The Only Country that Eats their National Emblem

Last night, I experienced Australian bbq at its finest!  A few Australians my group of girl friends has met live in an apartment a short drive away from where I live.  They invited us over for an authentic "Australian bbq."  They told us they had two surprises for us.  Come to find out, they had purchased kangaroo and prawns (or shrimp) for us to throw "on the barbie."  Kangaroo was actually really good; similar to what a very tender steak tastes like.  And yes, I actually did "put a shrimp on the barbie" last night.  (There will be pictures to come.)  We also had "sausage sizzles," which is basically a sausage on a piece of bread, or bun, with sauteed onions and bbq sauce or tomato sauce.  Australians have both tomato sauce and ketchup; tomato sauce has more of a liquid texture and is more often consumed by Australians.  I like my sausage with onions and all the condiments!  That wasn't the first time we had sausage; sausage sizzles are served literally everywhere (as prevalent and in the same places where hot dogs would be found in the U.S.). 

(Yes, I look exactly like my dad in the above picture.)

Australians also eat a lot of meat pies.  They're also served everywhere.  Haven't tried it yet!



And even more tasty--kebabs!  I don't know if they're just a west coast thing, but there are kebab shops everywhere in both Wollongong, Sydney, and even the University of Wollongong.  They're a tasty combination of meat, lettuce, tomato, onions, and sauces, all served in a warm bread.  Life can't get any better when you're eating a kebab.

Australia prides itself in that it's the only country which consumes the animals in it's national emblem.  Kangaroo meat, as well as kangaroo and emu jerky, can be found everywhere.

Lastly, Vegemite!  Popularized by television shows and movies, Vegemite is not all it's cracked up to be.  I've only tried it once; I stuck my finger in a jar of vegemite and even the smallest dip was too salty and disgusting for me.  Australians put it on biscuits, toast, crumpets, etc. (similar to how we use jelly).  Although, speaking of jelly, jelly in Australia is actually our version of "Jello" and what we call jelly and jam in the U.S. is just called jam and preserves here.  So you can understand the confusion an Australian experienced when I said "I ate a peanut better and jelly sandwich for lunch."  No, Americans do not eat jello with their peanut butter.  Anyway, back to Vegemite.  According to Wikipedia, Vegemite is "made from used brewers' yeast extract, a by-product of beer manufacturing, and various vegetable and spice additives. It is salty, slightly bitter, and umami or malty — similar to beef bouillon."  Even the definition makes me want to gag--a by-product of beer manufacturing? No thank you.

That's all for Australian food right now!