Food — Australia

Australian gastronomy has undergone spectacular transformation in forty years. Inherited from British fish & chips and BBQ grilled meat (the Sunday sausage sizzle at the park remains a national ritual), it has become one of the world's most creative fusion cuisines — particularly in Melbourne, regularly ranked among the top 10 world culinary cities.

Traditional Australian specialties: the meat pie (minced meat pie, the absolute national snack — Four'N Twenty is the iconic brand), Vegemite (brown-black yeast extract spread, British heritage of Marmite, very salty and powerful taste Australians love from breakfast), the lamington (sponge cake coated in chocolate and shredded coconut — national cake), Pavlova (meringue topped with whipped cream and fruit, whose invention Australians and New Zealanders dispute), the Tim Tam (chocolate biscuit with cream filling, tasted with coffee in 'Tim Tam Slam'), the Anzac biscuit (oat and golden syrup biscuit, tribute to WWI Anzac soldiers).

Modern Australian cuisine (Modern Australian, or Mod Oz) is a contemporary fusion cuisine combining European techniques, Pacific and Asian ingredients, and exceptional Australian produce. Emblematic chefs: Tetsuya Wakuda (Tetsuya's in Sydney), Ben Shewry (Attica in Melbourne, #1 in Australia 50 Best), Peter Gilmore (Quay in Sydney), Andrew McConnell (Cumulus in Melbourne). Signature dishes: kangaroo grilled medium-rare (lean and flavourful meat), barramundi (noble tropical fish), Tasmanian seafood (oysters, salmon, abalone), South Australian lamb, Australian wagyu beef (Margaret River, Queensland — now a global reference).

Seafood is exceptional. The Great Barrier offers barramundi, red emperor, coral trout. Coffin Bay oysters (South Australia) are among the world's most renowned. Tasmanian salmon (Huon Aquaculture, Tassal) is exported globally. The Tasmanian giant crab is an experience apart. Seafood barbecue at markets (notably Sydney Fish Market) is an unmissable pleasure.

Australian coffee is among the world's best — Italian heritage of 1950s-1960s immigrants but refined by a unique Australian coffee culture. The flat white (espresso + micro-foamed milk, precise ratio) is the Australian (and New Zealand) invention that conquered Starbucks and Costa in the 2010s. Melbourne and Sydney rival for the title of world's best coffee city — iconic addresses: Patricia Coffee Brewers, Seven Seeds, Brother Baba Budan in Melbourne; Single O, Toby's Estate, Mecca in Sydney. The Australian brunch culture (avocado smash on sourdough, eggs benedict, açaí bowls) has spread globally.

Australian wines are globally recognised, especially since the 1990s. Major wine regions: Hunter Valley (NSW, 2h from Sydney — Sémillon and Shiraz, Australia's oldest wine region, founded 1820), Barossa Valley (South Australia, near Adelaide — powerful Shiraz German heritage, Penfolds Grange one of the world's most prestigious wines), Margaret River (Western Australia — Cabernet Sauvignon, Burgundian-style Chardonnay), Yarra Valley (Victoria, near Melbourne — Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, champagne method), Tasmania (alpine Pinot Noir, recognised champagne method). Tastings possible in all these regions with shuttles from major cities.

Beer is anchored in national culture. Iconic beers: Victoria Bitter (VB), XXXX Gold (Queensland), Coopers (South Australia, old-style brewing with natural deposit), James Boag's (Tasmania). But above all, Australia has known a craft beer boom since 2010 — Sydney and Melbourne count dozens of quality microbreweries (Young Henrys, Stone & Wood, Mountain Goat, Two Birds).