Corn Dogs Down Under

We ate at a cute little diner across from the old courthouse, called the Courthouse Kitchen. It was owned by a youngish couple who told us it recently opened. The man was working the counter and the woman, who he said was his partner Sophie, was in the kitchen. (Have I mentioned that the term partner is predominately used as a reference in both gay and straight relationships, even in our official bank literature.) All of the items on the chalkboard menu had law themes like “Free without bail” were sides of BBQ sauce and tomato sauce (ketchup, but pronounced the you-say-tomato way). We saw tator tots (“gems”) in the hot case and were drawn in. We asked lots of questions about what was on the menu, one of the things being a pluto pup. As he explained it, we realized it’s a corn dog! (Or for those of us from Yankton, a “kwiki” – though not technically a corn dog because the batter does not contain cornmeal and it’s not at all sweet.) So, of course, we had to eat there so I could experience a corn dog and tots in Australia. Every local we’ve mentioned this to, has sort of turned up their nose at this item, which is often called a “battered sav” and is usually sold only at fairs. With a name like that, I can’t blame them; it sounds first aid related. Wikipedia tells me that sav is short for “saveloy” which is a bright red sausage. I asked if they had yellow mustard (it said "Col. Mustard" on the menu – assuming that’s a nod to who dunnit in the library with a candlestick). The man said he had American mustard, and I said yes, thinking that would typically be what they called the yellow less-distinguished mustard that I like. Turns out the actual name on the label is “American mustard.” So for lunch I had a battered sav with American mustard and tomato sauce with a side of gems.

Meat pies and sausage rolls are pretty much ubiquitous wherever we go. There are lots of places that serve fish and chips, and with that, any number of other types of fried food. Some popular fried snacks are dim sims, which are fried chinese dumplings that contain ground pork, corn jacks which might be best described as a creamed corn taquito, and chiko rolls which are essentially a spring roll with filling that is cabbage and some sort of meat product. Beetroot is very common here. We just call them canned beets, but they are routinely served on hamburgers and I quite like them that way. Here’s one of our taster meals at the renowned Kermon’s Hamburgers in Warrnambool; you see a small chips, a dim sim, a chiko roll, and a hamburger with onions, beets, lettuce, and tomato sauce. (make sure you pronounce tomato correctly in your head)

Although you wouldn't know it from this post, we have also eaten quite a lot of non-fried food here as well. We've eaten a lot of curry - at a Javanese restaurant, our favorite all-day brekky place had one that was also really interesting and delicious, and we are signed up for Sri Lankan Curry Night next Monday at another favorite restaurant. 

On every menu I’ve seen, pancakes are served with ice cream. I have not taken that plunge yet. Pastries often come in the form of a “slice” which is usually bar shaped and frosted. I had a hedgehog slice the other day, which was similar to a brownie with biscuits (cookies) inside it. I see coconut on a lot of things, which makes me happy. I'm looking forward to having a lamington, which is a traditional Australian treat -  sponge cake, covered in chocolate frosting and rolled in coconut.  Yum! Coffee, as mentioned in a previous blog, is any espresso drink and they are all the same price. Therefore, a long black (americano), a flat white (café aulait), and a mocca (a mocha) are usually all the same price.

I'm sure there will be plenty more food posts to come. It is, after all, one of our favorite past times.