Food

Kangaroo, meat pies, pomegranite and ginger beer, bacon and mushrooms, and the classic vegemite, are all wonderful parts of what I've had the privilage, nay, the honor of putting into my mouth in this country.

I had a fantastic kangaroo sirloin burger at a cafe in Katoomba. It had a beef-y texture and was put on the bun in strips rather than in a patty form. It was a little wild tasting like venison, but there wasn't any over poweringly different taste. I think they also had some sort of a blue cheese spread on the bun, which was a good touch.

Breakfast in the cafeteria on campus has always been a bit of a surprise. Sometimes it's bacon and beans, other days mushroom and sausage, sometimes egg bake. Though the bacon here is fantastic--it's a thicker cut than I'm used to and is cooked to greasey perfection, the beans and mushrooms sort of leave the consumer going, "Really?" I've found though that some artery clogging protein has been a good way to start my day. I've also been having thick whole grain toast with butter and vegemite every morning. I have to thank Renee for turning me on to vegemite from when she visited Australia, otherwise I don't think I would have had it in me to spread the baby-poo like salt paste onto my toast. I have reason to believe, though, that there is no such thing as good coffee in this country. That is a really unfair statement in that I've only had coffee is from weird-o premaid machines on campus, but it is really nasty. There's also a hot chocolate-like drink called Milo here as well that is less than delicious. I did purchase some cold coffee in something like a milk carton from the store, which was better, but better only elevated it from sewage to gas station coffee--not much of a jump.

I first had a meat pie just outside of the train station in Katoomba and it was a very good idea. It was kind of like a hot pocket in a pie tin, but you could tell that the meat had been from a real animal and the shell was slightly less processed. I decided then that I would make meat pies at home. The cafeteria also served meat pie the other night, and they added mashed potato to the top which made them look kind of like chalky dried out piles of poop, but were most delicious.

I had what I'm going to go ahead and call my most favorite meal ever though this past night. We had gone to Woolworths' just before the Chinese New Year parade and I bought some ginger beer (a soda that is avaliable at the Co-op and Afterdark), a pomegranite (product of California, and at AUS$2.50 cheaper than they are in Wisconsin) Tasmanian Brie and crackers, and Original Tim-Tams. I shared with everyone, but there was something about that combination of tastes, the location, and just the circumstance that brought out the flavors in a way that no chef ever could.

On a slightly different note, I love grocery shopping. Even regionally in Wisonsin, not to mention across the country, grocery stores can tell you so much about the people of the community. Here, I've been surprised to find generic versions of some of the foods that we (maybe just me) hold to be European and therefore a little classy--like Laughing Cow and even Nutella. I am also excited to see a lot of just green grocers with tons of good fruit, or just butchers or just sea food shops. There isn't a dependence on Supermarkets and I like that. The biggest culture shock that I've experienced overall in Australia though, is that the milk here is not refrigerated. We've asked, and apparently it's just stuffed full of preservatives and will keep, unopened, in your pantry for about three months. Thankfully, it is refrigerated after being opened. The milk tastes like something is a bit off and it's a bit thicker than it ought to be, but there are worse things.

Over all, I am eating well, eating balanced, and enjoying what I'm eating.