If your knowledge of Australian food starts with the Outback Steakhouse and stops with "The Shrimp on the Barbie," you may want to sample Tucson's newest food festival.
Matt Welch, who runs the Australian Tourism Center at 2100 N. Wilmot Road, has put together this festival to boost awareness of Australia's culinary contributions.
It's an expanded version of the food and wine samples Welch has brought to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum's annual Australia Day for the past five years.
"We are going to try and replicate some of the unique experiences of Australia," said Welch, an owner of PSI Travel, which is a certified representative of Tourism Australia.
In addition to wines from different regions and some beers, there'll be samples of foods such as pumpkin soup, meat pies and desserts, including pavlova and lammingtons.
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And, yes, there will be Vegemite, in addition to Billy Tea, butterscotch and licorice, among many other foods to sample.
Entertainment will include DJs and didgeridoo players.
And just what is Australian cuisine?
"Until the past 15 years, there really wasn't one. Its foods were the brunt of many a joke by Aussies and tourists alike," Welch said via e-mail.
"But with the discovery of the great natural foods in Australia, chef's have begun to develop dishes and recipes that would rival any chef in Europe or the U.S."
– Inger Sandal Aussie food history
• "You have to remember what the country was like some 150 years ago," Welch says. "It was bleak and barren and mainly used to house prisoners from England. There weren't farms or much growing that was worth eating. The indigenous Aborigines were eating grubs and desert plants."
• By the early 1900s, the Salvation Army had made some improvements by using grains and spices to create some things like a light fluffy dessert called pavlova.
• Big changes after World War II included advances in growing and transporting food, and the culinary influences of a huge influx of immigrants from China, Germany, Italy and France.
• In the 1990s Aussie chefs began to discover the abundance of fresh seafood and organic vegetables. Small farms began producing gourmet beef, cheeses, honey and olives.
• Today it's easy to find a range of international cuisine, but Asian fare is the biggest trend. Thai buffets are on every street corner, said Welch, predicting that the next big trend will be Korean and Indonesian restaurants. Steakhouses and barbies
Australia's steakhouses range from cowboy joints, such as one in Rockhampton where you can watch bull riders as you eat, to upscale dining.
And, yes, Aussies really do love their barbies, or barbecues. Aussies like to invite their mates over on the weekend for some beer and grub — which can be lamb, shrimp or beef.
Taste of Australia Food and Wine Festival
• When: 6:30-9 p.m. May 2 and 10 a.m.-3 p.m. May 3.
• Where: St. Cyril's Catholic Church, 4725 E. Pima St.
• Cost: Next Friday's VIP event with special wines and food is $25. Saturday is $15; $10 for seniors. Buy tickets in advance at the St. Cyril office between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays or at the door.
• Raffle: Australian travel package that includes two round-trip tickets. Raffle tickets are $25 or five for $100; VIP night includes one ticket.
• Benefits: The St. Cyril's Youth Group that's attending the World Youth Congress in Sydney, Australia, in July, and the Save the Tasmanian Devil Fund.
