Enough is enough. Australia is more than just the rock, the reef and the lamb. How limiting are those reasons for loving Australia? Here are mine.

For breakfast

Australian cafes lead the world in creativity. Gone are ‘egg four ways’ to be replaced with seeds and grains, broths and puddings, pickles and hummus, and the joy of smashed avo on toast. Even better, our leisurely brekkie turns into a brunch a Californian movie mogul would love to do a deal over.

For coffee

‘Mud’ and ‘dishwater’ are no longer words that can be addressed to our baristas as they turn out perfectly extracted ristrettos and the sort of silky lattes that La Perla dreams of making camisoles from. Once an inner-city luxury, now coffee-pride exists across this wide coffee-brown land.

For the bush

Camp ovens, camp fires, damper and swinging the billy is almost enough to overcome my terror at finding a snake in my boot. Everything tastes better when it has taken an hour longer than usual to cook, is loaded
with smoke from native woods, and you’ve filled that extra time with beers.

For bush foods

I pity those ancient culinary cultures where everything that grows, crawls or scampers has already been popularised and commercialised. Here in Oz, we have a brave new world of indigenous produce to savour, whether it’s green tree ants that taste like lemon sherbet, enough wild greens to give the famous Greek version horta a run for its money and a whole spice rack that is finally being harnessed rather than crassly exploited in chutneys and sauces.

For the –oes

Avocado, mango and tomato. Green, yellow and red should be our flag – well if Ghana, Senegal and Benin hadn’t already nabbed that combo. Three vegetable fruits that swing between sweet and savoury with equal aplomb.

For a roadhouse burger

A paper bag, a bulging bun and the honest combination of ‘the lot’. We understand that a great burger needs saltiness, creaminess, sweetness, sourness and crisp crunch. No wonder the yuppie burger chains struggle to compete with this classic! Take that David Chang!

For the Aussie BBQ

It’s almost a cliche, but you can keep your low-and-slow US barbecue. The wonderfully varied Aussie backyard version can range from a Greek lamb on a spit to seafood or thin steaks barely seared on a blistering hot grill. It also helps that we grow great lamb, beef, pork and seafood to spill on the grill. Plus, less time grilling means more time playing backyard cricket.

For the young chefs

They travel, learn and come home to open wave after wave of exciting new places that make it a constant pleasure to eat out and grow our reputation as a global culinary hotspot. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s a bowling club, food truck or the back room of the local blood house, we are willing to search out these young chefs doing something interesting. So add…

For us being so adventurous and loving food like few other countries.

… And for this recipe

Inspired by a desire to collide two of Australia’s great culinary contributions to the world – the choc top and the Anzac biscuit.