Australia
Finger Lime
Citrus Caviar
Small elongated citrus with bead-like pulp that bursts with sharp lime flavor, fresh pearls that pop with good acidity and vibrant color, used as gourmet garnish, native.
australia-and-new-zealand
Australia
Explore 102 foods connected to Australia, from everyday staples to rare local specialties.
102 foods12 leading categories1 Essentials guides
Start with Finger Lime →
The local shortlist
Australia Essentials
9 editor-selected foods for understanding the place through what people eat.
Open the guide →
The full directory
Traditional foods from Australia.
102 foods in this view. Filter by category, type, rarity, or search every recorded name.
Filters
Gibraltar, United Kingdom
Fish and Chips
Battered white fish — cod, haddock or plaice — deep-fried to order with thick-cut chips, salt and malt vinegar, wrapped in paper.
Australia
Flake
In southern Australian fish-and-chip shops 'flake' means gummy shark: firm, boneless white fillets in batter, the default 'fish' of the paper-wrapped takeaway basket.
Australia
Flat White
Australia's greatest culinary export: espresso with steamed milk and thin layer of microfoam, higher coffee ratio than latte, originated in 1980s, a legendary coffee icon.
South Australia, Australia
Fritz
South Australia's luncheon sausage: a smooth pink emulsified pork-and-beef loaf sold skin-on in rings from deli counters, sliced cold for sandwiches or fried for breakfast. Other states call the same product devon or polony.
Australia
Golden Syrup Dumplings
Soft flour-and-butter dumplings simmered covered in golden syrup and water until they swell and a glossy butterscotch sauce forms around them, served hot with cream — a colonial-era winter dessert still standard in Australian homes.
Australia
Halal Snack Pack
A foam box of hot chips buried under shredded kebab meat — chicken, lamb or mixed — and flooded with garlic, BBQ and chilli sauces. Born in Sydney kebab shops and now Australia's standard late-night feed.
Australia
Hedgehog Slice
No-bake slice with biscuit, coconut, cocoa, and condensed milk, refrigerated and cut into squares, firm texture with good chocolate flavor, an Australian favorite.
Australia
Honey Joys
Cornflakes mixed with honey and butter, baked until crunchy, party treat, good honey flavor with crunchy texture and not too sweet, an Australian children's party classic.
Australia
Hot Jam Donuts
Cinnamon-sugar-coated yeast doughnuts injected with raspberry jam as they leave the fryer, sold hot in paper bags at markets, agricultural shows and laneway windows. The Queen Victoria Market queue is Melbourne's version.
Australia
Iced VoVo
Arnott's biscuit since 1906: shortbread with two strips of pink fondant, strip of raspberry jam, coconut topping, crisp biscuit with distinct pink fondant and fresh coconut.
Australia
Illawarra Plums
Purple-red fruit of the Illawarra plum pine (Podocarpus elatus), an east-coast rainforest tree; what looks like a berry is a fleshy stalk carrying a hard green seed. Tart and resinous, used in jams, chutneys and sauces.
Australia
Jaffas
Chocolate centre with hard orange-flavoured red shell, cinema classic since 1931, good orange flavour with crisp shell and fresh chocolate, an Australian nostalgic icon.
Australia
Kakadu Plum
Billygoat Plum
Kakadu plum is a small green Australian native fruit eaten fresh when tart or processed into powders, jams, and drinks.
Australia
Kangaroo Meat
Roo
Kangaroo meat is lean, deep-red game meat usually seared quickly and served medium-rare with herbs or native spices.
South Australia, Australia
Kitchener Bun
A Kitchener bun is a soft Adelaide yeast bun rolled in coconut and filled with custard and jam at the centre.
Australia
Lamington
Lammo
A lamington is a square of sponge dipped in chocolate icing and rolled in coconut, sometimes split for cream or jam.
Tasmania, Australia
Leatherwood Honey
Single-floral honey from leatherwood blossom in Tasmania's west-coast rainforests, with a distinctive spicy-resinous aroma and firm set; produced only in Tasmania yet stocked nationwide.
Australia
Lemon Aspen
Rainforest fruit with strong citrus flavour, used in jams and as a spice, pale green to yellow when ripe, strong citrus aroma with good color, a rare native gourmet ingredient.
Australia
Lemon Lime Bitters
LLB
Australia's national drink: lemonade, lime cordial, and Angostura bitters since the 1880s, over 100 million served annually, proper ratio with good bitters aroma, refreshing.
Australia
Lemon Myrtle
Lemon Ironwood
Native shrub with leaves containing highest citral content, more lemony than lemon, fresh aromatic leaves with strong lemon scent, used as tea, spice, and in modern cuisine.
Australia
Lilly Pilly
Glossy magenta berries of coastal lilly pilly trees (Syzygium species), crisp and apple-tart with a faint clove note; the trees line Australian streets and their fruit is gathered for jams, syrups and cordials.
Australia
Macadamia Nuts
Gyndl
Indigenous nuts native to NSW and Queensland, high oil content with buttery texture, once Aboriginal delicacy now major commercial crop, fresh with good crunch and creamy flavor.
Melbourne, Australia
Magic
Melbourne specialty: double ristretto with steamed milk in 120-150mL cup, off-menu item in many cafes, proper ristretto extraction with good milk texture, a rare Melbourne icon.
Western Australia, Australia
Marron
Largest freshwater crayfish in Western Australia, third largest in world, sweet, succulent meat, large size with intact and lively if live, a prized Western Australian specialty.
Australia
Meat Pie
Aussie Meat Pie
An Australian meat pie is a hand-sized pastry filled with minced beef and thick gravy, served hot with tomato sauce.
Scotland, United Kingdom
Millionaire's Shortbread
A layered tray bake of buttery shortbread, caramel filling and a dark chocolate topping, named for its rich, indulgent combination.
Australia
Milo
Malted chocolate drink, Malaysian style with condensed milk, rich chocolate flavor with creamy texture and not too sweet, a Malaysian national drink
Australia
Mint Slice
Chocolate biscuit with mint cream center, Arnott's classic, good chocolate coating with distinct mint flavor and crisp biscuit, an after-dinner Australian favorite.
Australia
Muntries
Native Cranberry
Muntries are small southern Australian berries with a crisp apple-like bite and spicy flavour, eaten fresh, dried, or preserved.
Australia
Murray River Salt
Paper-thin apricot-pink salt flakes sun-evaporated from brine pumped out of saline groundwater beneath the Murray–Darling Basin — a finishing salt that doubles as a salinity-control by-product.
Australia
Neenish Tart
A Neenish tart is a small pastry filled with mock cream and jam, finished with a sharply divided two-colour icing.
Australia
Pavlova
Pav
A baked meringue dessert with a crisp shell and soft centre, topped with cream and fruit; Australia and New Zealand both claim its origin, so this record preserves the contested history.
Western Australia, Australia
Pearl Meat
Premium meat from the adductor muscle of pearl oysters, harvested incidentally during pearling in Broome's waters and sold around $100/kg to high-end kitchens; delicate, sweet and quick-cooked.
Australia
Penfolds Grange
Grange
Australia's most legendary wine, Shiraz-based since 1951, multi-region blend, Heritage Icon of South Australia, complex flavors with good structure, a collectible and prized wine.
Australia
Pepperberry
Mountain Pepperberry
Dried berries and ground leaf of Tasmannia lanceolata, the native mountain pepper; hot, complex spice far stronger than black pepper with resinous, almost floral notes, now standard across modern Australian kitchens.