Saturday, May 24, 2008

It's a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll

(the title is only funny if you are Australian)

I went to a party last night.

As it was a party consisting of my language course friends, we each brought along a 'traditional' dish from our respective homelands. After much gnashing of teeth and wishing I was from somewhere that had a readily identifiable national dish, I got down to thinking about what would qualify as traditional Australian cuisine.

Our hosts did not have a BBQ, so my initial instinct for incinerated lamb chops was quickly thwarted.

I weighed my options carefully and tried my very best to channel the spirit of Margaret Fulton circa 1972 (devils on horseback or pigs in a blanket anyone?).

So I made a list of possibilities:

  • Vegemite sandwiches - quickly dismissed as lazy, and let's face it, if you weren't raised on the stuff, it really isn't an appetising prospect.
  • ANZAC biscuits - already made these for this group and while they were a good option for a day time party, not appropriate for a soiree.
  • Lamingtons - lead time too long and I'm likely to eat them all before the party. Also, do not go well with wine.
  • Pavlova - don't have a mix-master, also too hard to transport on the tram.
  • Fairy bread - come on now, that's just being silly.
Leaving me with the time honoured option of party pies and sausage rolls. Brilliant.

Prepared a batch of mini sausage rolls and took them along to the party and heated them up in the oven.

One thing I did fail to take into account - most people at the party were vegetarians.

(Yes, I know, like most iconic Australian things, most of these were probably invented in New Zealand).

3 comments:

christina said...

That's so funny. I personally love sausage rolls but I bet you got the evil eye from the vegetarians. I have the same problem when people ask me to bring something "Canadian".

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

Snooker said...

Funny, your title reminded me of an AC/DC song, "It's a Long Way To The Top If You Want To Rock And Roll". Of course the boys are Australian, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Helen said...

snooker - excellent work. Yep, that's the joke. You would be hard pressed to find an Australian who wouldn't substitute the lyrics "it's a long way to the shop if you want a sausage roll" for "it's a long way to the top if you want to rock'n'roll". As kids we used to think it was HILARIOUS.