Episode 002 | Iconic Australians Foods #EnglishwithanAussie
JINGLE:
Hello everybody and welcome. I’m your host Adriana, and you're listening to English with an Aussie, the no. 1 podcast spoken entirely in slow English.
INTRO:
In today's episode we'll be counting down the top five foods that can only be found in Australia. So if you are a fan of sweet treats, stay tuned ‘till the end when I reveal Australia's number one most loved snack and a trick on how to eat them! But, before we do, it’s time for a history lesson. The year was 1945, and World War 2 was officially put to an end. In Australia we saw a huge surge of migration from all parts of the world including Greece, Italy and Lebanon, all bringing with them of course, their delicious recipes. This marked the beginning of a significant shift in Australia’s food culture. Foods such as pizza, kebabs and noodles slowly started becoming accessible and staple items in Aussie households. Fast forward 80 years later to Australia’s culinary capital of Melbourne, where you can find 3,500 restaurants serving up cuisine from over 70 countries. In addition to this, Melbourne imports 30 tonnes of coffee beans every day, is home to 21 different wine regions and welcomes 2,000 farmers who sell their produce each month at farmers markets across Victoria. Australia is proud to be the home of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival which attracts over 300,000 visitors every year!
#5 THE MEAT PIE:
Ok let’s get down to business! What do Austraian’s eat? Or rather, what foods are iconically Australian? Let’s kick start this list with #5: The Meat Pie: a flaky shortcrust pastry filled with beef and gravy. According to experts, pies, in some shape or form have been around since the Ancient Romans and Egyptians. Pastry was used as a vessel to keep the meat moist by preserving its juices. In 1939, a gentleman named Lesley McClure moved to Bendigo to open a cafè that included a window where customers could peer through and watch his delicious biscuits and pies being made. However, McClure was growing tired of rival-pie makers and decided to take his recipe and production to the next level. He enlisted the help of three partners from Germany and the Czech Republic who refined the recipe and built a machine that would produce 12,000 pies an hour. He decided to name the pies Four’n Twenty after his favourite nursery rhyme “Sing a Song of Sixpence”. Little did he know that the Four’n Twenty pie would then go on to become Australia's most sought after snack at sporting matches, birthday parties and lunch breaks. In fact, to this day my father still buys pies to eat on the AFL Grand Final Day. I even remember my grandmother, an Italian migrant, putting her Four'n Twenty pie in the oven after church every Sunday.
#4 VEGEMITE:
#4 Vegemite. Ahhh…. The dreaded vegemite. One of those foods that you either love or you hate. In fact, I've never once met a person that has said ‘you know what, I don't mind vegemite’. It's either 'I HATE VEGEMITE, IT'S THE BAIN OF MY EXISTENCE’, or ‘I can't live without VEGEMITE!’. So what exactly is it? Well, how do I put this….. Vegemite is a thick, dark brown spread that people put on toast in the morning for breakfast. I know what you are thinking, “so it's like Nutella?” no, you could not be any more wrong. Vegemite is not sweet, or chocolatey, in fact it is quite the opposite. Vegemite is made from leftover yeast extract after beer is brewed. It also contains various food additives to enhance its savoury taste. Vegemite has a strong salty flavour and is rich in vitamin B. As you can probably gather, I am not a fan. However, since 1922 the Bega Group has been manufacturing over 20 million jars of vegemite every year. We now see it being used in burgers, casseroles and soups. If you are thinking about taking the plunge, and giving Vegemite a go, might I suggest you ease into it. Quite simply, toast some bread, spread your butter and add a quarter of a teaspoon of vegemite. You might like to add some cheese or avocado. But please save yourself….. don't be tempted to dunk your spoon into the jar and enjoy as you would peanut butter or Nutella.
#3 PAVLOVA:
#3 The Pavlova, or Pav for short, is a dessert that conjures up childhood memories of mothers in the kitchen whipping egg whites into glossy peaks, then swirling them into the perfect circle on a piece of baking paper. After cooking at a low heat, the pavlova is cooled then topped with whipped cream and various fruits. My mum’s ‘go to’ is banana and passionfruit, but other combinations include strawberries and shaved chocolate or kiwi fruit and raspberries. You’re probably thinking, why is it called Pavlova? In 1926, a famous Russian ballerina called Anna Pavlova was performing in Australia and New Zealand. It is said that her tutu which had puffy round layers of lace inspired a pastry chef to create the creamy meringue dessert that we all know now. As the name of this chef is nowhere to be found, there is a bitter rivalry between Australia and New Zealand. You see the New Zealanders believe that the chef at the Wellington Hotel (where Anna Pavlova stayed on tour) created the dish, however Aussie’s argue that it was invented in Perth by a gentleman called Herbet Sasche. One evening at Herbet’s restaurant, a diner exclaimed that his dessert was “as light as Anna Pavlova''. In the end, the Pavlova is an important dessert for Australians. Although desserts with meringue had been around for many years, I believe we deserve the credit for putting a name to this wonderful recipe and keeping it alive in Australian households.
# ANZAC BISCUITS:
#2 ANZAC Biscuits. The word ANZAC is actually an acronym which uses the initial letters of other words. ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. This name was coined in 1915 when the ANZAC troops landed in Gallipoli, Turkey during World War 1. At this time wives and mothers began sending nutritious biscuits to soldiers as they were worried their loved ones were not being fed well. The biscuits which consisted of oats, golden syrup and coconut were added to the soldiers ration packs and kept for long periods of time. These biscuits proved the ANZAC’s with a burst of energy and slow digesting carbohydrates which kept them full throughout the day. In addition to this, ANZAC biscuits were baked for fundraisers and were loved so dearly, they began featuring in cookbooks throughout Australia in the year 1919. Nowadays, each year on the 15th of April we commemorate all of our fallen soldiers by wearing a red flower and baking ANZAC biscuits. I have many fond memories as a child, particularly in primary school. We would make ANZAC biscuits in our classrooms and share them with friends and family after school. Recipes would change year by year, however, one component always stayed the same, the use of golden syrup in the recipe. Don’t be fooled, golden syrup may look a lot like honey but it is completely different. Golden syrup is a form of inverted sugar made by refining sugar cane or beets. Golden syrup gives the biscuits their distinct taste and texture.
#1 TIM TAMS:
Alright guys, the time you’ve all been waiting for the big reveal. What is Australia’s most sought after sweet? #1 the Tim Tam. Tim Tams are Australia’s most loved chocolate biscuit. Infact, in every biscuit you get two chocolate wafer biscuits sandwiched together with a creamy filling and chocolate coating. In 1958, a horse called Tim Tam won the Kentucky Derby. Six years later after travelling in the UK, a gentleman working for the Australian biscuit manufacturer Arnott's tasted a “Penguin Biscuit” and decided to make it better. And that he did! Arnott’s modified the recipe to suit the taste of the Australian public, adding just the right amount of chocolate and sugar which is often referred to as the “bliss point”. Arnott’s then went on to name their biscuit after the winning horse Tim Tam and these went on the market in 1964. There is something addictive about Tim Tams, you eat one and then all of a sudden you’re standing there staring at an empty packet. I’m going to share a secret with you now, so please listen carefully. If you live in Australia or are lucky enough to get your hands on a packet of Tim Tams, make yourself a hot tea, coffee or milk. Step one, take a Tim Tam out of the packet and hold it in the middle between your pointer finger and thumb, Step two, create two openings on your Tim Tam by nibbling the top right hand corner and the bottom left hand corner. Step three, dunk one end of the Tim Tam into the hot drink and suck the nibbled end at the top. This will draw the liquid up through the Tim Tam like a straw and leave you with the most delicious chocolatey drink. Step four, repeat the process, until you’ve reached the optimal saturation. Remember, that timing is important, dunk strategically so your Tim Tam doesn't fall apart. Finally we’ve reached step five, slam the Tim Tam in your mouth and enjoy pure bliss.
REFLECTION/OUTRO:
Well if you’ve made it this far, thank you so much for sticking around. But unfortunately it’s time to say our goodbyes. Just to remind you, today's lesson was all about iconic Australian food. We first spoke about the shift in Australia’s food culture after World War 2 and then we counted down the Top five Australian foods which were meat pies, vegemite, pavlova, ANZAC Biscuits and the highly addictive Tim Tams. Hopefully this has given you some ideas next time you do the shopping in Australia. Next episode, I will be discussing celebrations in Australia. If you would like the entire transcript of this episode for FREE please send me an email at TeacherAdriana1992@gmail.com. Once again, thank you everybody. You've been listening to English with an Aussie.
VOCABULARY
1. surge : a sudden large increase or powerful movement.
2. culinary capital : a certified destination designed to raise visibility for food, drink, products and experiences.
3. preserving : to treat food in a certain way to prevent its decomposition.
4. sought after : when something is in high demandm usually because its rare or of very high quality.
5. dread : to fear or not want something to happen.
6. yeast extract : food flavouring made from the same yeast used to make bread and beer.
7. savoury : a food or dish that is salty or spicy and not sweet in taste.
8. manufacturing : the making of products on a large scale using machinery or industrial procudtion.
9. slow digesting carbohydrates : a type of carbodyrate that are slowly absorbed in the body. These are low on the glycemic index and have minimal effect on your blood sugar.
10. commemorate : to officially remember and give respect to a great person or event, especially by a public ceremony or by making a statue or building.
11. dunk : to put something into liquid for a short period of time,
12. fallen soldiers : those soliders who were killed or surrendered in battle.
