The scene: an Australia Day fair in suburban Sydney. Delicious smells waft from food stalls. There’s an ominous rumble in the air. Thunder? No! It’s Bernard O’Shea’s stomach seeking fulfillment. The hunt begins.
He approached the campsite stealthily, his sharp mind absorbing the details with a ruthless efficiency. His eyes lit up – behold, an ice-cream van!
Great! That was dessert sorted. Now to track down the entrées and the mains. Yes, entrées plural, mains plural. This was an Australia Day feast. There would be many helpings. There would be no counting calories!
But what he saw next was quite unexpected…
Something out of Africa?
With Devil’s Nibbles? What could they be? (Answer at bottom)
Looking well worth nibbling was this dish of sweet and sticky fried plantains (which look like bananas, but are more starchy).
The Chocolate Kpoff-Kpoff was rivalling the ice-cream as a dessert option.
But what else was there on the Africa Day, ooops, sorry, Australia Day menu? Our intrepid explorer came across some strange droopy stuffed sacks pretending to be sausages from Alsace. Just what he needed for the front of his Speedos!
His eagle eye spotted the real sausages hiding in breads rolls underneath some sauce…
Moving on, he found himself in Bali and Indonesia, which contain peanuts…
Here the feature drink is an enticing, splendid colour … and has pandan, not peanut.
Moving on, our intrepid hunter ogled some Turkish Gozleme…
Then suddenly he found himself on the Iberian peninsula, the land of char-grilled chorizo and sizzling garlic prawns…
Nearby, a domestic row was taking place … a couple were duelling with forks over paella!
The paella was something to behold (see the picture at top).
Next up, Filipino food, and lavish displays of Vietnamese cuisine…
The Tongans were out in force too…
By now our hero was confused. What country was he in? What day were we celebrating?
He spotted an Irish flag on a bike. Could it be a tribute to Saint Patrick? But then a cyclist whizzed by bearing a different flag altogether…
Aha, the Australian Aboriginal flag. Black for its native people, red for its vibrant earth, and the bright yellow sun beaming down on it all. More clues were lurking nearby… different hues, but all the evidence was pointing to Australia.
Ah yes! He remembered what day was being celebrated…
Letting out an almighty paella, Devil’s Nibbles, saté, Chocolate Kpoff-Kpoff, grilled lamb, garlic, salted caramel, chorizo-flavoured burp, he found a cabbie waiting for a fare…
Despite his bulging belly, despite all the wonderful food, he felt vaguely dissatisfied. On a day like this, you have to eat some authentic Australian fare, surely?
Back home, still feeling a tiny bit peckish, he dug out his Australian cookery books, assembled his vast array of utensils, brought out all the necessary ingredients and cooked up a storm in his kitchen. This Australia Day would finish with an Australian gourmet flourish!
Voilà …
Vegemite toast anyone?
How was your Australia Day? TTW
Photos © Bernard O’Shea.
