It’s the debate you watched over dinner last night and the debate you’ll talk about over brunch today. You will chew on it, savour it, slowly digest it. You’ll let it simmer in the slow-cooker of memory.

Expect more of this sort of thing in what follows. We’re going to find a food angle on this story if it kills us.

For the first time, an Australian Prime Minister and Opposition Leader have gone head to head in a real-time online debate, hosted by news.com.au in conjunction with Facebook.

The groundbreaking affair contained a sprinkle of policy and a dash of personal animosity – a bit of gristle, so to speak – but distressingly little about food. There was no discussion about what the leaders had for lunch yesterday or what they will eat for breakfast tomorrow.

What we do know is what they like to drink: this is an Australian election, after all, and to drink a beer with your constituents is seen as the height of common manliness. Both Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten, not to mention members of both their parties, have imbibed a lot over the past few weeks, swilling beer from Darwin to Sydney, Perth to Adelaide, Melbourne to Hobart and beyond.
With a number of weeks still remaining until Australia votes, one could be forgiven for swilling a little oneself.

Like everyone else in the country, delicious eagerly logged on and tuned in: this is what the future of democracy looks like.

More than 2.2 million watched the news.com.au and Facebook Leaders’ Debate in their Facebook newsfeed, according to the latest figures, but that number is expected to climb as people catch up over the weekend. It was shared 1800 times last night and generated more than 38,500 live comments.

Of course, the question still remains who will win on election day: the starched white tablecloths of the Liberal Party and the outback barbecue of their partners, the Nationals; the humble meat-and-three veg of the ALP; or the kale and sustainable seafood of the Greens. Will the unexpectedly tempting modern Greek of the Nick Xenaphon Team succeed in its quest for Senate seats? Will the oily fish ‘n’ chips of Pauline Hanson? Who will get a seat at the dinner table?

Delicious will continue to monitor the situation hungrily