food: in and out.

Some of you have inquired about what the food is like in Australia... actually, no one has asked - but I'm going to write about it anyway! Here is a blog post dedicated to our nutritional adventures thus far:

In!

Back when Ben and I were dating, our homemade meals consisted mostly of easy prep foods, such as boxed pasta and frozen pizza. Our separate living situations and my varied work schedule made it hard to plan elaborate homemade dinners, and we always told ourselves that we'd be much better at eating healthy when we finally lived together. And that time has finally come.

Living a block away from the grocery is really convenient - there's also a small Asian grocery next to our local Safeway, in case I feel like cooking up some cuisine inspired by my ethnic heritage. We also live a tram ride away from the Queen Victoria Market, which is a great place for picking up fresh fruits and veggies. 

Queen Victoria market

As I've mentioned before, a few ingredients have different names in Australia (capsicum = green pepper, coriander = cilantro, etc.), which has made grocery shopping a little tricky at times. There are a few food items that are significantly different than their American counterparts: for example, we've been told that Australian brown sugar is usually white sugar coated with a tiny bit of brown sugar. And of course, there are some things that we can't get here at all. Probably for our own good, but still a slight annoyance.

Ben is not impressed about the only s'mores "ingredients" I could find at the grocery store...

I've been having fun developing my cooking repertoire, tweaking online recipes to our liking - but usually just making things up as I go. So far, we're both happy with my fish tacos, baked salmon and asparagus, panang curry, and vegetarian chili. I've also made matzo ball soup on a few occasions, whenever one of us is feeling under the weather. It really helps!

tacos with flavoured tofu.

matzo ball soup.

salmon and asparagus.

As far as Australian-specific foods: we recently discovered Tim Tam Chocolicious Bites, and they are DIVINE. We have yet to find a good brand of frozen pizza here. And Vegemite is really... not delicious. I still want to believe that it's an acquired taste, but it tastes like salty metal. And Ben dislikes it even more than I do.

when in Australia...

Out!

We've been trying to save money by eating in a lot, but when Ben is in town we try to designate one weeknight towards trying a local restaurant of some sort. So far we've been to a few good places, such as an authentic African restaurant, various sushi places, and some fun chains. I love risotto and gnocchi dishes, and Ben usually orders chicken parmesan (I'm a pescatarian, so eating out is pretty much his only chance to enjoy meat). Portions are filling but manageable, which is great because most places don't pack up leftovers. Here are some pictures of some of our lovely meals out:

smoked salmon and corn fritters.

African feast.

delicious fig and apple breakfast pastry.

Fish and chips are pretty popular in fishing towns, naturally. Most meals are generous in quantity, and are wrapped in lots of paper. 

Alcohol out is expensive, so we only buy beer and wine coolers in bulk from a liquor store called Dan Murphy's, to enjoy on occasion at home. We've also had a chance to visit some delightful wineries during our stay at Lakes Entrance.

 All in all, we've been having a great time trying new cuisine, Australian versions of our favourite dishes, and creating some of our own specialties. We definitely recommend the food scene in Melbourne, and we're looking forward to exploring many more restaurants and dishes in the future.

CK