Food Items Sold in Australia ?

[Weyalan]

Originally Posted by starfish62

Just don't try to find any mozzarella cheese for lasagna, and you'll be okay.

The 2 biggest supermarket chains are Coles and Woolworths. Both of these chains will have at least 6 different sorts of mozarella in every store.... You must have been looking in all the wrong places.

[Bloodhound]

Originally Posted by starfish62

Just don't try to find any mozzarella cheese for lasagna, and you'll be okay.

Have eaten my weight in lasagna with mozzarella cheese for many years in Oz. Whadayamean yacantfindit? My waistline informs me I'm not making this up. If you want some treats, trade in the Mexican stuff for Indian - lots of great Indian ingredients are readily available in virtually all grocers. IMO the Mexican stuff pales by comparison.

[Boracay]

There are a few websites on Aussie food. The best that I found in a quick search was...
Amazing Australia
Check out the Feral Cat and Spag Bol sections!

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Bloodhound

lots of great Indian ingredients are readily available in virtually all grocers. .

They say that Indians are the 'merchants of the world' - Chinese too.

Both have flockuated to Australia and there are some wonderful Indian and Asian supermarkets.
Chinatown in the central Sydney city has so many supermarkets full of full on Asian goodies.
Indian supermarkets are a bit further out but ubiquitous. Newtown, close to the city has 2 superb ones from Fijian Indians so it blends Indian food with a hint of the Pacific.

However there is a point brought up in another thread: Eat what the locals eat! When in Australia why don't you leave you home food at home? Eat our stuff!

Sure we don't have peanut butter and jam in the same jar, but look at our waist lines! (except Bloodhounds, by his post!)

Do you NEED the Mexican stuff? Will being without an Enchilada for a few weeks KILL you?

What happens when you leave Australia and go to Indonesia?

Isn't cruising the world about understanding others and putting your toe in their culture?

You should try Kangaroo Stew. You might like it! We all love Koala Fritters and Platypus Ice-cream (not real Platypus, only flavouring...)

[svBeBe]

Okay, thanks everyone. Questions were prompted because couldn't find dried beans of any sort in NZ, just lentils. Can't even find canned pinto beans here. And no corn meal even in the little green boxes at Foodtown in Whangaparaoa or Pak'N'Save or Food World in Albany Mall. Not interested in corn flour because I have enough corn starch for years.

FWIW, the jars of jalapenos sold here are labeled "tame." They have the jalapeno flavor but no heat whatsoever. I'm from Texas and cook Tex-Mex style as well as New Mex style and am having withdrawals. But do still have 3 jars of salsa verde hidden away for when withdrawal symptoms become too severe.

As for the dehydrated veggies, these are great when fresh are not available when we spend weeks away from civilization. Far better in quality than canned veggies; weigh almost nothing; and the packages don't rust like the cans do.

Re: stocking up on canned butter in NZ -- won't they just take it away when we arrive in Oz?

Judy
S/V BeBe
Amel SM2 #387
waiting out cyclone season in Gulf Harbour Marina

[MikeZ]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Do you NEED the Mexican stuff? Will being without an Enchilada for a few weeks KILL you?

Oh, my goodness. Mark, you just don't understand. That's like asking a diabetic to give up his insulin while visiting a culture with different medical standards/system/whatever.

It's fun to have BOTH some of the comforts of home AND dive into the local culture. They're not mutually exclusive.

(The answer to your second question is: Maybe. But who wants to risk it?)

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by svBeBe

Re: stocking up on canned butter in NZ -- won't they just take it away when we arrive in Oz?

Anything canned is allowed into Australia. Only goods or foods that can have bugs going in them. Dried or open packages etc.

New Zealand butter kills anything

Seriously, get as much as you can. We bought 3 cases of it which is 1 years supply in between getting fresh butter.

here is what they want to inspect or remove from you. Note it does not include canned products: http://www.daffa.gov.au/aqis/travel/...alia/cant-take

Mark

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by MikeZ

It's fun to have BOTH some of the comforts of home AND dive into the local culture.

But we have McDonalds.

[scaredycat]

Another source of dried and long life products in Oz, are camping and outdoor stores. Also space packs of most foods. There are numerous stores in most cities. Also known as "Army Disposals" in some states.
Definitely bring canned from NZ.
Try getting hold of some "beef jerky". Its actually dried kangaroo, but it'll keep your jaws active for hours.

[MidLandOne]

Originally Posted by svBeBe

Okay, thanks everyone. Questions were prompted because couldn't find dried beans of any sort in NZ, just lentils. Can't even find canned pinto beans here. And no corn meal even in the little green boxes at Foodtown in Whangaparaoa or Pak'N'Save or Food World in Albany Mall. Not interested in corn flour because I have enough corn starch for years...

OK this is the supplier of the cornmeal I mentioned Healtheries. Feel good from the inside out.. Elsewhere on the site they say the products are widely available through supermarkets and also in OZ (and Asia)

Had a check in the pantry and we have both fine ground and coarse ground corn meal. Pretty sure it would have been bought at Woolworths, certainly not at any health food shop as we don't go near those let alone into them .

Woolworths/Foodtown/Countdown carry differing stocks depending on the region of the country - I suspect we are more sophisticated down in Wellington than those up in Auckland .

Dried beans generally have been able to buy a couple of different types in the supermarket, but no a big range - again, maybe it is a regional thing.

[MidLandOne]

Originally Posted by Bloodhound

Have eaten my weight in lasagna with mozzarella cheese for many years in Oz...

You sound more like a Garfield than a Bloodhound .

(Maybe only Garfield fans will understand)

[GeoPowers]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

But we have McDonalds.

Hmm...I didn't go to Mickey D's when I was in Australia. Do they put beets on their burgers there, too?

Too bad VB isn't as popular as Foster's here in the States!

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Do you NEED the Mexican stuff? Will being without an Enchilada for a few weeks KILL you?

What happens when you leave Australia and go to Indonesia?

Isn't cruising the world about understanding others and putting your toe in their culture?

You should try Kangaroo Stew. You might like it! We all love Koala Fritters and Platypus Ice-cream (not real Platypus, only flavouring...)

Mark,

Actually, 'Roo tacos ain't so bad, mate!

But enough of your snide comments about our addictions... I've heard too many Aussies whinging about the unavailability of Vegemite to take you very seriously. I will admit that Vegemite is useful as a bedding compound for deck hardware, but its recognition as a foodstuff is in question by WHO and other health authorities...

We enjoy Asian foods almost as much as Mexican, and are so very grateful that they have appeared in Oz, where they have supplanted meat pie floaters as gourmet dining in some venues.

And what was the comment about looking at Aussie waistlines meant to imply? The standard forward overhang of the Aussie male is nothing to brag about!!

Anyhow, eat well while awaiting the advent of the newest TC, mate. We all hope that it lives and dies in the middle of the Coral sea.

Cheers,

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

I've heard too many Aussies whinging about the unavailability of Vegemite

I always thought the Aussies who did that were joking... but many (younger ones) are not. They expect to find it in every supermarket world wide!

Again its a media thing. People watch TV and most sit-coms (etc) are American. On TV the USA looks like Australia... Supermarkets look like they stock what we have, restaurants look like ours, service in restaurants appears to be like ours...

After 2 dinners out in the USA an Aussie is liable to tell the waiter/waitress (Server / Serviette) "Yeah, whadda you want NOW? I'm gunna give you a tip so leave me alone to eat my dinner and chat up this chic!"

As you know we are used to seeing a staff member very few times: They drop the plate, and then shoot through to the safety of the kitchen to paint their nails.

In St Martin last year Nicolle says: Heres some Vegemite can we have it?
I thought she was joking, but there was the Yellow and Black jar!!!! Thats about the time I thought 'its time to go: Too Many Aussies'!
Then I noticed there was no PRICE tag on the vegemite. What product doesnt have a price in a supermarket? An imported expensive one. We dropped the jar like hot cakes and never found out the price. Would have been interesting

We love the cultural difference between the USA and Australia and are trying to do the same with the cultures we are passing through - though we didn't buy a palm tree at the Tongan market to take home and eat.

Indonesia this year... no vegemite there LOLOL


Mark

PHOTO
First meal out in the USA for Nicolle
Server "Would that Coke be small, medium ar large"
Nicolle - a bit thristy: "Ummm better make it a large..."

[Jim Cate]

For s/v BeBe, from Ann Cate (Insatiable II)

In Brisbane, in Qld., I have found pinto beans at a number of sources. Phone around, if you get a mobile phone in Oz (directories viewable at post offices). On Balaclava St. in Brisbane, we've found tinned tomatillos,
salsa verde, salsa casera, and !milagroso! masa harina--not cheap, though, forget Stateside prices. As a principle, we have learned to try health food stores when "Woolies" doesn't have something we want. Jim learned to make a quite delicious chorizo using mostly local ingredients. Guests can bring you condiments, but you have to tell them what to bring, and they have to be comercially packed, not home packed.

Tinned butter is available in Fiji, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia. Ghee (just the oil from butter, minus the milk solids) is available at Woolies, usually.

Delicious food awaits you in Indonesia and Thailand, and extremely reasonably priced. Good luck with it all.
Ann