SC - Thoughts on Food - Aussie Tucker- OOP

[David & Sue Carter]

Miraxa asked:
>Oh, do tell, what is:
>
>>         or 'Bugs,
>>         skippy on a stick
>>         shaslicks, satays.



'Bugs is short for Morton Bay Bugs, which are a form of crustacean that come
from all around the coast from Brisbane in Queensland to at least Ceduna
here in South Australia.  They taste a little like prawns to which they are
related, but look like trilobites because they have little bodies and big
tails under a broad carapace!
I love them with shallots and ginger.

Skippy on a stick is kangaroo meat on a skewer.  It is called skippy after a
children's TV program of the 1960s which featured a kangaroo called Skippy
that was forever getting the park ranger's son out of trouble.
Roo meat is very lean, and needs to be cooked very fast.  Marinading it
helps keep it moist.

Shaslicks are Greek kebabs: skewered meat, usually lamb, dressed with lemon
and oil.
Satays are Asian and are very thin strips of meat (beef, pork, chicken)
threaded on a skewer, served with a dipping sauce made of crushed peanuts,
chilli and tamarind.

Micaylah asked:

> Okay I have to ask, even at the risk of appearing stupid...what are blow
flies?

>As well what is this "anticipation of the summer BBQ season soon to be upon
>us". You live in Australia! I as a Canadian I BBQ throughout the winter
even
>if I have to dig it out of the snow! What makes summer more adequate to BBQ
>than winter in your climes? Are blow flies nonexistant in winter and do you
>need them to BBQ? Or is it so obvious that you're all laughing at me at
this
>point.  <big grin>

Blow Flies (blowies) are very large black flies, but they don't bite, just
bomb you.
They buzz a lot and have to be waved away (the great Aussie salute).
They are irresistible drawn to people and double so for BBQs.
Its a cultural thing: you don't feel like its a real Barbie unless there's
blowies.
The real ones cause flystrike in sheep as the maggots eat meat.  They
hatch/come out at the first sign of warmer weather and disappear when it
gets cool.  I guess they are made to withstand our hot, dry summers and the
trade off is not being able to cope with the cooler weather.

Summer is THE time to BBQ because the great Aussie Barbie is traditionally
an outside affair even if its just your own backyard and sitting in the
shade listening to the cricket on the radio.

And I'd never laugh at questions like this because there's going to come a
time when I'm the one who doesn't understand :)
For instance, I never realised just how in awe of Lamb Americans where
until we hosted a visitor from the Central West Kingdom last year.  I asked
him if he wanted anything in particular and he said lamb if it wasn't too
much to ask.  We eat lamb ALL the time here, as it is very cheap and very
plentiful so I promised him more lamb than he could eat.  He was a big lad,
and laughed politely, saying I probably wouldn't manage that.  Well, I
though, its only lamb, and we put two legs on the Weber. Try as he might he
couldn't manage to clear the meat tray.
When he made a return visit at Rowany Festival he dragged me off to tell
his companions that I really DID feed him that much lamb he couldn't finish
it, because for five months he couldn't get them to believe him.   THAT blew
me away and really brought home the point that things aren't the same
elsewhere as they are at home.

So, if you don't ask you'll never know, and the person you're asking won't
learn either.


Sue Carter (Esla)










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