Australia’s food landscape is as complex as it is delicious. Each state has it’s own unique climate and rich bounty of produce, and as such you’ll find some pretty incredible food everywhere. And while yes, every good day starts with Vegemite, our states and territories have some pretty special signature dishes. We’ve rounded them up here, let us know if we’ve missed any.
Due to its proximity to South East Asia, the NT – and specifically Darwin – has some of the most extraordinary laksa you’ll find anywhere in Australia. The equatorial geography means that the required ingredients for a top bowl of laksa like lemongrass, ginger and coriander absolutely thrive. Darwin locals know that laksa is an all-dayer dish and plenty of cafes serve this bowl of goodness from breakfast until dinner.
When your state lays claim as the home of the Great Barrier Reef, there’s just no way you can’t take advantage of that. Warm waters loaded with nutrients make the Queensland coast ideal for prawns, specifically tiger and banana prawns. That same coast also makes a six-pack of beers and a bucket of these salty-sweet crustaceans the quintessential Queensland dish.
What’s in a name? Well, when it comes to New South Wales, it would be remiss not to mention the state’s capital, Sydney. An overwhelming amount of menus start with the Sydney rock oyster, and archeologists have found middens along the coast dating back thousands of years. From the Dumaresq in the north down to the Murray in the south, New South Welshfolk are all about these briny bivalves, best served with a squeeze of lemon or simple mignonette dressing.
In spite of the rich Germanic history of colonial South Australia, which can still be felt throughout the Barossa, Port Adelaide and of course the German village of Hahndorf, South Australia’s undeniable dish is the pie floater. Ostensibly it’s two dishes in one; a bowl of pea soup, and a meat pie with tomato sauce and the land of the free settlers cannot get enough.
The Apple Isle, Far South Scotland, Tasmania. Whatever you call the little island that could, and wherever you venture within, the scallop pie is the dish of the state. Since the 1800s, Tasmanians have been sourcing fresh scallops from pristine and frigid waters, dousing them in mild curry sauce and baking them in pies. So popular is the scallop pie that just about every village and town in the state has at least one bakery claiming their seafood pie is the best around.
As Australia’s biggest state, Western Australia’s state dish is challenging to nail down. Thousands of kilometres of coastline make the abundance of seafood an obvious choice, like plump sweet Abrolhos Island scallops, Fremantle octopus, or Geraldton lobsters. But in spite of les fruits de la mer, the Conti sandwich has captured Western Australia’s hearts. With layers of cured meats, cheese and pickled vegetables on a crunchy white roll, it’s not hard to see why.
Chicken appears to be the name of the game in the ACT, particularly if it’s flattened and fried. Given the teeny size of the state, we’re going to go with local knowledge and declare a Canberra chain as the state’s favourite food – Kingley’s Chicken. Roasted, fried, or whacked on a burger, Kingsley’s birds are a rite of passage for hungry hordes after a night at Mooseheads or peckish pollies on their way to work.
While it may pain some of us, it’s hard to deny that Victoria is Australia’s foodie state (or at least one of them). The gold rush brought waves of migrants and with them their food. The Mornington, Heathcote, and Cold Stream are just a handful of Victorian food regions and Melbourne is even home to the oldest Chinatown in the southern hemisphere. The density of Greek and Italian migrants to the state has firmly cemented cafe culture across Victoria and, for better or worse, you can’t mention cafe without avocado toast. Simple, delicious, ubiquitous, the wave of smashed avo has in Victoria is as far from crashing as the real estate market.
