C16-Sunday News, June 8, 1980. Investigating culinary custoins in Australia is a great place to eat! The only reason I didn’t gain ten pounds is that travel- by Barbara McCreadie it’s also a great place to walk. I'd always insisted that Canada had the best seafood in the world but after a The best meal I had in Australia was home-cooked local leg of lamb. The lamb legs we get here are puny in comparison and when my Australian friend hauled a gigantic roast out of the oven, I thought, “Bet that will be as tough as old boots!” Wrong again. Knives were unnecessary for the meat was fork-tender, nicely pink and with a flavor beyond anything I’ve had before. Australians love their “vegies” too, and we had six varieties, none canned or frozen, plus the usual roast potatoes. The “sweet” was a hot pudding with apricots and whipped cream. Canadian visitors to Australia can’t afford to spend weeks in luxury hotels. To justify the large air-fare it makes sense to rent a unit with a kitchen and prepare some of your meals at home. These are available everywhere and you can get listings from the tourist bureau in whatever are cheaper by a long shot than ours - for example, thick meaty lamb chops at $3.80 (A) A KILO! Using some rough figuring, that’s less than $2.25 a pound and it's been a long while since I could buy that quality for anything close to that price. Sirloin steak - fantastic meat - was about the same price. Their fruit and vegetables are magnificent. Those anemic tomatoes we pay a fortune for don't exist. Instead, the big, thick skinned, vine ripened ones were available for about 30¢ a pound. The Australians are like the Europeans in their grading of produce - they don't throw away a perfectly good vegetable just because it has an odd shape or a touch of sunburn on one side. Consequently, their prices are lower. One morning I visited the food department of “David Jones,” Australia’s most prestigious department chain. This isn't a place where your average Aussie THE FAMOUS THEATRE and opera house complex in Sydney, Australia Is just one of the many attractions in the continent down under. couple of weeks in Australia, where I even ate fish for breakfast, I've got to admit that their “best” is better than ours. On the flight to Sydacy, | was chatting with = the passenger next to me She too, was making p first visit to Austraha and remarked, “We'll probably sec nothing bul steak, cggs and chips for the entire visit ” Wrong! The stcaks were tig and juicy and the chips were always available but the varicty of food everywhere was ca cellent Lets forget about restaurants for oa minute WAIKIKI 4 tbayea *399 " Mayhitn Ae ff titer WAIKIKI 469. " ihape | @ Magis Ae ns LAS VEGAS '199 Austrahan state you wish to visit As yet there is) no Austrahan Tounst Office in Canada but western Canada is handled out of Los Angelels Austrahaa Tournst Com Mission Suite 1740, 3SSO Wilshire Boule vard Los Angeles Calif 90010 1] priced stores food in many Theu meat and fish One week holidays FAMILY PRICE housewife would shop as the poces reflect the prestige. Frozen vegetables are sold in bulk) weighed out for you. so you can get the cxzact quantity you require” Peas cost $190 8 kilo. raspbernes were $V9S and pitted chernes were $3 10 Whole fresh chickens, averaging | 3 kilos were $2.29 Eggs for some reason. Your Disneyland Adventure WITH nevy hnorizon's INChudiINg airfare from Vancouver with fifteen ides airport transfer and accommodation Generous discounts for Children under 12 years of age discounts too for triple quad accommodation two adults two children under 12 in One room were EXPENSIVE - $1.47 a dozen but you could buy five litres of fresh orange juice for $2.89. I saw something I'd love to try - tins of “Omelette Mate,” various combinations such as ham and asparagus in cheese sauce, for 49¢ (six ounces). Baby dinners were only 24¢ for Heinz chicken and vegetables. Not bad, eh? Eating in restaurants can cost you most of an arm and leg so it isn't something you'd want to make a habit of. Australian servings are big! A_ typical restaurant lunch would consist of an appetizer, an entree, A MAIN COURSE, and then dessert. Be forewarned if you decide to invite an Australian friend for lunch - he may order the whole thing and you'll be about $50 poorer. Even breakfast is a $6 (A) bill in many places which gives a_nine-dollar Canadian jolt to your pocketbook. Even though the breakfast consists of fresh orange juice (and all sorts of other flavors), huge trays of exotic fruit, cereal, six kinds of rolls and pastries, bacon, sausage (usually lousy!), ham, three kinds of eggs, fish, chips, fried tomatoes and beverages (coffee, tea or milk), your waistline and your wallet both suffer. Australian Tourist Authorities recognize the problem for tourists, especially Canadians who are smarting from a wound in the dollar department. Bed and breakfast houses are becoming very popular al pmces we can afford Even if 1 could afford a luxury hotel (IF'), a “B&B” 1s often much more fun. It isn't difficult in many of these to arrange both lunches (picnics?) and dinners for decent price Australians themselves are trying to cut the costs) of dining out. Despite lots of burcaucratic interference. many restaurants arc now “BY OG BRING GROG meaning YOUR OWN Thus ts a funny Passport phot hile you wait North Shore Oarkroom 1527 Lonsdale 988-9813 two days admission _winedrinkers may reminder of our old-time brown-bag days where your date brought a bottle of rye and set it under the table while he ordered gingerale and ice. The Aussies have per- fected the routine’ with special satchels called ESKIES. An Eskie is an insulated container - some simple, others fancy leather - where you stow your own — poison. Some have com- partments for ice, glasses, wine, a corkscrew, a bottle of spirits and mix. Most BYOG restaurants are prepared for a “total-do- it-yourself” or a modified version where you bring a bottle of wine which they will chill and pour. Either way, don't feel silly about the whole thing. It's ex- pected, and advertised. Speaking of wine - it’s so incredibly cheap that local never return. A flagon, 4.54 litres, can cost as little as $3. One winery - Kaiser Stuhl - packages these in a square box with an interior plastic bladder. A spigot on the bottom completes the en- semble and you set the box in the fridge and keep pressing the spout until you ustralia run out. I’m no wine drinker, one glass of white will probably last an evening with some left over, “dut those experienced in the wine mistique tell me that the quality is superb. I expected beer to be cheap, considering that every Australian I'd ever met loved the stuff. Imagine my shock when I saw that a case of twelve “Stubbies” was at least $13 Canadian! That was on sale. If you decide to “eat out” in Australia, look for COUNTER LUNCHES. These are served in pubs and give you huge servings at excellent prices. This is a sample menu from the Port O’Call Hotel in Coolangatta: T-Bone steak with vegetables and salad $2.00 Lamb chops with vegetables and salad $1.90 Crumbed fish $1.90 Prawn cutlets (a big basket of deep fried) $2.50 Chicken fricassee $1.50 Crumbed brains $1.50 Steak sandwich $1.30 Plenty of chips and vegies were served alongside. CHECK OUT “COUN- TERLUNCHES” BEFORE YOU GO BROKE. SAVE ON WITH OUR... camper rentals agent in Canada. (Rawat vemiree Discower - HOLIDAY COSTS Specialized knowledge individual and Group airfares Information on our large range of Bus, Rail and Aur passes, tours, Car and We plan more travel to Australia and New Zealand than any other travel GQnza 134-7725 103.1177 West Broadway Vancouver 8 C Offiaiaal Travel Agents to the Austraiia New Zealand Association Y6n" 1G3 } CRUISING in the Caribbean 4 NIGHT CRUISE TO $260: NASSAU/FREEPORT tom @ aa nse hr nA? DASHES Nitciy San! 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