Aussie Snacks

It’s difficult to choose any single Australian snack as being my favorite, so I would like instead to introduce a number of them in this essay. No discussion of this topic would be complete without mentioning Vegemite, a thick, yeast-based breakfast spread. This staple of Aussie households is infamous for provoking reactions of disgust when sampled by overseas visitors because of its unique flavor. The closest comparison I can offer is to imagine eating thick miso paste spread on toast. While it definitely won’t be to everyone’s liking, it is high in nutritional value, and should be tried, albeit with a degree of caution.

The second snack I would like to introduce is the snag. This food item is the essence of simplicity. Simply cook a sausage on a hot grill, place it on a slice of bread, smother some tomato sauce (ketchup) on the sausage, add some grilled onions if you like, and you have a surprisingly delicious snack. Strictly speaking, it could constitute a meal, because once you’ve eaten one of them, it’s difficult to stop. In Australia, one of our cultural traditions is to purchase a snag on a visit to Bunnings, a hardware store chain.

Next up is the meat pie. This is the perfect item to eat while watching sports, either live or on television, because it is eaten by hand. It has a thick, slightly flaky crust, and contains either chunky or thin pieces of beef inside. Again, like snags, the meat pie isn’t complete unless tomato sauce is smothered on the crust. An Australian pie store called Pie Face opened a branch in Shibuya a few years ago, but the pie that I ate there bore little resemblance to the real deal back home.

Let’s now turn our attention to a sweet snack. There are a variety of Australian slices, each of which begins with a thick, firm dough base. The filling may consist of caramel, sponge cake with jam, or pieces of coconut, among other fillings. The top of the slice may be a solid piece of chocolate, or it may match the soft texture of the sponge filling. It is perfectly matched with a cup of tea or coffee and is a standard offering in cafes all over Australia.

Finally, let’s talk about an item that is available in import stores in Japan, Tim Tams. Each country has its own variety of chocolate biscuits, but Australia’s entry in this category is a much beloved one. The structure of Tim Tams consists of two biscuit layers between which is a caramel filling in the original version, then encased in a layer of chocolate. Over the years, countless new flavors have been introduced by varying either the outer chocolate layer or the filling. Two of my personal favorites are dark chocolate and chewy caramel Tim Tams.

In summary, Aussie snacks come in sweet and savory varieties. If there is a common thread, it is that snacks from Down Under like to keep things simple, delicious and easy to consume in casual situations.

Ming

Vocabulary

essence (n) ? the most important part of something that gives it its general character
smother (v) ? to cover something completely
constitute (v) ? to be or be considered as (something)
bear a resemblance (idiom) ? to look a lot like something else