Australian Recipes

Australian cuisine is a young tradition that brings together the BBQ and afternoon tea heritage of British colonial rule, the fusion cooking of Mediterranean and Asian immigrants (Italy, Greece, Vietnam, China, Lebanon), the bush tucker knowledge of the indigenous Aboriginal peoples, and Pacific Ocean seafood, all within a single modern brunch culture. Tatonia features dozens of Australian recipes; the highlights include the meat pie (a national street food), pavlova (a cream-topped meringue shared with New Zealand), lamington (cocoa and coconut cake), Anzac biscuits (a 1915 military classic), avocado toast (a modern café icon), the sausage roll, fairy bread, Tim Tam, sweetcorn fritters, and the flat white coffee. Anzac biscuits (the classic biscuit recipe sent to Anzac (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) soldiers during the 1915 Gallipoli campaign); the classic formula is oats, flour, golden syrup, butter, bicarbonate of soda, and desiccated coconut, with NO egg (eggs were not available during the war, and the recipe is protected for its keeping quality). The meat pie came to Australia in the 1850s as a British working-class food and today holds national dish status, with 12 million-plus consumed per year at AFL football matches. Avocado toast became popular in Sydney brunch cafés in the 2010s; the classic formula is sourdough toast, mashed avocado, lemon, salt, chili flakes, and a slice of feta or other cheese. There is debate over whether the flat white coffee originated in 1980s Sydney or Wellington (New Zealand); it is classically espresso with steamed milk (microfoam, a finer foam than a latte). In the bush tucker tradition, Wattleseed (acacia seed), Macadamia, Finger lime, and Saltbush are all being revived by modern Australian chefs. This page covers a broad Australian repertoire, from everyday brunch plates (avocado toast, sweetcorn fritters) to classic baked goods (meat pie, sausage roll) and sweet classics (lamington, pavlova, Anzac biscuits).