Australia may be famous for its love of a good “barbie”, but in a land as diverse as this, a continent where you can travel from the scorching heat of the outback to the misty hills of the Blue Mountains and everywhere in between, it would be madness to reduce Australian cuisine to a few smoking coals. When the first British settlers arrived in Australia in the 1700s, they were slow to adapt to the riches of this vast and varied country, preferring to survive on a bland diet of bread and salt-preserved meat rather than embrace the nutritious bush tucker diet of the native Aboriginal communities. By the 19th century, however, agriculture was booming, and with the expansion of the railways came a wider distribution of homegrown produce. When the Gold Rush hit, local cuisine was given another boost with the addition of the fragrant aromas and flavors of Asian cuisine, as prospectors from China arrived to try their luck in the quarries. Today, Australia is home to people from all over the world, many of whom have introduced their own native country’s culinary heritage to this vast melting pot of cuisines. If you’re planning a trip to Australia, these are just a few of the foods you’re likely to find on your dinner table.
