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eG Foodblog: Misgabi - An Australian's week


misgabi

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Pan: yes beer is a very popular beverage here in Australia - I personally don't like it that much (except for in the middle of a summer afternoon in the beer garden of the pub with jazz playing in the background - happy to drink it then!!

Don't even cook much with it - except in beer batter for fish!

We do have alot of asian influences here - maybe its the heat in summer or something.

Had a cup of tea and a tim tam at the hairdressers for morning tea. Will shortly be thinking about lunch.

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So did you win yesterday. I lost about $60. My worst melbourne cup result in the 6 years I've been here.

'You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.'

- Frank Zappa

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Shiewie, did you go to college in Australia?

Yes, lived there for 5 years.

Had a cup of tea and a tim tam at the hairdressers for morning tea. Will shortly be thinking about lunch.

Yummm! I want a Tim Tam now. Tim Tams are the these most delicious chocolate coated chocolate wafers (and I normally don't like chocolate) :biggrin: !

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So did you win yesterday. I lost about $60. My worst melbourne cup result in the 6 years I've been here.

Didn't even have a bet :shock: I usually do really well on the sweeps but only ever pick the winners the years I don't actually put a bet on!!

Have just had Tempura Veges and a Sashimi slection for lunch from the newish japanese restaurant in town - it's only been here about 5 months and seems to be doing ok. Excellent sashimi - tuna, salmon, unidentified white fish and lots of pickled ginger yum.

The tempura was good too - sweet potato, mushrooms, green beans, onion, capsicum and what seemed to be really thin strings of potato - I will ask them what it was next time I am there.

Have also purchased a jam doughnut for afternoon tea - if I can fit it in. I also had a diet coke and have got one in the fridge for later.

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Shiewie, did you go to college in Australia?

Yes, lived there for 5 years.

Had a cup of tea and a tim tam at the hairdressers for morning tea. Will shortly be thinking about lunch.

Yummm! I want a Tim Tam now. Tim Tams are the these most delicious chocolate coated chocolate wafers (and I normally don't like chocolate) :biggrin: !

where abouts in Australia were you?

Got to love a Tim Tam - do you get them in KL?

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In Adelaide and I usually spent semester breaks in Melbourne. Where do you live, misgabi?

We get Tim Tams in KL but they don't taste the same as they're made by the Arnotts factory in Indonesia. Same goes for the Kit Kats that are made here or Thailand. Perhaps the difference is due to the milk used here.

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Shiewie: Wagga Wagga.

It's always dissapointing when you find something from home you miss then discover it has been made in the country and was just wrong. I remember in Papua New Guinea the twisties were ALWAYS stale and tasted a bit strange but we missed them so much that we kept buying them. We even got the rep to bring us a box of Twisties made that day and the damn things were still stale :blink:twisties

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How long did you live in Papua New Guinea? What kind of food do people in PNG normally eat?

We get Twisties here in KL - at least we used to when we were little but I haven't checked in a long while.

Other stuff I miss are:

- real chips - big fat chips with loads of salt and vinegar - not the skinny french fries

- burgers with the lot - bacon, fried egg and beetroot

- Minties (chewy mint candy)

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How long did you live in Papua New Guinea? What kind of food do people in PNG normally eat?

We get Twisties here in KL - at least we used to when we were little but I haven't checked in a long while.

Other stuff I miss are:

- real chips - big fat chips with loads of salt and vinegar - not the skinny french fries

- burgers with the lot - bacon, fried egg and beetroot

- Minties (chewy mint candy)

I lived there for 3 years (1989 - 1991). The food the locals ate was lots of rice, tinned "lamb flaps", veges, fish etc. We on the other hand, as expatriates ate pretty much as you would in Australia - except for the dairy being flown up from oz once a week, certain vegetables were nearly impossible to get (I paid $8 australian back then for a cauliflower once just because I hadn't had one for so long).

We ate a huge amount of mud crabs, lobster tails, prawns (really huge ones called leader prawns that we would stuff with tiger prawns), tons of fish including sushi grade tuna. In fact we were spoilt.

What I used to love was that PNG got a huge amount of food imported from USA and I got to eat things like Pringles years before they ever got to australia (still have not recovered from the Dr Pepper - that stuff is disgusting)

Because we were with foreign affairs we got all duty free grog and cigarettes and did vast amounts of damage to our bodies. We were so well paid compared with the locals (for example my haus meri (cleaner) worked 5 days a week from 9 - 5 and got 20 kina [about$17 australian] for the WEEK :shock: I on the other hand with hardship pay etc got free acommodation, and nearly $1,000 a week. Because of all this money we ate out ALOT and spent our spare time scuba diving, horse riding/racing, flying around the country etc. I'm fairly sure they resented us. Jobs working for us, especially the single girls, were grimly fought over as we tended to give them all the spare food, extra cash, old clothes etc.

PNG did have many drawbacks however, it was extremely dangerous we lived behind razor-wire in compounds with guards and had constant radio contact with the High Commission. I am going back in a few weeks to see how much it has changed, show my husband where I spent 3years of my life and catch up with friends before they leave. I will see what the food situation is like then.

Ate my jam doughnut for afternoon tea and drank the diet coke. Wish it was time to go home :smile:

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Okay, further revelation of culinary ignorance (by the way, musgabi, I think the scotch fillet must be close to what we call prime rib?): by beetroots you mean those things we in the US call beets, right? The things they make sugar out of, that grow in the ground and are red with purple overtones and shaped like tops and stain your fingers badly? The things lots and lots of people think they hate?

Cheers,

Stupid Squeat... losing any cred he may have been allotted on eGullet.

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Okay, further revelation of culinary ignorance (by the way, musgabi, I think the scotch fillet must be close to what we call prime rib?): by beetroots you mean those things we in the US call beets, right? The things they make sugar out of, that grow in the ground and are red with purple overtones and shaped like tops and stain your fingers badly? The things lots and lots of people think they hate?

Cheers,

Stupid Squeat... losing any cred he may have been allotted on eGullet.

Yes, your american beets. However it seems most australians are too lazy to prepare them and we simply buy them by the can - sliced, whole baby beets, julliened, with garlic etc etc etc. They still stain your fingers though.

For a proper australian hamburger you have to have a slice of beetroot on it (mainly so it can fall down and stain your white shirt :biggrin:

Either McDonalds or Hungry Jacks actually sold an "outback" burger or something like that for a while that had the slice of beetroot on it!!

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Whew! Okay, thanks.

In fact, I had beets tonight (not tinned/canned, though), which I roasted and tossed with some scallions and arugula (do you call it rocket there?) and vinaigrette and ate up with some roast chicken!

Thanks again for the great blog,

Relieved Squeat

Edited to say: beets on burgers! brilliant!

Edited by Squeat Mungry (log)
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Squeat,

I've never tries roasting them myself - might give it a go once the beet season comes in (are they a winter thing??) We see them in the shops occasionaly but they look like too much work - lazy lazy me :biggrin:

Yes, I think your arugula is our rocket.

Edited by misgabi (log)
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Misgabi,

further ignorance:

I think of beets as a winter veg, there are some nice ones coming in now... but really I have no idea! (You are trying to expose me as a complete ignoramus, aren't you? :hmmm: ) Here in the bay area you can always get pretty good beets, I think. (Others will know more about when and where they are grown.)

They're not that difficult, really, except for the staining thing. I just bought some gloves at the local supermarket to help out in preparing them and preserving my lily-white hands!

I am still so fascinated by the vocabulary differences! Please continue to explicate whenever it occurs to you.

By the way, ignore the previous request for date/time specifications... I've installed a widget on my computer to let me know all that stuff quite handily.

Keep on... I'm still curious about the lemon myrtle, though!

Squeat

Edited to ask: really, the lemon myrtle; is it like bay?

Edited by Squeat Mungry (log)
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Squeat: I use Lemon Myrtle in the powdered form. I sprinkle it on fish before I bake it. It has an intense lemon flavour and seems to add a bit of "oomph". We also use it if we have run out of lemon grass (or cannot get the fresh) and add it at the same time as other spices in curries etc.

I would never try to expose you as an ignoramus. I can understand that we have different names for different things and by using what I am used to obviously some people will have no idea what I am talking about (at least I havn't called anyone a "flaming galah" yet) although we could go into "that's not a knife - that's a knife" a la crocodile dundee and have a whole other discussion about my Furi knives :wub:

And how can anyone who can install a widget that converts time etc be an ignoramus. I have to pretty much guess what time it is for other posters and just assume everyone is asleep whilst I ramble quietly (and long windedly) to myself.

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misgabi,

Although I did indeed accuse you of trying to expose me as an ignoramus, I hope and believe you knew I was taking another piss (although it's quite likely I qualify as a "flaming galah", whatever that is). I really don't need any help in that regard. I seem to be quite capable of embarrassing myself!

Is lemon myrtle available in fresh form; can you simply waltz out and pluck it from the bush? If someone in the States, for example (completely hypothetically), wished to sample it, would it be possible to send some via international post? What if the proposed recipient lived in a carefully gaurded agricultural zone?

Installing a widget is simpler than it sounds. Obtaining friends and exotic ingredients from other continents can prove problematic in modern-day California! Any ideas are welcome.

Your intercontinental friend,

Squeat

Edited to say that knife thing interests me strangely.

Edited by Squeat Mungry (log)
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Squeat:  I use Lemon Myrtle in the powdered form.  I sprinkle it on fish before I bake it.  It has an intense lemon flavour and seems to add a bit of "oomph".  We also use it if we have run out of lemon grass (or cannot get the fresh) and add it at the same time as other spices in curries etc.

I would never try to expose you as an ignoramus.  I can understand that we have different names for different things and by using what I am used to obviously some people will have no idea what I am talking about (at least I havn't called anyone a "flaming galah" yet)  although we could go into "that's not a knife - that's a knife" a la crocodile dundee and have a whole other discussion about my Furi knives  :wub:

And how can anyone who can install a widget that converts time etc be an ignoramus.  I have to pretty much guess what time it is for other posters and just assume everyone is asleep whilst I ramble quietly (and long windedly) to myself.

I'm not asleep either. Am waiting to see what you're having for dinner tonight after the jam doughnut for tea.

What are tinned "lamb flaps"?

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misgabi,

Although I did indeed accuse you of trying to expose me as an ignoramus, I hope and believe you knew I was taking another piss (although it's quite likely I qualify as a "flaming galah", whatever that is). I really don't need any help in that regard. I seem to be quite capable of embarrassing myself!

Is lemon myrtle available in fresh form; can you simply waltz out and pluck it from the bush? If someone in the States, for example (completely hypothetically), wished to sample it, would it be possible to send some via international post? What if the proposed recipient lived in a carefully gaurded agricultural zone?

Installing a widget is simpler than it sounds. Obtaining friends and exotic ingredients from other continents can prove problematic in modern-day California! Any ideas are welcome.

Your intercontinental friend,

Squeat

Edited to say that knife thing interests me strangely.

Lemon Myrtle is apparently a really large tree from which they harvest the leaves for the ground spice.

I have never seen one but, when the landscaper comes next week I will be sure to ask!!

A "flaming galah" apparently is a complete fool!! - never you squeat :biggrin:

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Shiewie,

Ok for dinner used the leftover filling for the samosas and made really large versions of the same. However, I did roast a sweet potato (australian) and add clumps of that to the mix.

I also have some asparagus in the fridge (that survived last night :shock: and may well steam that to have with a poached egg later on.

Have had a few glasses of wine (trend anyone????) and eaten a packet of cheese twisties as I was feeling nostalgic.

Will post more later

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misgabi,

Although I did indeed accuse you of trying to expose me as an ignoramus, I hope and believe you knew I was taking another piss (although it's quite likely I qualify as a "flaming galah", whatever that is). I really don't need any help in that regard. I seem to be quite capable of embarrassing myself!

Is lemon myrtle available in fresh form; can you simply waltz out and pluck it from the bush? If someone in the States, for example (completely hypothetically), wished to sample it, would it be possible to send some via international post? What if the proposed recipient lived in a carefully gaurded agricultural zone?

Installing a widget is simpler than it sounds. Obtaining friends and exotic ingredients from other continents can prove problematic in modern-day California! Any ideas are welcome.

Your intercontinental friend,

Squeat

Edited to say that knife thing interests me strangely.

with regard to the "carefully guarded agricultural zone" I assume that powdered form would be fine. Let me know (via PM) if this would be a plan.

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misgabi--

your blog continues to be charming and very informative. it is cool for me how i sometimes feel closer to brits and aussies (as a canadian) because of things like celsius temperatures, brown sauce, etc.

have a brilliant wednesday, or wait--is it thursday there already? :blink::biggrin:

gus

"The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears, or the ocean."

--Isak Dinesen

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The lemon myrtle sounds a bit like lemon verbena. Does anyone know if they're related?

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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