Country Cuisine Confidential 2010, Part 2: Australia

Welcome to Part 2 in a series examining each of the national cuisines on display at the 2010 Epcot Food & Wine Festival. Today's port of culinary call: Australia.

Australia made its first appearance at the Food & Wine Festival in 1997. This year, you'll find the Australian booth stuck like a sore thumb at the entrance to the Morocco Pavilion and flanked by the Japanese and Moroccan booths. Odd place to put it!

Let's look at our menu:

Seared Barramundi with Blistered Cherry Tomatoes, Arugula, and Lemon Oil

Barramundi is a type of sea bass common in the Indian and western Pacific oceans and raised commercially in fresh-water farms. The word 'barramundi' was taken from an Aboriginal dialect, cementing its reputation as the most popular fish in Australia, prized for its flaky flesh; mild, vaguely sweet taste; and suitability for the grill. It's no surprise to find it at the Festival.

Arugula is a leaf vegetable that looks like lettuce but tastes nothing like it: the flavor is fairly strong, slightly peppery. Since the cherry tomatoes are being served 'blistered' (which means they've been quickly grilled or heated to blister their skins), you'll likely get the arugula cooked not raw. Either way, the lemon oil will enhance it and everything else on the plate. Great dish!

Grilled Lamp Chop with Roasted Potato Salad and Red Wine Reduction

Australian ranchers raise vast herds of sheep, more than any other country except China, and sheep are also an integral part of Australian history and culture. Finding lamb chops at the Australian booth is what I'd expect, though I'd also have expected a bit more complex dish than a grilled chop with roasted potato salad. In this case, though, simple is probably better since it'll remove any obstacles between you and the perfectly grilled flavor of the lamb.

The red wine reduction (reducing wine over heat with sugar produces a thick sauce, or gastrique) will help keep the chop moist though it might conflict with your choice of beverage: the menu doesn't specify which red wine is being reduced. Optimally, you'd want a glass of the same red wine to enhance the flavor of the reduction. You'll have to ask about that one.

Lamington

A Lamington is sponge cake coated with chocolate and coconut. It's a traditional Australian dessert sold everywhere, fresh and packaged. The dish takes its name from Lord Lamington, a former governor of Queensland, though it was Lady Lamington who enjoyed the cakes while her husband found them vile ('poofy', he called them). Sometimes you'll find cream or jam sandwiched between two halves of a Lamington, but the Festival menu is mum about that. Unless you dislike coconut, the Lamington is a crowd-pleaser, easy to make, easy to eat.

Beverages

The menu includes a balanced selection of four local wines: two whites (a Riesling from Rosemount, a Chardonnay from Nugan Estate) and two reds (a Shiraz from Marquis Philips and a Cabernet from Penfolds). Something for everyone.

The Shiraz is from the Marquis Philips label, established in 2005 and now available quite inexpensively amid rumors that the parent company, R Wines, may be on the verge of bankruptcy. Rosemount and Penfolds are both solid, old-school Australian wineries. Disney stocks a lot of Penfolds wine. Nugan Estate is a younger, family-owned winery, possibly a 'taste above' the others. Their Riverina Chardonnary would happily climb into the back-seat with your barramundi

Taste It or Waste It

Australian cuisine doesn't have much buzz. If you put an average person on the spot and asked him for iconic examples of Australian food, he'd look at you blankly for a moment and might then croak Vegemite, a dark brown paste spread on bread to make a sandwich.

Let's also pull the curtain and address what we're all thinking: kangaroo. Australians do eat it, though not often. What are the odds that kangaroo burgers will grace the 2011 Festival? About the same as Paul Hogan wrestling a real crocodile.

As for what is on the menu: both the barramundi and the lamb chop are solid entrees in harmony with American taste buds. Ditto the Lamington. If you're torn between the barramundi and the lamb chop, choose the barramundi: it's easier to cook barramundi well than it is a lamb chop, especially in a booth with lines of people waiting to be served. With either, of course, get the Lamington, too. As for washing it down, Australian wine tends to be good quality and the selections offered at the Festival won't disappoint - or dazzle, unfortunately.

The Series So Far: Argentina | Australia | Belgium | Brazil | Canada | Chile

Contact the Author: Bob McLain