Food Wonders of Australia can try to deliver one absolutely memorable show that represents the rich food culture of Australia.
Grilled Kangaroo
Kangaroo on the grill is a rare dish for a rare meat that showcases Australia’s varied culinary heritage. An Indigenous Australian food, kangaroo has gained favor for its rich flavor, healthiness, and sustainability.
Kangaroo meat is low-fat, high-protein, and enriched with nutrients like iron and omega-3s. There is less fat in kangaroo meat compared to beef or lamb, making it a healthier replacement. It has a flavor that is slightly gamey yet mildly sweet, which cooperates beautifully with aromatic herbs and spices from Australia, especially wattleseed and Tasmanian pepperberry.
Kangaroo meat is best grilled over high heat for medium-rare to maintain its texture and flavor. If overcooked, it can become dry and tough, mainly due to its low-fat content. It is commonly served with roasted veggies, mashed potatoes, and fresh salads to accentuate its natural flavor.
Above and beyond taste, kangaroo meat is a meat for those who care about the environment. Being wild grazers, kangaroos do not require any feed or water, standing as a sustainable protein option with a low carbon footprint. Those after a truly Australian experience must try grilled kangaroo, whether in a fine restaurant or a home barbecue.
Barramundi
You don’t know Australia’s barramundi well? What’s the matter? What are you waiting for?
The fish is fantastic. It’s really a chef’s fish. It’s so easy to handle—so easy to take out of your freezer and defrost within 20 minutes. So you have a waste factor that’s non-existent. You have an expressionist factor that’s non-existent. You have a quality that’s above anything else in the hotel.
I wear multiple hats after that. This is your all-away-from-home seafood system—you need to have variety.
Particularly in Boston, 50% of our menu is seafood. I have to have the flexibility to handle all the emergencies and things that pop up all day long.
Australia’s barramundi has a great fat content, so it holds up to cooking. When I cook it for a banquet—maybe a 200-person banquet—if I roast it, it holds up really well.
What excites me about Australia’s barramundi is the fact that it’s not only sustainable but also versatile. It’s easy to handle, it’s price-stable, so there are so many benefits to the product. But the number one, most important thing—more than anything else—is the fact that it tastes great.
Meat Pies – The best meat pies in australia
The meat pie—a classic Australian hand-sized snack filled with meat and gravy, enclosed in crusty, crunchy pastry—has been described as our national dish. A rival to British fish and chips, American hot dogs, and the pizzas of Italy.
But who makes the best pies in Australia? And who decides which pie takes the title?
Every year, bakers across the country compete for the honor of being awarded Australia’s best pie. It’s serious business. It’s not just about the filling—pastry plays a big part in making the pie, so we have to get it 100% right to make the best pie and be a champion.
Now we’re just going to egg wash it to give it a nice, glossy finish. I guess when we win something like this, it’s validation that we’re on the right track.
The jumbo chunky is coming out! The Baking Association of Australia has the dream job of tasting and judging the 1,300 entries. You’ll find that the cheaper cuts are probably better, as long as you slow-cook them. It needs to cook for a minimum of two to three hours. You don’t want a runny pie where it falls out on your lap, so they’re looking for stability.
While the classic Aussie pie is just pastry, meat, and gravy, these days you can choose from many varieties and flavors. Here, we have a crocodile curry, a camel curry, and a kangaroo pie—it’s nice!
Curious about what we use in the meat pie to make the best meat pie? That’s why we choose our best quality mince and also carefully balance the spices we use in our pies. The right balance of flavors gives the best taste.
In some circles, the meat pie is called a “dog’s eye,” “mystery bag,” or “church bag”—because God only knows what’s in them. But regardless of what you call them, Australians, on average, consume 270 million pies a year.
Our relationship with the pie dates back to England. The pie arrived in Australia with the first colonists, and to celebrate the King’s birthday, they were on the menu of Sydney’s first official banquet. They were also served at the opening of Canberra’s Parliament House in 1927.
But baked pies were eaten in early human history, with the Egyptians, ancient Greeks, and Romans all including pies as part of their diet. The thick crust of these early pies acted as a baking dish, which was thrown away after the meat inside was consumed.
In medieval times, selling pies in the streets was common, and pies were the takeaway food of the day. It was in the early 20th century that Australia’s long association with pies and Aussie Rules football began. Melbourne’s Footscray Football Club pioneered the tradition of pea and pie nights. These nights were associated with social activities and fundraising events, kicking off the tradition of eating a pie while watching the footy.
So, to hold the title of Australia’s best pie is an accolade bakers across the country strive for. This year, Australia’s best pie has been awarded to the Country Cob Bakery in Boronia for their pepper pie. Congratulations to all the guys there!
Chicken Parmigiana
Good everyone, welcome back to Mang Aussie! Today we’re doing a classic Aussie dish—a staple on every pub menu, I’d say, throughout Australia, especially in Western Australia: the good old chicken parmigiana. It’s a pretty easy dish with Italian origins, and we’re going to follow a simple step-by-step process to make your own classic chicken parmigiana. Cheers, everyone!
Welcome back, everyone! Well, you can see it’s a pretty easy process to follow, and here’s the end result—lovely and golden brown. They are just using chicken breast, thinly sliced, then seasoned, floured, egg-washed, and coated in panko breadcrumbs, then pan-fried. A lot of places deep fry these, but I prefer them pan-fried. It’s a lot better and healthier this way.
Then there’s the homemade tomato sauce—onions, garlic, a bit of white wine, tomatoes, and fresh basil, pureed up. Once you’ve grilled the schnitzel, layer it with some ham, put the sauce on top, add the cheese, and pop it under the grill. Then, serve it with salads and chips.
The only argument here about chicken parmigiana is the chips in the pubs. They’re always arguing about whether to serve the chips on theSide or underneath? It’s always served with salad, but it’s probably on 99% of pub menus here in Australia. So, we’ll give it a go with a taste test. It’s lovely! You can taste the basil in the sauce. You can always put a bit more in there if you want. If you want to change it up a bit, you can always add a bit of chili to the sauce too. I’ve just got cheddar cheese on top, but you can use mozzarella or half mozzarella, half cheddar.
It’s a pretty easy dish—kids love it! I’d say just serve it with a salad, and Bob’s your uncle! So, if you like it, please hit the like and subscribe button. Leave a comment below and tell me if you make it. Let me know how you felt about it, and we’ll see you for the next video. Cheers, everyone, for Mang Aussie!
Lamingtons
Food, better! I love food, and I know that you know food. This is my first time trying something from Australia—an Australian episode of foreign food and drink, and I’m very, very excited. We have the famous Lamingtons. Never had them, don’t really know what’s inside them, but they’re super fluffy and light. And I have a wine—Red Roo. No idea. Haven’t tried this either. I’ve had Australian wine, I think, like two or three times in my life, but not very often, so this caught my eye.
But let’s start with these. They should be fantastic. There’s coconut and chocolate—that’s what I can tell already from smelling them. I took these from a bakery called Lamingtons in Munich. I’ve had them so many times, but today I took something new.
It’s very simple, very light. Nice coconut flavor, chocolate flavor, and some kind of cream in the middle there. Let’s try to see… or maybe orange? Still nice and moist. These are quite good, so definitely worth trying. Let me know what you have as a drink with these. Coffee or milk would be my first choices, I think. But maybe something specific?
I’ll give the Lamingtons from Lamingtons 72 points. Really nice. And the wine—maybe it will also fit. Wine and chocolate is quite a good combination, so let’s open it up. There is the color—the Red Roo. That’s a pretty good wine. Nice, sweet, very raspberry-like, blackberry-like. That’s certainly one of the better red wines I’ve had recently. I’ve had a lot of bad luck in the past, but this one is very good.
And therefore, I would give the Yellowtail Medium Sweet Red Roo 74 points. There you go—my first Australian episode of food and drink. Definitely a success. I’ll finish this one here, and this one is for later. I also bought some Tim Tams, so there will be another video soon.
Hamburgers with “the Lot”
What is an Aussie burger with a lot? This is a true Australian delight. When you order an Aussie burger with a lot, you are in for a flavor-packed experience. The pile starts with lettuce, tomato, and beetroot. Then, the juicy beef patty and fried onion are added. This is then topped with cheese, grilled pineapple, a runny fried egg, and lastly, bacon with a dash of tomato sauce. All of this is between the burger bun.
Almost every suburb in Australia has at least one takeaway burger shop. Australians like to buy food and take it away to eat at home, at the beach, in the park, or in their car on the run.
The challenge is: how do you wrap your mouth around this 15 cm tower without making a huge mess?
When an Australian asks for chips, they are not talking about a bag of chips like Lays. Instead, they mean hot, crispy, golden potato fries. Chips are almost always brought with burgers. I hope this video has answered the question: What is an Aussie burger with a lot?
Pavlova
Meet the pavlova, or “pav” as we like to call it. This heavenly, fluffy creation is a summer festive favorite all over Australia. It has a sweet meringue base and is usually topped with cream and fruit. It’s kind of like an Eton mess, but heaps better.
It was created in the 1920s for a mega-star ballerina, which was apparently a thing. But the pavlova’s beautiful exterior masks a mysterious past. Just like a lot of iconic oceanic exports, both New Zealand and Australia lay claim to the delicious dessert. We may not know its exact origins, but we know the best place for a pav is definitely Australia.
Vegemite on Toast
The Story of Vegemite: Australia’s Favourite Spread
What’s one thing that Australians love to eat on their toast for breakfast? An umami-flavored, vitamin B-packed, tar-black, salty spread – Vegemite. This spread is said to be found in 9 out of 10 homes in Australia and is a point of national pride. But how was this saliferous spread created? How did it become so popular? And what does it taste like?
Our story begins in the late 19th century with this guy, Justus von Liebig.
Old mate Justus discovered that yeast extract leftover from brewing beer could be concentrated down into something that was somewhat edible. A few years later, in 1902, in Burton upon Trent, England, the Marmite Extract Company was formed, which produced ‘Marmite,’ an edible salty yeast paste developed from Justus’ discovery.
Sales of Marmite were pretty good, and in 1908, the Sanitarium Health Food Company (known today for another iconic Aussie breakfast food) bought the rights to distribute Marmite in New Zealand and Australia. During World War 1, the supply of Marmite to Australia dried up. So, in 1922, in Melbourne, Australia, a man called Fred Walker commissioned the chemist Cyril Callister to come up with an alternate salty yeast spread.
Callister got to work using the leftover yeast extracts from the local Carlton and United Breweries. After several months, he perfected his recipe, using onion and celery extracts. And loads of salt. But the invention needed a name! So, in 1923, a competition was run to name the new spread. The winning entry was pulled from a hat, and Vegemite was born.
And then, nearly tanked. Since the war came to an end, the original Marmite was back on shelves, and Australians were wary of the new kid on the block. In 1928, following dwindling sales, and in one of the most cringe-inducing marketing fails known to humankind, Walker rebranded Vegemite as Parwill
(Because of Marmite, Parwill.) The experiment was short-lived – although this wouldn’t be the last time Vegemite was the victim of a branding SNAFU. After the un-rebrand, Walker decided to give the spread away for free with processed cheese. This catapulted the popularity of Vegemite because, hey, who doesn’t like free stuff? A few years later, Vegemite was added to the ration packs for Australian soldiers during World War 2.
Vegemite quickly became a patriotic symbol during wartime, and this further boosted its popularity back home. Kraft Foods eventually took over control of Vegemite and manufactured it for over 80 years. But in January 2017, Vegemite’s owners became Australian once again when Bega Cheese acquired Vegemite as part of a $460 million deal with Kraft.
In 2018, Vegemite is still being produced in Melbourne, Australia. So what does this delicious, black, sticky paste called Vegemite taste like? Well, salty. Vegemite has a salt content of approximately 8.6%. For comparison, the average salinity of seawater is 3.5%. Vegemite is also high in glutamic acid, which gives it a rich umami flavor.
(If you don’t know what umami is, it’s that deep savory flavor that parmesan cheese, miso soup, and MSG have in common. In 2011, US President Obama had this to say about Vegemite: “It’s horrible… it’s like a quasi-vegetable by-product paste that you smear on your toast for breakfast,” but Australians enjoy this beloved spread in multiple ways.
The most common way is on toast with loads of butter and a thin… thin layer of Vegemite on top. Other ways include in a sandwich with cheese, with avocado on toast, or baked into a cheesy scroll. And finally, Vegemite has spawned many branded spin-offs, the most noteworthy of which was in 2015 when Cadbury created an unbelievably strange and weirdly delicious bar of chocolate that was filled with Vegemite-flavored caramel.
Needless to say, this experiment was divisive and short-lived, but it demonstrated the versatility of this Australian staple. So that’s the story of Vegemite, Australia’s mighty black spread with a colorful intercontinental history. I’ve linked some Vegemite-related videos in the description. But before you go off and watch them, please subscribe if you’d like to see more videos, and leave me a thumbs up if you enjoyed it.
Chiko Roll
I don’t know if you realize it, but at the moment in Australia, there’s a huge debate—not about same-sex marriage, not about women’s pay—it’s all about the origins of the Chiko Roll. And I know a lot of you are going to say, “What on Earth is a Chiko Roll?” Well, that’s it! That is a Chiko Roll. Yes, something that’s uniquely Australian.
I’m sure if it exists elsewhere in the world, you’ll be quick to tell me all about it. But this is the Chiko Roll. There are lots of imitations, even within Australia. It’s normally supplied at your local fish and chip shop. Typically, here in Australia, you go there, get your fish and chips, and you might get a Chiko Roll as a bit of an extra to add to the meal. You wait five minutes for them to do all that deep-fried goodness, and then you are presented with a lovely hot Chiko Roll.
The current debate is all about where the Chiko Roll originated, and it seems as though the winner is Bendigo. But whatever town you think the Chiko Roll was made in, the important question on everybody’s lips is: What does it taste like? Let’s find out.
The Chiko Roll seems to have been around forever. I remember them from my childhood. This one cost me $2.50, but I remember as a kid being able to spend 20 cents, 2 shillings—whatever it was—and get a Chiko Roll. Now, I haven’t got the original packaging; they’ve just given me a brown paper bag, which is terrible. So I’ll just have to assume it’s the real deal, because there are lots of imitations. But anyway, Anyway, that’s it, we got a… coated something or other on the outside. What is that coating? Flour and water, some sort of batter. Tastes like some sort of batter. Inside, I know there’s cabbage, and what else? There might be a bit of carrot. There’s a lot of filling, but I’m not too sure what it all is. I do see some carrots—check that out! I believe that’s a bean. Yep, green beans. Things are looking good.
The crunch on the outside, combined with the gooey interior and a few vegetables, makes for quite an appetizing little appetizer. Well, being traditional Australian fare, and evidently coming from Victoria where I’m from, I have to say it’s at least okay. It has some vegetables in it, and it’s an interesting concoction. If you haven’t had a Chiko Roll and you live in Australia, that’s so un-Australian!
There you go, guys. I haven’t resolved where the Chiko Roll came from, but I think it might be Bendigo. Where do you think it came from? Your country town, your local country town? I’d be interested to hear.
Damper bread
Damper bread is really an Australian food that has been created and enjoyed through many generations, especially by early settlers and bushmen. Simple and rustic, it is made with only a few ingredients: self-raising flour, salt, water, and occasionally some butter or milk. The mixing or forming into a round loaf takes place just before baking, preferably over the coals in a campfire, to give damper that nice smoky flavor.
Due to its denser and chewier nature combined with a slightly crunchy crust, damper could accompany any hearty main course or serve as a light snack with jam, butter, or golden syrup. This very quality gives the damper its versatility-it could be eaten by itself or with stews, soups, or grilled meats. Despite being traditionally associated with campfire cooking, damper is now more often baked in ovens and sold at bakeries and cafes around the country.
Nothing makes the damper bread special except it’s time to Australian history and the ingenuity of early Australians. It is almost a rewarding meal, keeping alive the memory of this country’s rugged history. Enjoy damper warm from the oven or gently reheated with a spread: It is a scrumptious, no-stress slice of Aussie culture. This is the type of comfort food that can bring some of the glory of the outback to your kitchen.
In conclusion, the Food Wonders of Australia highlight the country’s rich culinary heritage, blending indigenous traditions with international influences. From iconic savory dishes like the Aussie burger and Vegemite on toast to sweet delights like pavlova and lamingtons, Australian cuisine offers a diverse and delicious experience. Whether you’re savoring freshly baked damper bread or enjoying a classic meat pie, the Food Wonders of Australia provide a taste of the nation’s unique flavors. Exploring these dishes is not just about food—it’s about embracing Australia’s culture and history, one bite at a time.
Thank you, and that wraps up our 10 must-see food wanders of Australia | discover the top picks. Do you agree with the places we chose, or is there somewhere you visited that you feel should be on the list? leave us a comment.
You can find me on Instagram: @dreamytravelersofficial/.
