Foodies galore: Makings of exotic Australian cuisine

Australian High Commissioner delivers a lecture on food origins in his country.

ISLAMABAD:

An integral part of any culture, food unites connoisseurs.

Scores of people gathered to attend a lecture on “Food in Australia: social history” delivered by the Australian High Commissioner Peter Heyward at Serena Hotel on Monday.

The lecture covered various trends and changes of food culture in a country where habitat was mainly found along the coastal lines. Thus fish was a chief source of nutrition. Fresh fruit and vegetables were mainly for the upper classes. However with a growing number of immigrants, these trends gradually changed.

He underlined that shows such as Masterchef Australia have added to the thriving culture of cooking and entertaining at home and dining out. “Most eateries back in the day served broth, then British cuisine developed and gradually the European. The fish and chips shop arrived much later along with the meat pie and by World War II, the meat pie was recognised as a national dish,” he added.

While reminiscing about his childhood, he said eating out simply meant going to a fish and chips shop and Italian and Chinese cuisine were introduced much later. However, he added that as a whole the country did not produce Australian cuisine as such and mainly concentrated on producing dishes made from locally produced fresh goods.

An audience quipped that Heyward forgot to mention the famous Australian barbeque, to much laughter. The event organised by English Speaking Union.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2013.