Yuuummm, new food...

Anyone who've known me for more than 5 minutes can tell I'm a foodie. From shopping at the local fresh market or the local bakery to cooking (not so much baking) and enjoying a simple dish or an elaborate meal, with my family or bigger parties, I just love the whole process. I have my gourmet moments and my cookie-dough ones. I like to pick the cocktail or wine that would marry well with the food, I enjoy choosing a special ramequin for a special treat, there is only a small chance that we can talk over 30 minutes and avoid the topic, well I am a foodie... Chances are, you're one too, since it has often been playing a big part in the selection of my close friends. Not really a conscientious choice, more of a natural selection. Obviously, those who enjoy dinner parties are naturally more prone to receiving the next invite (!) and common interests often bring on good lasting friendship...

For this reason, I think it's now time to dedicate a whole post to food and introduce you to some of the typical Australian treats. We haven't had a chance to try them all, but we're working on it. Sadly, I'm usually the one making fun of people posting their restaurant plates photos on FB :) (ooops, confession), so I had to retrieve pics from the internet to illustrate even what we've tried.

doesn't it look yummy: see the look on
T's face, waiting for her cheese?

First of all, and completely unrelated (well, it's food too): I told my American friends about Raclette cheese and the concept that goes with it, and swore I'd send pictures next time I'm having one. My wonderful mother-in-law did set up one for us on our 1st day in Paris: here are the promised photos the prove it :)

Back to Australian order of business. I'm thankful for my colleagues, who introduced me to most of the treats we may never have tried otherwise. The first one of the list is the infamous Pavlova, delicious fruity summer cake. And supposedly low-fat (but not sugar-free, let me tell you that). It's a kind of a mousse, extremely light and not without reminding me of an ile-flottante. But there is also a layer of cream, in which passion fruits, golden kiwis and all kind of berries are embedded, and the entire cake is fully encrusted in light meringue. I know how it sounds, a bit of a nut-job-kinda-cake, but trust me: it's out of this world. You could easily trade the tea that is served with it for a Pimm's :)

The next treat I got to try was a Lamingtons bar. A typical Queenslander recipe, it's easy as a krispy treat and tastes better I think, although you have to like coconut. Basically: very aerial sponge cake, cut in slices (=>bars) or cubes, dipped into dark chocolate then covered in dry coconut. Another example of an easy idea going far!

Lamington bar

Fundraising season did bring on the caramello koalas, the Freddo chocolate frog, the Freddo twins (peppermint, pineapple, strawberry, white choc) all kind of cadbury chocolate animals. Although I haven't tried any, they seem to bring out Tiare's sweet tooth, which is a serous indication of goodness since she would always pick potato chips over chocolate when offered both. No need to say that Antoine is having joy-seizures just by looking at the paper wrap.

One of my favorite food here so far is the pumpkin salad. For some reason, it's a very common side-dish, and I have to admit that it marries well with any kind of burgers or meat. A must-add to your BBQ side-dish list. I found a recipe online that sticks to the ones I've tried and liked pumpkin salad. I've tried this version and the same with cucumber slices and feta, both delicious. And so simple. 

As far as take-out and fast food are concerned, Australian have 2 serious assets: First, being a big island make them a great place for seafood, and the fish and chips are no joke. Second, the proximity with Asia gives the insurance to find good and relatively cheap sushis, more seafood, tropical exotic fruits, and as good as diverse asiatic food in general. I'm off to the west end market to go buy our fresh stash of veggies and fruits for the week, so that's it for today.

West end green flea market. Not my pic, though

Come in all kind of flavor, and I've
heard you can somehow use them as a
straw for your tea... (??)

Doesn't mean that I'm not craving a meat pie or that the infamous Tim Tam biscuits (Australians don't eat cookies, they have biscuits instead for their morning tea...) are not on top of my next things to try. But there are too many foods to be described in one page, so I guess I'll have to stop here and post again when I've actually tried more!

FYI: no plan to try the Vegemite. EVER. Stop asking.