Australian Top Five Food

Pie Floater

Of all the Australian foods I came across in researching this piece, the Pie Floater is by far the most mind-blowing. Let’s go back to those meat pies mentioned above, only this time we’re going to take one of them, flip it over, and submerge it in a thick green bowl of pea soup. Wow. By now you should know that this glorious mush of a meal could only be improved by a coating of ketchup on top. Bravo, Australia. Bravo.

Vegemite

There’s no way we could celebrate Australian cuisine without mentioning this much maligned foodstuff. The notorious spread — popular enough down under that it’s distributed by Kraft — is actually made from yeast extract, a byproduct of beer brewing. The deep, bitter character of this widely-eaten toast topping is often described diplomatically as “an acquired taste.”

Dagwood Dog

It’s starting to become more and more apparent that the Australians are nothing less than America’s foodie soul mates. At their summer festivals (basically state fairs), you’ll always see Dagwood Dogs (sometimes called Pluto Pups) — deep-fried frankfurters encased in crispy dough. While they’re pretty much the same as our corn dogs, they have the added distinction of coming pre-dipped in ketchup for easy walking and eating.

Pavlova

Another one they tried to blame on someone else by using a tricky name, this dessert was created in honor of Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who toured Australia in the 1930s. While there are now hundreds of different “pav” recipes found throughout the country, the basic idea is that it’s a crispy meringue shell, but when you break into it the inside is gooey like marshmallow fluff. Any type of fruit can be placed on top, and the finished Pavlova can be anything from an intricate, elegant creation to the hot mess.

Boston Bun

Australia gets bonus points for trying to blame this monstrosity on us by using the surreptitious name Boston Bun. I’ve been to Massachusetts many times and have never seen a spiced potato bun covered in heaps of thick-thick coconut icing. But in Australia, these mysteriously named treats pair perfectly with a cup of tea.