The sausage sizzle

With Tasting Australia upon us, we can once again consider that ongoing and highly contentious debate: does Australia have a national dish? In her history of Australia's gastronomic heritage, Bold Palates, Barbara Santich makes a case for the barbecue, more specifically the humble sausage sizzle. Howzat for gourmet? The sausage sizzle is a uniquely Australian variant of the barbecue and almost by definition a public event—no one would ever invite friends to a sausage sizzle at home,…

Furry friends, deadly pests or tasty treats?

The Easter Bunny may be cute and cuddly, but he's a real pest in Australia (which is why we recommend the Haigh's Easter Bilby instead – see below). A century ago Australia was home to 10 billion rabbits, thriving in their adopted home. Storyteller Bruce Munday finds the rabbit saga irresistible, and has collected it into his new book, Those Wild Rabbits. The book features this excerpt from the Age in 1925, including a recipe for baked rabbit…

The Easter Bilby: Enjoyed since 1993

Hopefully the Easter Bilby will be bringing you plenty of Haigh's chocolates this weekend. Here is the story of the Haigh's bilby, which has indeed been Enjoyed for Generations – if only they were still life-size! Wrapping moulded chocolate and eggs ready for Easter. Circa 1965. The idea came from Erwin Shulten, a ranger at Bundaleer Forest Reserve at Jamestown, who asked Haigh’s and a couple of other manufacturers to create a chocolate bilby to replace the traditional Easter rabbit in…

Australia's Muslim Cameleers

Australia's Muslim Cameleers is back in stock (and on its way to Canberra to be gifted by the Prime Minister to some special visiting guests). Between 1870 and 1920 as many as 2000 cameleers and 20,000 camels arrived in Australia from Afghanistan and northern India; each has their own fascinating story. Dost Mahomed Dost Mahomed was the son of Mullah Mohamed Jullah of Gaznee. A Pashtun, he served as a ‘Sepoy’ in the British-Indian army before being…

Ministers and the Media

Launching this week is Never a True Word, the debut political thriller from Michael McGuire. The book follows Jack, a journalist who thinks he's met every shade of nutter, narcissist and bully, until he enters the bizarre world of politics as a spin doctor. Perhaps Jack might have benefitted from reading John Hill's how-to, On Being a Minister – here John discusses his experiences with Adelaide's 'best informed, most intelligent and, at times, most offensive interviewers', Matt and Dave. My first Matt and Dave interview,…