Friday, June 11, 2010

Land Down Under's Western Food Influence

By Cole Wagner

When people hear Western food, they automatically think of Texas and cowboys. Not always so. Western food is a word mostly referred to the food in Europe and Western nations, including Australia, which has one of the most diverse cultures in the world. When it comes to the culinary scene, the Land Down Under is very multicultural, bearing Western cuisine and other influences.

Western fare in Australia is very rampant. As most in the nation's account is founded on traditional British fare brought by the first British colonists, one can find steaks, hams, and more prevalent in the food scene.

Breakfast in Australia is similar to breakfast in many Western countries. A light meal generally consists of toast, fruits, and cereals, while a heavier meal is alike to a full English breakfast of sausage, hash browns, eggs, and bacon. For the beverages, it may include milk, juice, coffee, or tea.

Although lunch and dinner dishes in the country differ according to the taste and background of each household, they are mostly very Western-like. Popular dishes include pasta, pizza, roast meat, vegetables, barbecue, and casseroles among many others. For outback food dishes, there are lamb chops, grilled rib-eye, and steaks.

For take-away foods, Australia has a wide variety of take-away food, just like any other Western lands. Fish and chips is a favorite snack that is associated with the country and other Western nations such as England and the U.S. Burgers, sausage rolls, meat pies, are typically ordered to be consumed outside a restaurant.

Also popular in Australia are American fast food chains, such as Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonald's, and Subway.

There are also lots of foods that while viewed Western, are still very much an Australian icon. These include the popular breakfast product Vegemite, a salty spread applied to bread; ANZAC biscuits and pavlova cake, although New Zealand also lay claims to these ones; meat pies; and kangaroo meat.

As Australia, a former British colony, is greatly wrought by its first British settlers back in the days, Western food in the country is pretty predominant. It is able to keep its native taste and iconic dishes even though its culinary scene is wrought by its settlers of various origins.

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