Australia: Tim Tams, pies, kangaroo (TNT #25) and barramundi (TNT #26)

Three weeks in Australia. Lots of opportunities to eat.

TNT #25: Tried kangaroo for the first time. Seemed to be fairly common at least in the Northern Territory. Tender and mild. Delicious, if not over-cooked. Eaten under the stars.

TNT #26: Also pretty common in Darwin was barramundi. In fish and chips, not a whole lot of discernable difference to this palate from a other firm white fish like cod.

A lesser-known Northern Territory speciality, the iced coffee, proved refreshing in the heat. Coffee-flavoured milk rather than coffee with milk as one might expect from the name, these were ubiquitous. A homemade version at Darwin's railway station was the only non-commercial version I had the opportunity to try. Good alternative to chocolate milk.


No trip to Australia is complete without pie. Three trips to Harry's Cafe on Wheels for a traditional peas and pie and seafood pie demonstrated why this is such an icon. The generous scoop of peas was bland on its own, but delicious when mixed with the surprisingly peppery, piping hot meat pie innards. The seafood pie was chocka with fish, prawns and surimi in a very light white sauce. No filler here.




Cake was another major food group. Loved the way all slices of cake were served with a dollop of whipped cream, even this Toblerone cheesecake. Very generous with the Toblerone which decorated the top and was incorporated in the cake as well.

New Tim Tam varieties are pretty hard to get in the US, so these Black Forest and Honeycomb Tim Tams were an exciting find. Both very sweet, the Black Forest contained a sticky inner raspberry cream filling. Honeycomb was basically bits of honeycomb embedded inside the biscuit. No real textural contrast there. Interesting but double chocolate remains my favourite.

Random snacks included Gaiety biscuits (chocolate covered wafers and this Milo ice dessert. The MIlo flavour needed to be a lot stronger. The heat led to a lot of "testing" of various ice cream bars. Weis mango and cream bars were definitely the winner with a strong mango flavour.