Fabulous Food

Hi readers! It’s Gertrude again, documenting all my exciting travels in Australia and Oceania! I must say the food in each city or country has been very interesting and has been an experience in itself. My favorite foods from my entire trip would have to be the foods I ate in both Australia and New Zealand. Because they were very different and unique, I was a little afraid at first. However, this picky eater realized that new and unfamiliar foods can actually be quite appetizing! I want to tell you about the foods I ate with the Aussies (and I’m not talking about the type of dog; I’m talking about the wonderful Australians I met on my adventures!). On my first night in Australia, I was invited to a barbeque (or “barbie” as they call it). Since I’m from North Carolina, I immediately thought of delicious chopped pork drowned in tasty barbeque sauce. Well, I had forgotten that the rest of the world doesn’t think barbeque is a type of food; everyone else thinks of a cookout when they hear the word barbeque! We ate both steaks and seafood outside at the coast. The seafood was extra fresh because of the location at the coast. It was great tasting steak and shrimp with new friends while looking at the beautiful ocean.

My new friends also invited me to afternoon tea the next day. It reminded me that because Australia was colonized by the British, they have many British traditions. At afternoon tea, we ate cute little sandwiches and drank lots of tea and juice. It was a great and relaxing break in a busy day. I think my friends back in North Carolina should adopt this tradition!

That evening one of my new friends Brock took me out on a dinner date. On the menu were meat pie and many other different and interesting foods. They also had normal foods on the menu such as grilled chicken (or chook) with mixed vegetables. However, I wanted to try something more adventurous because I realized it was a rare opportunity to be in Australia. I eyed three different options: kangaroo, crocodile, and buffalo. Because Brock could tell that I was ready for something unique, he took the lead and told the waiter we wanted to try all three entrees. We shared the three meals, and I’m so proud that I can come back to North Carolina and say that I tried all three---and liked them!

New Zealand is my next highlight when it comes to food. New Zealand is very well known for lamb, so, of course, I ate my share of lamb while visiting there. They also had a fair share of pork and salmon as well oysters, mussels, and clams. Whenever I had a craving for seafood, I was covered on this trip!The most interesting thing that New Zealand offered was kiwi. I have, of course, eaten kiwis in the United States and North Carolina, but they were much more easily accessible in New Zealand. Every restaurant menu had some type of dish with kiwi on it. Also, these kiwis were the best kiwis I had ever eaten! I wish I could have brought some back home!

As you can see, I ate some really cool things on my trip. I was nervous at first that I wouldn’t find foods I would like, but I ate some great meals that were familiar and some great meals that were a little more different and unique!

Works Cited

Unknown, Oceania and Food. World Food and Wine. Web. 15 Mar. 2010

Images

http://www.streetdirectory.com/stock_images/travel/simg_show/11629001850871/1/australian_beef_t_bone_steak/

http://foodphotoz.com/wp-content/plugins/yet-another-photoblog/cache/thumb.20e4d6cf2d5bbf6282d96e093f4731be.75cca78afd278ab9fe6de0cb51928dcb.jpeg

http://cobornsdelivers.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/kiwi-clean-fd-lg.jpg