Australian Cuisine

I occasionally get asked questions about Australian cuisine. Due to a British heritage, traditional Aussie food is rather beige and blah. In more recent time, chefs have worked to define an independent identity for themselves; often by embracing the ingredients, indigenous to the country. That has yielded some amazing gastronomic delights and a few not quite rights. Although I haven’t tried the recipe below, I’ll guess it fits in the latter category

Spaghetti with a spicy kangaroo and mushroom sauce:

Ingredients:

600 g kangaroo mince (ground meat) 500 mL beef stock handful of mushrooms of your choosing, sliced 100 g tomato paste 1/3 cup brandy 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 celery sticks, diced 2 chilies, diced 1 carrot, diced 1 large onion, diced 1 1/2 tbs hot curry powder freshly ground black pepper sea salt

In a large sauce pan, heat some oil over a low flame. Add the onion, garlic, chilies, celery and carrot. Stir and fry for five minutes, then add a tablespoon of curry powder. Stir and fry for another five minutes, then add the mince. Stir well. Brown the mince over the course of 2-3 minutes, then add the brandy, stirring as you do. Let it reduce, then spoon in the tomato paste. Stir it in, add the stock and cover the pan. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid. Stir in the remaining curry powder. Simmer for a further 25 minutes, then add the mushrooms. Simmer for five more minutes, then cover the pan and take it off the heat. Let it sit this way while you bring some lightly salted water to the boil and cook some spaghetti. Don’t cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions–use your senses by tasting the pasta when you think it’s about done. It should be soft, but have just a little bite to it. Al dente. Toss the pasta and sauce together.