The Essential Ingredient

A nation’s cuisine can be one of its strongest defining attributes. It’s almost impossible to think about France without conjuring images of decadent pastries, or the United States without its towering burgers.

But what exactly is Australia’s national cuisine, and what does this cuisine (or lack thereof, depending on your view) say about us?

We recently asked our Twitter followers whether they would be cooking any ‘patriotic dishes’ for Australia Day, and among the deliciously appropriate lamb, kangaroo and lamington responses came a few understandably confused shrugs. Do we have any dishes that are truly, authentically Australian?

Like most other aspects of Australian life, our cuisine reflects the broad influences of our richly multicultural society.

Elements of our British heritage persist, particularly in the ‘Australian’ traditions of fish and chips, meat pies and, of course, the roast dinner, but they are joined by the flavours, techniques and heritage of countless foreign imports.

While espousing the virtues of our multicultural dining opportunities is nothing new- we’re all justly proud of our ability to choose from Italian, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Greek, African, French, Japanese and many, many more restaurants in any larger city in the country- this represents our enthusiasm toward the cuisines of other countries rather than a cuisine of our own.

As professional chefs and home cooks alike have come to realise, Australia is also remarkable for the sheer range of ingredients available to us. A cook anywhere in the country can cook authentic Italian food using authentic Italian ingredients. Or genuine Thai food, without the need to substitute ingredients due to lack of availability.

This unfettered access to both influences and ingredients leads, inevitably, to experimentation and fusion, and it is there that ‘Modern Australian’ cuisine (a title coined by the Sydney Morning Herald in 1996) enters.

From the incredible work done by Tetsuya Wakuda (blending Japanese and French cuisines) and others like him, to the home cook creating a lamb and rocket salad with a subtle Asian dressing, Modern Australian cuisine is always evolving and always looking for new influences.

With an unending variety of produce available from markets, butchers, delis and fishmongers, and the ingredients and equipment available at The Essential Ingredient, this ongoing evolution of the true Australian cuisine is happening in homes and restaurants around the country on a nightly basis.

As Australians, we are proud to live in a country so accepting of other cultures. As lovers of food, we should be excited by the possibilities.

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The Essential Ingredient can help not only with authentic, quality ingredients for your Modern Australian creations, but with inspiration. Make sure you take the time to look through our extensive cookbook collections, highlighting the incredible work being done by Australian chefs to continue Australia’s evolution into an international centre for food innovation.

Posted under Essential Inspiration, Featured.