Australian cuisine (no wonder they eat Vegemite)

[Grimslade]

Wha...wha...what's wrong with vegemite? It's tasty, it's healthy, it's one of the best sources of vitamin B, I think. I eat it almost everyday on toast. Yum!

[Sir Kenyth]

I find it unnerving that advertising is reluctant to descibe exactly what vegemite is. Maybe they feel its better that you don't know? The only thing you'll find is the cryptic and vague term "yeast extract". A product for the adventurous palate to be sure. I'm not saying that the US and Europe don't have their own strange concoctions. Asian countries find dairy products, particularly cheese, to sound equally unappetizing. They claim the thought of eating the curdled and microbe cultured breast secretions of cows makes them squeamish. What's food and what's good, is a matter of where you live.

As far as organ meats go, I'll eat them, but don't go out of my way for them. They're generally higher in undesirable things, like fat, cholesterol and environmental toxins, and lower in desireable things, like protein than a cut of meat. They also need copious amounts of sauces and/or deep frying to make them palatable. Not naturally tasty like a good steak! It's no longer necessary to eat organ meat in the civilized world guys. Food is plentiful. Leave the offal for dog and cat food will you?

[ 07-09-2002, 12:25 PM: Message edited by: Sir Kenyth ]

[Leonis]

Originally posted by Donut: Interesting that the link in my original post is from a site in Sydney.

IMHO Tripe in Australia is a very British based tradition. You'll find recepies all through the 50's and 60's cookbooks alongside 'Bread and Butter Pudding' and 'Beef Wellington' etc...
This was the low point of Australian cuisine.

As we embraced the cuisines of the Mediteranean, Middle East and Asia - the main non-UK migrant groups - Tripe got left behind along with beehive hairdos and Tasmania.

Now African and Pacific Islands cuisines also feature heavily .

Can't beat vegemite on toast though!

[Arnabas]

Although I can't imagine eating tripe...
Those of you who complain about eating stomach, did you know that cheese is made with rennet, which is the lining of a calf's stomach?

[Sir Kenyth]

Originally posted by Arnabas: Although I can't imagine eating tripe... Those of you who complain about eating stomach, did you know that cheese is made with rennet, which is the lining of a calf's stomach?

More specifically, rennet is in calf stomach material. It's a necessary enzyme to curd the milk. There are other way's to get this enzyme.