The Australiafiles: Part 6- Kangaroo BBQ

There's nothing quite like sound, smell and taste of lightly charred meats sizzling on a smoky grill

The sixth and final instalment of the Austaliafiles: an Ozzy barbie. With kangaroo. *Insert slight guilt here*

On the final evening of our stay, my Australia-living aunt and uncle put on a barbeque. Barbeques are almost ubiquitous in Oz, even found in parks for anyone to use if they manage to nab it for the day. There was beef steak, chicken wings, chicken satay, baby octopus and, intriguingly, kangaroo steaks and kangaroo sausages.

But why the guilt? Well you see, literally the day before I went to a wildlife park and was practically cuddling them ('You weren't really cuddling them, you were just sizing them up for later', joked one of my cousins). Fraternising with the food, and all that. I'm also an ex-vegetarian, and was veggie for a good eight years. To cut a long story short I wanted to be a vet at school, but felt like it was wrong to cure and eat cows at the same time, for example. When I discovered I'd be a pretty rubbish vet because I'd cry every time I had to put someone's pet to sleep, I started eating meat again. That, and because my hair was starting to fall out because of anaemia. Anyway, I've developed the logic that if you eat meat, you should know exactly where it comes from and the processes through which it ends up at your table- it's a harsh truth, but it makes you appreciate it more, and at least a little more respectful.

I quite liked kangaroo meat- the steak was just a lean, red meat with a juicy texture (and oddly a little similar to ostrich- although this doesn't help at all if you've never eaten ostrich), and the sausages had a soft, almost spongy texture. My cousin's weren't as keen on it- it does have a slightly different mouthfeel and taste to your regular beef steak- but we concluded that often it's just a matter of what you're used to.

That concludes the Australiafiles! One of the things I enjoy most during a holiday abroad is the food (not the only thing, I hasten to point out!), so you could say I had a pretty awesome time in that respect (many thanks to my aunt and uncle who took us to brilliant places whilst we were there). My next trip abroad will probably be to Malaysia, which is where another aunt and uncle live, along with my jia po- so expect to see a Malaysiafiles next year. Until then, I hope this food log has inspired people to go out and enjoy some new foods, and in the meantime I will continue with my food conquests here in old Blighty.

Happy eating!

~Fin~