WHO WE ARE: Roll play

Wednesday May 9, 2007 04:08 PM

Who We Are

To discuss why Australians are in retreat from reality, go to The Tribal Mind

A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 15/6/2008
The prime minister's recent claim that eating a dud dagwood dog (pluto pup, battered sav) had caused him to drive the porcelain bus (do a technicolour yawn, fertilise the footpath) provoked a flurry of media nostalgia about iconic foodstuffs. It seems the riskier an item may be for our health, the more fondly we remember it. Since this column's mission is to quantify the behavior of Australians, I have attempted a list, on which I'd like your feedback (if that's not another synonym for what the PM did).

THE TITANS OF TAKEAWAY (great moments in portable edibles)

1 The Chiko roll. Inspired by the Chinese spring roll, Frank McEnroe of Bendigo, Victoria, created in 1951 a cylinder of thick dough wrapped around a mixture of chopped vegetables that seem to include carrot and cabbage plus meat which may be chicken. Deep frozen ready to be deep fried, it spread across the milk bars and fish and chip shops of a naive nation.

2 The hamburger with beetroot. The notion that any good burger produces pink juice which runs down your arm was so embedded in our national psyche that in 1999 McDonald's departed from its attempt to unite the world around the Big Mac and recruited hundreds of beetroot growers in Queensland to help develop an item unique to the Australian market: the McOz. It doesn't match the original.

3 The pizza with pineapple. This combination horrifies people from Naples (where the pizza was invented around 100 BC) but it's a classic case of the way Australians "adopt and adapt" to make international specialties our own. My preference is to order a pizza (with pineapple) and, when it arrives, break an egg over it and put it immediately under a (preheated) griller. It should stay there just long enough to set the white without hardening the yolk. Then I hit the yolk with a fork and eat the pizza as the yellow spreads across. That's a Pizza Australiana.

4 Hot chips. We prefer them thick and rectangular in the English tradition rather than thin and pointy in the French and American style.

5 Pad Thai. Rice noodles with chilli, egg, assorted vegetables and a protein which is usually chicken but which may be duck, pork or prawn. It's within months of replacing spag bol as the national noodle.

6 Gosleme. Supposedly from Turkey, it's a kind of pancake stuffed with spinach, cheese and spicy beef mince. At Fox Studios market every Saturday, a brigade of round women with headscarves and harem pants engage in a perfectly synchronised ballet in which they roll, smear, fold, fry, turn and slice thousands of goslemes, little knowing how they symbolize The New Australia.

7 The potato scallop. Until I was in my 20s I did not know a scallop could be a kind of shellfish. To me it was a slice of potato deep fried in batter, which I bought for threepence on my way home from school. The name probably comes from the French "escalopes", which implies a rounded shape.

8 The Neenish tart. A coracle of pastry containing a dollop of jam and a lump of fake cream, topped with a semicircle of chocolate icing and a semicircle of vanilla icing. The name is a mystery. If the pizza comes from Italy and the Chiko comes from China, does the name "Neenish" hint at a national origin? The country that gave us Neenish tarts would be Narnia, I suppose.

Nominate our nation's iconic takeaways, or explain Neens, at Comments

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). To discuss Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

COMMENTS

What, no meat pie with tomato sauce??

DD replies: Too obvious.

by Shoopie on June 14, 2008 at 06:49 PM

Propose Doner Kebab after pub crawl @ 3am ... Have you notice how many kebab shops are conveniently next door or at least 2 shops down from pubs :)

by Kate on June 14, 2008 at 11:42 PM

Brilliant list, but can I add a regional favourite or two? Being from Broken Hill, our entry for world cuisine is cheeseslaw - grated carrot, grated cheese (pref that Kraft foil coated block that I don't even know you can still buy but was in the normal supermarket aisles and not the fridged section) and coleslaw dressing. Delicious! Best thing with your sandwiches as its stickiness stopped all the filling from falling out. Working in the school canteen I used to knock up huge batches of cheeseslaw. My Sydney friends ribbed me about it - they don't know what they're missing.
Also, now that my family lives in Victoria, let's not forget the vanilla slice, but not any vanilla slice but the Snot Block. It may not be an Australian dish but we've surely renamed it as ours. (Fancy a Snot Block, your Majesty?)

by Matthew Huxtable on June 14, 2008 at 11:51 PM

chips, vinegar & chicken salt

by trogdor on June 15, 2008 at 12:13 AM

Oh how homesick I feel now after all the memories come back of chiko rolls. But what about Adelaide's greatest pie floater? That really does have to be unique especially from the pie cart in the city. America just doesn't have such gourmet delights to tempt me even after 12 years living here.

DD remarks: How about the corn dog, invented in the 1920s and supposedly the inspiration for the Dagwood Dog? Or the Philadelphia cheese steak?

by Sally Ann Gray on June 15, 2008 at 12:14 AM

What about the Aussie Chicken Hero stocked at service stations nationwide?

by Brett Strong on June 15, 2008 at 12:45 AM

David, while we're defining being Australian, what about spelling behaviour the Australian way? Sniff sniff, I lament that our language is going the way of the Yanks.

DD replies: Ooops, my slip. Go here here if you'd like to read an earlier column about language.

by Mexbex on June 15, 2008 at 12:53 AM

What a trip down memory lane this story was.....I'm actually craving a Chiko Roll & Battered Sav now...........I just need to locate my BMX to make it complete......
Where is the meat pie though???

by Harry on June 15, 2008 at 12:59 AM

YUMMMMM - I could go a Chiko roll, a potato scallop and some hot Aussie chips with tomato sauce right now (at the moment the church bells are pealing 19.00 and the crowds are gathered in the square outside waiting for the second half of the Spain v Sweden football (soccer) match to start).

by Catherine on June 15, 2008 at 02:06 AM

Not sure if its just QLD - but the McOz is no more..shame on maccas!

by McOz lover on June 15, 2008 at 03:04 AM

i live os and have done for the past 8 years. The big thing for me when i go back to oz is a hamburger with beetroot and pineapple, washed down with a solo (nn nn nn nn ne gotta crack a solo). pre globalisation, nostalgic nirvana

by Kate Two on June 15, 2008 at 03:06 AM

Great selection, especially the Chiko and Scallop, (is it really a seafood item?), but you should really include the Arnotte Sao with cheese and tomato and pepper and salt; an iconic Aussie snack if ever there was one, and the staple at every family get together for years and years and years. More to come but that is one that is always dredged up from the memory

by John Fallon on June 15, 2008 at 03:10 AM

Maccas adapts their burgers to the locals in just about every country, so there's nothing special about a burger with beetroot.
Thick cut chips are about as Australian as a Toyota Camry.
My addition to the list is a crunchy bread roll filled with chicken Twisties.

by James on June 15, 2008 at 06:43 AM

I'm a Kiwi who moved to the British Isles at the start of this year. At a conference in April I got talking with a guy from WA studying for a PhD at Oxford. What is more natural than for a couple of Southerners stuck in the North to start reminiscing about all the things we miss from home?
Somehow we managed to uncover our shared love for that grand beverage that no takeaway should be without, the SPEARMINT MILKSHAKE. I didn't even realise this was unique to our region of the world, but I was assured that it is impossible to find it anywhere else.
It's interesting that there is so much similarity between Aussie and Kiwi cuisine. We have potato fritters as opposed to scallops (scalloped potatoes are a much more refined affair), and I'll never look at a custard square in the same way again after I was informed that it is known as a snotblock.
Beetroot-bearing Kiwiburgers were introduced by McD's in 1991 (with the addition of their attempt at a fried egg), and although they were short-lived, they were reintroduced in 2007, in case anyone is visiting NZ and wants to relive the glory days of the McOz.
I was broadsided by eating a pizza in Sydney on the one occasion I have been there. Pineapple is a staple pizza topping where I'm from, but it was dark in the restaurant, so I was completely unaware by the glutinous mess in the middle of the plate. Who in there right mind enjoys a near-raw egg on pizza?
My mother, who is from good Melburnian stock, introduced me to the pleasures of a Neenish tart (is the spelling a Aus/NZ thing?) from an early age. The NZ variety usually foregoes the jam though, and is *always* lemon-flavoured.

by Steven on June 15, 2008 at 06:56 AM

I lived in Japan from 1987 to 1995 and when living abroad we get cravings for national foods. In my whole life up to 1987 I'd probably eaten 3 Chiko rolls but in Japan I craved them. My body screamed for them. Consequently, every trip home, I binged. Been back 13 years now and guess what? Only eaten three of those revolting rolls in that time.

by John on June 15, 2008 at 07:37 AM

You forgot the Taswegians' favourite; the scallop pie! And by scallop I mean the seafood variety not what you mainlanders call a potato cake :)

DD asks: Can you tell us how the scallop pie is made?

by SK on June 15, 2008 at 09:02 AM

What does the Chiko roll and fried 'dim sim' symbolise? Various ethnic groups have always existed in Australia in particular the Chinese. The history of Australia's non-indigenous minorities did not start in 1975.

DD asks: Who said it did? McEnroe was drawing on a tradition that started when the Chinese came for the gold rushes in the 1850s.

by canoli on June 15, 2008 at 09:55 AM

How could you miss Australia's national dish? The staple of school fetes, club footy games and hardware stores everywhere.
Sausage. White bread. Tomato Sauce.

by James C on June 15, 2008 at 10:14 AM

Dunno what it's called - but the recipe is: buy half a loaf of fresh-baked square sandwich loaf and rip out the soft middle - go to the fish shop and buy hot chips with which you stuff the bread and slather it in tomato sauce. Perfect for a cold arvo at the beach and a heart attack in every mouthful. Ambrosia!

by Nolo on June 15, 2008 at 10:59 AM

memorable takeaway moments from my child hood in the late 80's through to the 90's:
-Meat pie + tomato sauce
-Kebab with hummus chilli and bbq sauce
-Pork roll from the local bakery!
-Cheese and Bacon bread fresh from the oven at 730am on the way to the train station
-And the great staple of chinese takeaway sweet and sour pork ... that sweet syrupy mess or fried pork goodness. I craved this the most when backpacking through Europe.

by OutbackDee on June 15, 2008 at 11:15 AM

Does anyone else share fond memories of the Whistling Prawn fish and chip shops around Sydney in the '70s? Not sure what was in their batter, but it was absolutely delicious.

by Dean McLeod on June 15, 2008 at 11:37 AM

Great list, but must argue the Pad Thai -- I'm the only one in my family who's eaten it, and I've only had it once. Please don't disparage the spag bol! It's a regular dish on my table at least twice a week!
(And can I also suggest, for your list, the baked bean jaffel? And chocolate crackles? Or is that just me?)

by Alex on June 15, 2008 at 11:38 AM

Another walk down memory lane with DD!
As I wipe the mist forming on my eyes, I recall my early times in Melbourne after moving there from Brisbane.
Me - "Can I have a couple of scallops please?". Large shop owner with personal hygiene issues (LSOWPHI) - "Sorry mate, we don't do them here, just fish or prawns". Me - "Huh?" LSOWPHI ï¿½ Fish or prawns mate ï¿½ or some chips, what will it be. Me ï¿½ ï¿½Just some scallops ï¿½ there ae some in the middle of the hotboxï¿½. LSOWPHI ï¿½ ï¿½Huh?ï¿½ï¿½. do you mean the potato cakes?ï¿½ Me ï¿½ ï¿½huh?ï¿½ ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½..anyway, my point, regionalism has its own rich tapestry of storylines.
Here endeth my scallop / potato cake story.

by Andrew on June 15, 2008 at 11:57 AM

Sausage rolls. Fingerbuns spread thick on the inside with margarine and not butter. Fish & chips stuffed into a bread roll and smeared with tartare sauce. Salad & ham sandwich with beetroot. Sausage Sizzle.
Have to say that we like our mystery meat in Oz - it has to be ground up, reshaped and unrecognisable between a pastry or white bread skin before we declare it a winner.
I'm currently living in Asia (have been for eight years) and I have to say that these are the things I fly home for. Aussie meat pies cost a fortune at the expat supermarket.
Do they still have lots of those 'Milk Bars' I grew up with?

by Jood on June 15, 2008 at 12:33 PM

I'm of Turkish origin, born and raised in Australia and I can confirm that Gozleme does originate from Turkey and it is spelt gozleme not gosleme, although really the o is meant to have two dots over it, like the germanic umlaut.
And for all those who pronounce pide like 'pie-d' it's actually pronounced like 'pee-de', as if the "de" is the beginning of 'demolition'.

by Den on June 15, 2008 at 12:46 PM

The problem today is that chips are frozen & potato scallops are pre prepared & also frozen. No wonder they whack all those spice flavourings on them. Can anyone name a place where this doesnot happen.

by Richard Salter on June 15, 2008 at 01:07 PM

Items 5, 6 & 8 don't belong here. I'm a 46 Yr old Aussie & ive never eaten Pad Thai or Gosleme. Thai food is recent to this Place, and with all due respect should be replaced on the list by 'generic' Aussie Chinese - maybe the short soup or dim sim. & if you want to include something middle eastern, it must be the Kebab..
And where is the Dogs Eye?

by Scott on June 15, 2008 at 01:08 PM

nothing like the adelaide delicacies which are the pie floater (although the original pie cart at the train station has now moved) and the crowning achievement- THE FRITZ AND SAUCE SANGA!

i also love the way that depending on where you are in the country you can get a kebab, a yiros , a doner or a souvlaki which are all identical.

by gabe on June 15, 2008 at 01:11 PM

After the pubs shut at ten, it was a race between we under-aged drinkers to the "wog shop" (as pre-PC rustics called the milk bar) on the main street of our north-western NSW country town for the tip out specials,(the good-to-go stuff that used to be kept at botulism temperature under lights that Con couldn't, in good conscience, let go for anothrer day).Whithered dimmys, soggy chips, sad scallops,mummified bbq chicken drumsticks, fossilized cabanas and inexplicable rissoles were tipped from the bayne marie into big greasy white bags-a-full-for-a-thirty-cent. The prized comestible was the aged "crab-stick". This dubious battered super-bunger of (I was later to find out) lips, reproductive organs, tripe off-cuts and sinew ground with fish heads and bubbled with pink chemical colouring, on top of a dozen or so sub-zero schooners of foaming Tooth's formaldehyde, was nearly always good for inducing a spectacular high-pressure technicolour yawn between the main drag and home.

by mr damage on June 15, 2008 at 01:55 PM

Must include dim sims - deep fried or steamed. In Melbourne potato scallops were potato cakes and real scallops were about 5c each in the sixties.

by Bill in KL on June 15, 2008 at 02:07 PM

PIE FLOATER.
But.. Only from Adelaide. I tried to find a Pie floater in sydney and i couldnt. ADELAIDE ROCKS. PIE FLOATER ALL THE WAY. YUM.. Im going to have one now.

by Johnno on June 15, 2008 at 02:09 PM

make me sick. Do you have any idea how shameful Australian 'cultural' food is? I wish I were a migrant Australian, not a white bread type. It sucks. Ever been to Italy or Japan?

by max on June 15, 2008 at 02:22 PM

Max: Italy makes the worst pizzas in the world and the sushi in Japan ain't the best either.
Yes - other people have been to these places too.

by Maria on June 15, 2008 at 03:37 PM

the sausage sandwhich at sport venues with bbq onion
the vanilla slice, but it should have passionfruit icing on it [but few people make it this way now]
virtually everyone loves fried rice
but what about the good old bbq t.bone with salad including beetroot and pineapple-no need for dressing.

DD replies: Where do you get the bbq T-bone as takeaway?

by peta on June 15, 2008 at 03:37 PM

DD - you asked about the scallop pie - it is something that Tasmanians who move to the mainland miss, and I've heard mainlanders dismiss it as though it were made of potato scallops.
I can't say I know how they are made, but they are basically a standard pie, but the filling is scallops (that's both parts of the scallop - the white and the orange) in a curry sauce. I think you can get them with a non-curry sauce, but they are the ones you will find most commonly, and they're the ones I liked the best and so only ever looked for them.

by monte on June 15, 2008 at 05:24 PM

Christies Beach (SA) Hunger Buster - same as a burger with the lot in Loxton.
6" diameter, 1/4" thick meat patty, cheese, fried egg, beetroot, hot pineapple, lettuce, tomato, sauce, mayo, cooked onion.
Have heard another thing nice to add is some grated carrot - Sydney/Sutherland IIRC
Oh - Murray Bridge Savoury Slice. Best eaten in a square buttered bread roll with a table spoon of coleslaw in the roll. MMM

by Data on June 15, 2008 at 06:07 PM

Mongolian Lamb with fried rice. Enough said.

by Samson8or on June 15, 2008 at 06:16 PM

What about the iconic 'maggot's coffin' - the humble Meat Pie.
I'm from London but when I came to Australia in 1992 my father in law quoted Australia as a nation of "Footy, beer and pie"-lovers.
I fitted right in.

by Bismark O'Measles on June 15, 2008 at 06:21 PM

Ah, the Chiko roll, the only food I know that tastes the same going down, as it does coming up after a night on the tiles... such memories...

by davo on June 15, 2008 at 06:29 PM

No, I've never eaten gosleme either, but that's no reason not to call it Australian - like practically everything on this list, it was either created or influenced by what was done overseas, and even with a non-English name it's been adapted to what we're comfortable with, making it as Australian an witchetty grubs (how come they didn't make it?). Like age, national foods are whatever you feel them to be, whatever makes you go nostalgic and tugs your heartstrings more strongly than the flag and national anthem (both of which have long been rated "could do better"). Plenty of people think of fish and chips as English, spaghetti and pizza as Italian and hamburgers as American (no, no, no and no). But they've been adopted by those countries with enthusiasm (a lot of Japanese think their country is the home of the pizza for similar reasons). Nolo, the chip butty came to use from Britain and Alex/Scott, the Pad Thai's in for whoever wants it in. Among foods substantially invented in Australia, I'm stunned no-one's mentioned the lamington or pavolova, am happy to agree with the chocolate crackles, and raise an eyebrow at the fact no-one's answered David's question. According to my sources, neenish tarts were named for their inventor, Ruth Nienish of New South Wales. Bugger the stump-jump plough, be proud of what matters.

by Nicholas on June 15, 2008 at 06:34 PM

Hey Max (02:22),
Ever had a sense of fun or humour?
I guarantee most of the Aussies here gettng misty-eyed over Chiko Rolls have been to Italy and Japan, and have a sound appreciation of their food heritage.
Don't worry. We all sounded like you the first time we ever went overseas...
BTW, it's not Australian "cultural" food. There is no such thing. We beg, borrow and steal eveything we put in our mouths.
And that's a good thing. A very good thing.

by Warnie on June 15, 2008 at 06:43 PM

So who decided a potato fritter should be renamed a potato scallop???
Scalloped Potato is something quite different.
I remember when in primary school in Adelaide there was a genuine fish and chip shop right next to the schools main road frontage that used to sell Fritter Rolls, a big potato fritter sandwiched in a bread roll. Went for $0.05 cents if I remember correctly and was very popular with the school crowd. I also think the humble pie and pasty should be at the top of this list. Now that I'm living in the US I've found a bakery in Atlanta run by a family from Victoria who make very very good pies and pasties, expensive but good. And now I am feeling so HUNGRY!

by Peter Fanelli on June 15, 2008 at 07:19 PM

Neenish Tarts are good. Pineapple Tarts are better. Same concept, but pineapple instead of jam, and inexplicable passionfruit seeds in the icing.

And Steamed BBQ Pork Buns. Used to get two every morning 1/2 way up the escalators at the Greenwood Plaza in North Sydney. Yum.

by Bereft Skerrick on June 15, 2008 at 07:33 PM

To the writer of the article, the Supposedly Turkish Gosleme is indeed Turkish and is written Gözleme. Please correct the mistake and ask those thousands of Aussies who go to Turkey about Gözleme about its delicious taste.
Best Regards
Mehmet Akgul

by Mehmet Akgul on June 15, 2008 at 08:11 PM

Bring back the monaco bar!

by Scott on June 15, 2008 at 08:22 PM

I had to google the "Neenish Tart" only to discover it looks a distinct ditant rellie of the Adelaide born Balfours "froggie Cake".
Possibly the only thing I really miss about Adelaide.

by DJ on June 15, 2008 at 08:31 PM

Yes I remember cheese and carrot!! My mum made it and we ate it with salad. Yes you can still buy the cheese, it is the Kraft processed block and usually sits near the vegemite and nutella isle.
My all time fave is a scallop breadroll or a hot chip sandwich with with tomato sauce and chicken salt!! Yummo!!

by NJ on June 15, 2008 at 10:26 PM

I've been living in Atlanta 5 years and was going to mention the Aussie bakery. http://www.australianbakery.com/
Went to my first NASCAR this year and tried my first corn dog - darned good. That was in ATL, the ones at Talladega were hopeless. (True story: in the car park before the race there were guys in golf carts handing out free brand name antacids).
DD, the problem with making pavlova and lamingtons here is lack of ingredients. For caster sugar you have to scour the supermarket shelves looking for the mouse print which says "EXTRA" fine sugar, which is not quite the same anyway, and you can not get the Aussie style dessicated coconut at all. As in many things here the local equivalent is too large and pre-loaded with sugar or something.
Great article!

by wilj on June 15, 2008 at 11:08 PM

What about the Sausage Roll? With sauce of course. When I was a kid once a week I was allowed to buy my lunch at school. None of this healthy food nonsense back then. I would order a Sausage Roll with sauce and a Cream Bun. How I loved every morsel. The sauce would always end up on my uniform and I would get scolded when I got home by mum.

The Cream Bun also had to be eaten a certain way. I am sure every kid had their own way of eating it buy mine was to seperate it, top flap pulled off , use finger to spread cream an jam on it, eat first then consume the rest with cream all over my face.

Ah to be a kid again and not worry about cholestrol or calories! But then in those days we actually played outside and didnt spend our days glued to computers, video games or TV! Kids today miss out on so much fun!!

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, TM!

by em on June 16, 2008 at 07:31 AM

I too wouldn't go past a sausage sandwich - I swear my husband only wants to go to the local hardware store on a saturday morning so he can get one. And you really can't go past the hot chip roll - some like it with sauce or gravy, but for me, just lots of chicken salt is perfect!
And if you want to include asian food - I would think that good old butter chicken, or even beef in black bean sauce are more common than pad thai or gosleme.
PS... you always throw in a couple of potato scallops for good measure - I'll hear none of this potato cake nonsense!

by LR on June 16, 2008 at 11:06 AM

"Gosleme. Supposedly from Turkey" - come on call yourself a Journo? you could at least spell the name correctly! it is Gï¿½zleme and it is definitely from Turkey. It took me 2 seconds to get my facts straight: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gozleme
Who is subbing this stuff?

DD replies: I used the spelling on the "Michelle's Goslemes" stand at Fox Studios. I suspect the spelling is another Australian adaptation, like "Chicko".

by Lee on June 16, 2008 at 11:22 AM

My high school in the early 1980s sold a sausage roll in a bread roll (tomato sauce optional, but in my opinion essential). Hey, don't knock it until you try it!
And hmmmmm....Neenish Tarts.....hmmmm.
Also, do Aussies still eat Vegemite sandwiches or on toast?

DD replies: Yes, both - but they don't buy them as takeaway.

by Sacs on June 16, 2008 at 01:24 PM

Not a takeaway staple, but definitely Australian -- the Tim Tam. Thankfully, we've never been crazy enough to offer it deep fried like the Scots do with Mars Bars. BTW, if you're in Japan and after sushi, visit Kanazawa on the west coast of the main island. If you're after pizza in Italy, there's a vendor at the Colliseum you should seek out.

by Yuri on June 18, 2008 at 01:37 PM

Potato scallops! It is Potato Cakes God dammit hehehe
Love your list though :)

by BEN on June 18, 2008 at 03:17 PM

you mentioned Froggie Cakes: weekly I stop in at a marvellous Gerringong cake shop with Master 3.989 (4 in 3 days time). They have Pineapple Tarts and Froggie Cakes. There's also a market at Gerringong Town Hall this Saturday, which is one of the only places this exile can find decent Blueberry Bagels.

by Bereft Skerrick on June 18, 2008 at 03:27 PM

Re Yuri - you can get deep fried Mars Bar in Australia - one of my locals offers it.... never been tempted to try it though...

by LR on June 20, 2008 at 11:52 AM

Waaah - I love this topic. Sends me baaaack so many years to dear old Oz.
In particular, sitting on Bondi Beach ( way before it became way snotty/trendy) in the winter gorging on burgers with the "lot", wrapped in greasy non-waxed paper and always accompanied by a large chocolate milkshake.
The blessed vendor was Con, the fish and chip guy who had a shop just beyond the corner of Campbell Parade and Hall Street. He did a roaring side-trade on burgers.
So what constituted the "lot" ? Toasted bun smeared with margarine-like substance, dubious fried beef-like patty, lettuce, tomato ring, fried egg, bacon, slices of sickly-sweet canned pineapple and beetroot.
This was then sent on its way into said paper wrap by a generous squirt of tomato sauce !
Just a few other fond Oz junk food memories - yeah, the Neenish tart; who remembers Finger Buns - with the strip of bright pink icing ? Or Matchstick cakes ?
No wonder I had gallstones by the time I turned 18!

by The Fish Diva on February 10, 2009 at 04:00 AM

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