How can something so simple be so magical? A simple sprinkling of 100s and 1000s on white bread spread with margarine might sound fairly pedestrian, but to every Aussie’s inner child, it speaks of the wonder of youthful birthday parties and all the fun and joy they promised (including the lolly bag to take home at the end). It’s the ultimate cheap and easy dopamine hit. Got a mate who’s feeling a bit down? Hand ‘em a piece of fairy bread and watch their eyes light up. Just got dumped? Fairy bread pairs brilliantly with vodka and tears. Can’t decide what to make for dinner? Make yourself some fairy bread. You’re a grown-up now. You can eat it whenever you bloody well please.

Honouring our fallen heroes, one crunchy (or chewy) bickie at a time. These biscuits first appeared during WWI, with the first recorded recipe dating back to 1914. The theory is that the sturdy nature of the biscuits meant that they could withstand the long sea journey from Australia or New Zealand to the front in Europe. But whatever the true origins, these delicious oaty treats have become such a proud part of our culinary heritage, there are even rules about how you should name them, and you can even be fined if you mess with the official recipe. So don’t tell anyone about these creative takes.

Airy-light vanilla sponge cake dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut isn’t just impossibly delicious – it’s made for Australia. The outer chocolate coating protects the sponge by creating a moisture seal, helping the sponge stay fresh. And that’s very useful. Because whenever you decide to bake lamingtons, you can be sure that it will suddenly be a 40+-degree day. The lamington is also the undisputed fundraising king – the lamington drive is the only event at which Australians will happily buy three dozen of something just to help the local scouts get a new tent.

You gotta love Aussie ingenuity. These deep-fried beef and vegie rolls were invented by Frank McEnroe, a boilermaker and caterer from Bendigo, who originally sold them at country shows back in the 1950s, designing them to be a bigger, more portable version of the Chinese spring roll. Chiko Rolls became so popular, they were soon available at every corner fish & chip shop in the country, and now you can even buy them at supermarkets – still with the original branded paper bag wrapping. So deeply woven into our national fibre is this classic fast food, it even features in those immortal lines from the film Puberty Blues, “Go get us a Chiko Roll… and don’t take a bite out of it or you’re dropped.”

Stir it through milk, sprinkle it over ice cream or just eat it straight out of the tub with a spoon. However you like your Milo, it’s as Aussie as a wombat in a Bali singlet sculling a shoey at the cricket. What you might not know is that it was originally developed as a low-cost nutritional supplement to help combat childhood malnutrition during the Great Depression in the 1930s. But people loved the taste so much, it remains a beloved kitchen staple to this day, and every Aussie kid worth their chocolate malt has soon learned how to sneak an extra spoonful into their milk without Mum noticing.

Just like the Chiko Roll, this is another Australian invention that has taken a Chinese dish and adapted it to more rough-and-tumble Aussie appetites. The dim sim was created by Chinese-Australian restaurateur William Chen Wing Young in the 1940s. According to the ABC, Young noticed that locals dining at his Melbourne restaurant enjoyed the pork sui mai dumplings. He spotted a business opportunity and began manufacturing the larger, heartier ‘dimmie’ that we know today – best served deep-fried at the local fish & chip shop.

A staple of many a school fete, birthday party and cake stall, honey joys bring joy not just because they’re sweet, crispy and delicious – they’re also really easy for frantically busy time-poor parents to whip up at 9:30pm, when their kids finally remember to tell them it’s bring-a-plate day at school tomorrow. The recipe has been around for so long, no one actually knows who came up with it. But whoever you were, we salute you – you’ve somehow managed to keep Corn Flakes relevant for generations.

Pink icing, raspberry jam and desiccated coconut on a golden wheat biscuit. So good, there’s been no need to change it since it was first invented back at the beginning of the 20th century. Despite it being a decidedly girly biscuit, you’re just as likely to find burly tradies chowing down on these beaut bickies over smoko, because a true classic transcends all gender stereotypes and cultural conformities.

More Aussie ingenuity! This delish condiment was dreamt up by charcoal chook-shop owner Peter Brinkworth, who came up with a special seasoning blend to rub on his chickens in the early 1970s. Someone thought to sprinkle that seasoning on chips and – boom! – instant umami magic, yonks before we’d even heard of the word ‘umami’. Chicken salt remains hugely popular to this day, and is usually a standard offering wherever you buy hot chips. If it’s not, tell ‘em they’re dreamin’.

Love them or really, really hate them, musk sticks are staunchly Australian, even if no one can tell you exactly who it was that first decided it would be a good idea to invent a lolly that managed to combine soap, chalk and cheap incense in one oddly unsettling powdery pink noodle. For the haters, you’ll be delighted to know that musk sticks have earned a place at Sweden’s Disgusting Food Museum, along with Vegemite.

For any Australian who hasn’t visited Japan, the sushi roll seems perfectly harmless. It’s just sushi, right? No. Aussie-style sushi rolls are like a thicker, cylindrical version of the Japanese temaki roll, which is shaped like an ice cream cone. You could also say that they’re an uncut version of the thicker Japanese futomaki sushi. However we’ve managed to offend our Japanese friends, the fact remains that the Aussie sushi roll is an easy, healthy, tasty lunch to eat on the go. So good is our style of sushi, in fact, they’ve even started selling it in New York.

Yes, yes, we can dredge up the whole ‘New Zealand says it invented pavlova first’ thing again. But honestly, who can really be bothered? That old chestnut is about as tired as a roo in the midday sun. The truth of the matter is that the mighty pav is always going to be a classically Oz dessert, no matter what the Kiwis say. And it’s bonza for an Aussie summer – just bake up your meringue in a low oven the night before, then plonk some cream and fresh fruit on it the next day. No fuss, no fancy airs and graces. Just like a game of backyard cricket, even if it is a bit lop-sided, everyone still wants a go.

Whether you’re on #TeamCheese or #TeamChicken, Twisties are perhaps one of the greatest things ever to come out of Snackdom. These gnarled, crispy little wonders were invented in the 1950s by Melbourne businessman Isador Magid, who was clearly some kind of genius and an unsung hero of our times. What are they made of? Who cares? Just pass me that party-sized bag and leave me alone.

You may call them potato cakes. You may call them potato fritters. Whatever you call them, they are delicious. How can you go wrong with deep-fried battered potato? After all, ‘deep-fried battered potato’ are possibly the most beautiful words ever to be joined together in the English language. Amazing Shakespeare never did anything with that.

Affectionately known as the ‘snot block’ (much to the horror of any eavesdropping tourists that might be hovering about), this deeply Aussified version of the French mille-feuille is basically a thick slice of vanilla custard sandwiched between two slices of flaky pastry. So beloved is this sickly sweet bakery treat here, there’s even a national competition to find the country’s best – the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph.