Bingeing Poms
I am fast becoming a bingeing Pom. In this the land of the "manscaped body", my abdominal muscles are in serious danger of repetitive strain as they struggle to fight the good fight of reining in my spreading girth.
My last two postings took me to an embattled superpower, America, and an emerging superpower, India. Now, I find myself reporting from one of the world’s foremost culinary superpowers, with the attendant perils for my waistline.
Sydney claims still to be its unofficial capital (though Melbournians would no doubt disagree), a city so fixated by food that the appointment of each new restaurant critic attracts almost as much attention as the casting of a new James Bond.
And in many ways, the creme de la creme of the food commentariat have the same licence to kill – the make-or-break power to doom any new establishment on the basis of a few unsatisfactory mouthfuls.
Out on the food frontlines, it’s not uncommon for chefs to fight back. A former critic, Matthew Evans, told me how he’d been threatened with violence, sued for defamation and even followed by a private detective after posting an unfavourable review. Then came the ultimate "foodie" insult. A chef decided to name a dish in his dishonour after he had the gall to call it stupid.
But it’s hard to feel much sympathy for him. For a time, Matthew had the joyful task of compiling the ’s fabled meal of the month: a fantasy menu of the finest four courses from the finest restaurants. In the journalistic world, can anyone think of a more mouth-watering assignment?
The Herald even has its very own food agony aunt. Want to rustle up a plate of marbled wagyu beef, with asparagus, baby beans, girolle mushrooms and summer truffles: then look no further.
That job was long filled by celebrity chef, Bill Granger, famed in these parts for his scrambled eggs and corn fritters (I kid you not). So here’s another question for Bill to ponder: why are so many Australians so very obsessed with food?
"Food is the first way we get to appreciate other peoples’ cultures, whether it’s the Italians or the Chinese,” Bill told me, over a cup of soya latte. “It’s one of the main ways here that new immigrants have won acceptance.”
That’s surely true. Australia’s increasingly exotic menus reflect its increasingly multicultural hue: a flavoursome melting pot in which Vietnamese, Japanese, Thai, Indian, Eastern European and Chinese restaurants flourish.
In a country seeking closer ties with its closest neighbours, it should come as no surprise that Sydney’s most celebrated chef, the world renowned Tetsuya Wakuda, is a specialist in Asian fusion who arrived here in 1982 from Japan.
And perhaps it’s no coincidence either that the politician who built her reputation on opposing immigration, Pauline Hanson, the erstwhile leader of the nativist One Nation Party, ran a fish and chip shop in Queensland.
The success of new Labor MP Maxine McKew in becoming only the second candidate in Australian history to unseat a sitting Prime Minister was partly due to the support she received from large sections of Bennelong’s Asian-Australian communities.
Fittingly then, the Golden Jade Seafood restaurant in the Sydney suburb of Eastwood, the purveyors of fabulous dim sum, sometimes felt like her unofficial campaign headquarters.
Not so long ago, I attended a citizenship ceremony at Sydney town hall, a joyful occasion at which more than 40 new citizens from more than 20 different countries pledged allegiance to the Australian flag.
The city of Sydney could hardly have been more welcoming. There were gift bags for the new citizens and a concert pianist whose repertoire included "Waltzing Matilda" and the 1980s ballad "I still call Australia home".
After the ceremony, there was also some typically Australian fare on offer: a plate of Lamingtons, a soft sponge coated in chocolate and desiccated coconut, and meat pies with a garnish of tomato sauce. I, of course, will happily scoff both. But I couldn’t help wondering about, and being grateful for, the more multicultural menu which this country now has to offer.
All that remains is to wish you happy eating over this festive period. And remember, if you’re thinking of tossing a shrimp casually onto the barbie then you should surely give serious consideration to splashing it first with a dash of squid ink sauce and applying a coat of tomato foam. Your status as a culinary superpower surely demands nothing less.
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Sydney and Australian food generally is amongst the most over hyped rubbish on the world stage of cuisine!
It's some of the most overpriced rubbish I've ever had to endure! There's no Australian cuisine at all, there's only trumped up fusion rubbish which is so over priced it takes your breath away!
Sydney and Australian food generally is amongst the most over hyped rubbish on the world stage of cuisine!
It's some of the most overpriced rubbish I've ever had to endure! There's no Australian cuisine at all, there's only trumped up fusion rubbish which is so over priced it takes your breath away!
Nick, the goings on in the Sydney food establishment are irrelevant to the rest of the country - we don't care!!!! (OK, I'm from Melbourne.......)
Re the food at the citizenship ceremonies, I think its a great idea - corny, yes, but fun all the same. And lets face it, I send this kind of stuff to poor Poms every year for Christmas, so it must be OK!
And the multicultural feel is evident in a lot of our country towns too - Nick, you need to get out of Tinseltown a bit more!
Happy New Year.
Nick,you don,t know the pain that i go through,it,s fish and chips friday
Thai cafe shop around the coner,yep
thai on saturday,,,,(good tucker thai)Sunday the good old sunday dinner leg of lamb with veggies...
The only problem,,, be very sure any seafood dish has AUSTRALIAN product..
NO way in the world eat asian imported seafood,and they are kicking up a stink,why aussies will not eat their seafood,,
Yes,we sure love our FOOD...
P.S. for lunch today had a meat pie and chips,regards Yellow Cabbie Brisbane ,,Cheers
Oh how I miss meat pies. Isn't that sad?
Nick, you shoudl know that what Aussies call a shrimp would be incinerated on a barbie! I feel you're referring to a prawn. Shrimps are found in special fried rice.
Food is important, yes - but it's a shame we don't translate your seemingly endless cultural enthusiasm into art. There's nothing stopping us from becoming an artistic superpower but ourselves.
And just to clarify, Nick - great column, but no Australian has ever had to pledge allegiance to the flag. I think you're confusing us with another country across the pacific. If we were suddenly forced to swear allegiance to that unrepresentative tea-towel, then god help us all.
Nick I think you need to get down to Melbourne a bit more. Food is a lot better (including value) than Sydney.
Less pretentious restaurants, and better quality.
And they aren't all "fusion" restaurants.
Try Movida (up an alleyway off Flinders Street near the Forum theatre) next time you are in town.
Sydney and food are hardly synonymous when it comes to Australia. It has long been known that Melvbourne is by far Australia's Culinary capital and by a fair margin. Clearly Nick you ought to have travelled nationallly before taking off overseas or perhaps you were referring to bangers and mash? On that score Sydney might just compete!
Adelaide is tops for good quality food that is not over-priced. And we make the best wine and beer too.
Sydney may be many things but I don't think anything in the way of cuisine for that city, nor are it's public overtly enthusiastic with food. Sans the solidly unpretentious, good old fashioned RSL smorgasbord it seems to do so well and is probably closer to a majority of it's inhabitants hearts.
One thing we have over the UK is that we're fortunate to have a climate that supports far superior produce, fruit and veg. Thanks Queensland.
Tasmania and South Australia has amazing wine, ales and beers. Even now in the U.K I'm missing my Coopers Ale and James Boags lager!
I love Australian cuisine. Maybe not Sydney because it's a tourist plaza where they can slack off and over-charge.
Melbourne, now that's a different story. Melbourne is the place to be for food & wine festivals, fresh food markets at your doorstep and some of the finest, top-rated restaurants in the world.
The fusion of European, classic British and modern Asian is something unspeakable. I have a LOVE for food. I have a love for culinary thing in this world, whether it be the standard $2.00 minimum chips, 2 fried dimmys and a piece of flake - I love it all.
I miss days throwing random food items on a tripod, wobbly bbq and seeing whether it was make or break. I miss sitting on the beach feeding seagulls my left over chips because even $2.00 chips is too much. I miss the not quite "HOT PIES, COLD DRINKS" at the football, but most of all, I miss the socialness and love behind sharing a meal with some friends, even if it looks like the inards of a cow.