Food Talk

Ever wondered where hot cross buns came from?

I grew up hearing the kid's song "Hot cross buns, Hot cross buns, one 'ha penny, two 'ha penny..." but I've never actually had one before, so I was very excited that the dining hall served them for brekky on Fri. I think I've had 4 or 5 in the past 2 days.... they're delicious.

Supposedly they carry religious symbolism, but this article from BBC details that there are many theories as to where they originated: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8598312.stm

There have been some other new food items I've been eating here including:

- Milo = powdered drink mix made from malted barley and chocolate that you mix in with milk; not available in the U.S., but found in Asia, S. America, the UK, and is actually made by Nestle; good stuff.

- Chiko Roll = an "Australian savory snack" made from boned mutton, celery, cabbage, barley, rice, and carrots wrapped in egg flour and dough and then fried; pretty much like a big spring roll; I love them with soy sauce.

- Meat Pies = these have Australian and New Zealand origins; pretty much like mini chicken pot pies and they can have chicken, beef, potatoes or veggies inside; they come frozen in the dining hall but I find the beef ones pretty good eaten with french fries.

- Vegemite = I want to revise my previous opinions on vegemite; I, at first taste, hated the stuff, but recently tried it on toast with cheese melted on top, and it tastes heaps better. I've been told that I can start with cheese and hopefully be weaned off the cheese to plain vegemite by the time I leave; I have doubts about that....

- Butter Chicken = actually an Indian dish (the chefs cook with curry pretty frequently since there is a large Indian population here) that consists of chicken cooked in a tomato puree based sauce; tastes really good with rice.

- Sticky Date Pudding = my new favorite dessert by far; not sure where it gets its origins, maybe the UK? It has a cake like consistency with dates cooked in that pretty much melt into the cake, and then it's topped with a toffee type sauce; it's super sweet but delicious.

- Potato Cakes = These are so simple to make but I love them; again, not sure of their origins, thinking Europe and then some versions are common in Australia/New Zealand; they are pretty much just potato and flour, combined and fried; they are very dense and taste good with veggies and meat.

- Pavlova = this dessert originated in New Zealand but is popular in both AUS and NZ during holidays; it is a meringue type cake topped with cream and fruit; I'm not a huge fan of the consistency of meringue, but it was pretty good combined with the cream and fruit.

So I know I've made you all very hungry, and you will now go searching for these recipes; I am going to snag a sticky date pudding recipe from the mom of an Aussie friend, so I'll post that one when I get it.

Hope everyone has a fantastic Easter! We have a 4 day weekend that I am spending in Townsville, catching up on schoolwork, sleeping, working, hanging out with friends, and going to church.

Remember, as we celebrate Easter this weekend, we serve an amazing God who sent his only son to die for us so we could have life that never ends!