Six Aussie Foods To Check Off Your Bucket List

International Students, take note.

When you study overseas you’ll probably be told that there are some foods you absolutely must try...and this is true.

That’s why we’ve come up with a list of quintessential foods from down under that you simply have to cross off your bucket list.

We like to keep things simple here in Australia; it’s basically comfort food at its best. (Think lots of bread, meat and potatoes.) The best part? It’s mostly pretty cheap, which would definitely help with student budgeting. 

Welcome to Australia!

Hot chip sandwiches.

Not to be mistaken for a regular chip sandwich, which is similar, but uses potato crisps instead. A good hot chip sandwich is white bread, a thick slathering of margarine (or butter) and crispy tuck-shop potato chips that are dusted with chicken salt. Never heard of chicken salt? Firstly, you’re missing out. Secondly, you are seriously missing out. If you love sodium as much as I do, tomato sauce is totally an acceptable condiment.

Fairy bread.

You might notice a trend here already. Hint: It’s bread. Contrary to the very misleading name, fairy bread isn’t actually baked by fairies. It’s basically bread covered in a layer of hundreds-and-thousands sprinkles. Imagine if white bread and a rainbow had a sugary, delicious love child. They’re a total hit at kids’ parties; also, a complete guilty pleasure for every adult.

Meat pies.

What you read next might be controversial, but there’s definitely a right way and a wrong way to eat a standard beef meat pie. This is the right way.

Step 1: Remove the top of the pie and eat the buttery puff pastry goodness. Step 2: Take your tomato sauce and mix it into the beef gravy filling; scoop it out with a spoon and enjoy. Step 3: At this point, you’ve deconstructed the pie so that it no longer physically resembles a pie. Last thing is just to eat the pastry base. Boom. Done!

(But also you can just eat it like a regular pie if you want to).

The Aussie burger.

You’re probably used to beetroot in salads, but burgers? Believe it or not, beetroot is a staple of your typical Aus-themed burger. That and eggs. I mean, it’s safe to say that while eggs are the heavyweight breakfast food champion, they’re also amazing at self-saucing burgers.

The sausage sanga.

By the way, sanga is actually just a code word for sandwich. To get your hands on the best sausage sanga possible, make your way down to any weekend fair or market (or a Bunnings). Look for the line of hungry parents and disenchanted kids, let your eyesight guide you down the queue, and you’re bound to spot a barbeque, all fired up and decorated with perfect rows of grilled sausages.

FYI, the undisputed king of sausage sangas can be found at polling booths on election day. Mmm, chargrilled democracy perfection.

Vegemite and smashed avo.

You either love it or you hate it. But vegemite is the infamously scary-looking sandwich spread that resembles black tar. Depending on who you ask, you might also hear that it tastes like black tar. I’d say, moderation is key. Grab yourself a piece of toast and spread a thin layer of vegemite on top. hack on some avocado and smear it down with a fork. Congrats. You’ve now made smashed avo with a yeast-y twist.

Header Image: iStock

Student Edge recommends maintaining a well-balanced diet. For more information, please visit Home | The Heart Foundation.