Notes from my Australian Pantry

Expat Challenge Day 7 (Updated Version)

Since moving abroad, my pantry looks different because…

When I think about my pantry in Melbourne, the first thing that comes to mind is vegemite.  We have had a jar of it sitting in our pantry most months since we moved here, but that's not because we like it.  We bought the first jar because we were determined that our kids would at least try it. Unfortunately they and vegemite got off to a bad start.  

Just a few days after our arrival we were invited to a morning tea where platters of food were handed around to the children.  The first contained the sweet, child-pleasing concoction known here as fairy bread.  Fairy bread is white bread spread with butter and topped with sprinkles (or hundreds and thousands, in local parlance).  This went down well.  The second platter had pieces of bread spread with what my children assumed was nutella.  Their happy expressions turned to horror as the thick, salty spread assaulted their taste buds. They haven't gone near it since.  

The jar of vegemite stayed in our pantry, untouched, for over a year.  I couldn't imagine that it would ever spoil, but eventually I decided to give it away.  The very next week one of our sons had a friend over from school.  Turns out, the only thing he wanted to eat for lunch was a vegemite sandwich.  For this reason I now keep a jar in my pantry.

Fairy bread has been a much more successful Australian food item in our house.  We have served it for afternoon tea at cricket games and at our kids' birthday parties.  Our Australian pantry is never without at least one container of hundreds and thousands.

 

Looking at my pantry this morning, I notice the following things that are different from the way we ate in Pittsburgh:

1.  Breakfast foods:  With the exception of Cameron converting to the very Aussie Weet-bix, we now eat way less cereal.  It's not only are the names different, the cereals don't taste the same, and there is not nearly as much variety.  For another, we keep hearing about what an unhealthy choice cereal is.  Having said that, you might notice the carton of Up-&-Go, liquid breakfast in a cardboard box.  I confess to allowing James to have that for breakfast when we are running late for school.

2.  Canned Stuff:  There's lots of evaporated milk because I started putting that in my coffee as a substitute for half and half after visiting Singapore.  There's also a container of coconut spread because we loved that on toast in Singapore.  Pittsburgh readers might be interested to know that Heinz beanz are the best known Heinz product in Australia, and a general favorite overall.  Sophie takes them in her lunch box on occasion.

3.  Convenience items:  The first couple of years I prepared lots of Mexican food because we really missed it.  The recent addition of black bean chipotle salsa to our local grocery store has been welcome indeed.  My latest favorite jarred sauces, however are the Asian ones (note the Butter Chicken variety).  I didn't anticipate preparing Asian style food in Australia, the land of meat pies and sausage rolls.  However it does make sense given the relative proximity to Asian countries and also the high population of Asian immigrants in Melbourne.  I love all of the possibilities:  just brown chicken, steak or a type of seafood, pour in one of the varieties of sauce, simmer, then add a can of coconut milk or some heavy cream if feeling indulgent.  Serve over rice with broccoli, and voila, a meal that the whole family enjoys.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy, as James like to say.

4.  Not shown:  Jars and cans of beetroot.  It's not shown, because R eats it as soon as I purchase it.  I used to hate beets.  They are such a loved staple in Australia, however, that I have developed a taste for them.  A slice of beetroot is a common Aussie addition to hamburgers, frequently found in sandwiches, and often part of a salad.  Eggs:  we often store them in the pantry as they are sold unrefrigerated here.

I also have a box of graham crackers, along with a bag of American marshmallows, squirreled away somewhere in the pantry.  I had R bring them home in his suitcase on one of his trips so that we could make s'mores. Aussie marshmallows just don't melt the way American ones do.  I will venture on being a traitor to our home state of Pennsylvania, though, by confessing that I prefer Cadbury's chocolate bars to Hershey's.

One last item in our pantry that I want to mention because I doubt we will find it in Pittsburgh:  cans of passion fruit pulp.  We put it on yoghurt, ice cream and pavlova.  One of my favorite things to do is to cut open a fresh passion fruit and let the juice run down my fingers.  The tangy aroma is startling in its intensity.  Fresh is better than canned, of course, but I still like to have a can of it on hand should the urge for passion fruit strike.

That's it for my pantry entry.  Thanks for coming along for the tour!

 

Comments

[Samantha]

Lol. I love your description of your children's introduction to Vegemite, so funny. You know, I don't think I have tried the fairy bread myself - but I have for sure heard about it - might have to give it a go someday.

[Christie]

There is a 'fancy' version of fairy bread on Taste.com.au. In my opinion, however, fairy bread is better to look at than to actually eat.

[Joshandjackie.wordpress.com]

The key to vegemite is toast with a thick layer of butter, melting, and a pea-sized scraping of Vegemite. I can't even imagine putting what I thought was nutella in my mouth only to get vegemite!

[Cristin]

People keep asking me if I've given Hushpuppy Vegemite, yet. It's a completely common thing for babies here. Ummm...hello sodium...no, I haven't! Of course, she does eat Skippy peanut butter like there's no tomorrow, which probably isn't exactly the healthiest, either.

Good call on the passion fruit pulp. We may have cornered the market on marshmallows and graham crackers, but the U.S. should really get wise to the wonders of passion fruit.

[Cosette]

Americans tend to try Vegemite the way they eat peanut butter or Nutella: by the spoonful. What a mistake that is! A little Vegemite goes a long way, but I admit I don't love it. I think the only Aussie product I've really adopted wholeheartedly is muesli.

[Christie]

We like to say that the only people who genuinely like vegemite are the ones who have had it spoon fed to them as a baby. I personally don't mind it on toast with lots of melted butter and a slice of tasty cheese. But I don't think it's worth the effort. Interestingly, it was Aussies who had spread it on thickly the first and only time my kids ate it. Cristin, I don't blame you for not feeding it to your baby. I wouldn't either. Cosette, I agree about the muesli. Sadly I only recently discovered bircher muesli. I am making up for lost time by making it and ordering it whenever possible. Yum!

[Yvette]

OMG! I love your post. Thanks for showing us everything. I should start reading everyone else's before I write my own. Thought I was gonna pee myself when you described your kids going from fairy bread to vegemite. Unfortunately, I'm not an adventurous eater. Really wish I were. But I like muesli on my yogurt too. :)

[Kim Haytock]

I really enjoyed reading this- thanks for sharing! Curious to know why you like the evap milk in your coffee, like how does it taste in comparison to half and half?

[Christie]

Kim, I had heard of eval. milk recommended as a lower-fat alternative to half and half. I tried it and rejected it when we lived in Pittsburgh. Evaporated milk seems to have a similar texture to half and half--it makes the coffee nice and creamy. However, you definitely have to adjust to a taste difference. After we visited Singapore where the coffee is very thick and dark, and most people drink their coffee with sweetened condensed milk, I decided to try again.

[Leana]

One of my Canadian friends detests the pink marshmallows here and even refuses to eat the white ones, because they have been 'infected' by sharing a bag with the pink ones! I never really noticed much difference until she pointed it out...but yes, it's true...the marshmallows are definitely different!

[Christie]

Yep, the Aussie marshmallows are just not the same, and if you try to use them in American recipes, they won't work! They don't melt properly, and they have a funny flavor (maybe it's just the 'infected' pink ones that are flavored! Ha). All that said, they probably have far fewer chemicals in them.

[Shanda Ives]

So fascinating! I loved the part about the passion fruit and how you like to let the juice run.....