From fairy bread to meat pies, I ate my way through Australia on my first visit. Here are 9 things I tried — all but one have me wanting seconds. (2024)

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I ate my way through Australia for 10 days this summer.

This summer, I spent 10 days on the eastern coast of Australia visiting cities like Cairns and Sydney.

It was my first time in the country, and as eager as I was to sail on the Great Barrier Reef and visit an abandoned castle in an Australian rainforest, I was just asexcited to eat.

I took every opportunity I had to try something new, whether it was a stop inside a café to grab an unfamiliar pastry, scouring menus for new cuisines, or speaking to dozens of Australians who shared the meals that remind them of home.

And during those 10 days, I rarely had an empty stomach. Take a look at a few of the classic Aussie foods I ate.

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Below the Sydney Opera House, I dined on barramundi for the first time.

As Iskimmed menus in restaurants across eastern Australia, an unfamiliar fish kept popping up under seafood sections.

It was barramundi, which according to CNN, is a popular fish served throughout Australia. Its name originates from the Aboriginal language and means "large-scaled river fish," the same source reports.

As a pescetarian and seafood lover, I was eager to taste a new fish. So when I arrived at the Opera Bar underneath the Sydney Opera House and spotted it on the menu, I decided to finally try barramundi.

I ordered the fish pan-seared and served with fennel and celery heart.

A few forkfuls in, I was hit with a rich and fatty taste. I thought the fish's flavor wasn't overpowering, and the fried skin added a crisp bite to the dish.

It was fresh, flaky, and light, and I'd happily order barramundi again.

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I spent a morning in my Sydney hotel making fairy bread, a delightful, sugary dish served at Australian birthday parties.

During my 10 days in Australia, the childhood dessert called fairy bread was repeatedly mentioned by Aussies. Locals told me the sugary treatwas a staple at kids' birthday parties.

Fairy bread involves three simple ingredients: plain white bread, butter, and "hundreds and thousands," whichisthe Aussie phrase for sprinkles.

The same Australians also told me it's unlikely I'll find it on any restaurant or café menu. It's more of a celebratory, homemade dish, they said.

But with easy instructions and just a few ingredients, I decided to make it myself. From a hotel room in Sydney, I slathered butter on untoasted white bread and coated it in sprinkles.

After a bite, I was nostalgic for my childhood. I grew up eating cinnamon-sugar toast, and the sweet and salty combination from fairy bread felt reminiscent of that treat.

While I didn't think fairy bread was a culinary marvel, it was a fun dish to recreate and taste in the land down under.

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I had a flaky, vegetarian version of a sausage roll at a bakery in Surry Hills.

In cafés, bakeries, gas stations, and all across Australia, hungry people can find sausage rolls.

The dish is comprised of sausage meat wrapped in flaky pastry dough and baked. It's a typical, quick meal for Australians, and while it's often sausage inside the roll, I noticed bakeries have recreated the dish using everything from lamb to beef.

Bourke Street Bakery in the Surry Hills neighborhood in New South Wales servesa vegetarian version of the dish. Finding a vegetarian roll was a bit of a challenge, and I was thrilled to find one filled with eggplant, chickpeas, and spinach. It was also served with a side of tomato sauce for dipping, which is Australia's version of ketchup.

While my lunchlacked meat, I got a strong sense of the dish and easily understood why it's beloved by so many Aussies. Icouldn't complain about yummy, warm filling wrapped up in flaky dough and thought the tomato sauce added a sweet and tangy flavor.

I walked away from the bakery with crumbs coating my mouth and was shocked that thesesausage rolls aren't more common in America.

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Like sausage rolls, meat pies are another popular grab-and-go meal I regularly spotted in Australia.

A meat pie is a single-serving, savory pie made with a shortcrust base and filled with meat, vegetables, and gravy, according to G'day Gourmet. Like sausage rolls, they're served with tomato sauce, too. The same source reports that Australians eat 270 million meat pies each year.

Across Australia, I often spotted meat pies sold next to sausage rolls. The two dishes are similar in concept: meaty fillings surrounded by a flaky crust. The main difference Ifound between the two was that meat pies seem to have more moisture than sausage rolls.

I had a couple of vegetarian pies throughout Australia. It was a snack served on my flight between Cairns and Sydney, and Ieyed them in a gas station in the town of Innisfail.

Aftertasting a few myself, I understood why they're so popular. I thought the pies were rich and filling, and they reminded me of pot piesI've in the US withwarm, hearty gravy surrounding juicy vegetables.

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An Australian pub staple, I dined on salt-and-pepper calamari at a casual bar in Mena Creek in Queensland.

According to Taste Atlas, salt-and-pepper calamari is a popular dish served in Australia that's inspired by Chinese cuisine andmade by coating squidin a batter seasoned with salt and pepper, before frying it.

Salt-and-pepper calamari is a pub staple, according to CNN. Sure enough, I had the Australian dish at Mena Creek Hotel's pub in Queensland.

A few minutes after ordering, a waitress came out with a large plate. Piled high were fries, a side salad, and the crispy, battered calamari.

The calamari were nugget shaped instead of the usual rings I'm familiar with, and I thought that it was much more tender than what I've had in the US. Plus, the greasy dish had the ideal batter-to-squid ratio, and I easily scarfed the entire plate down.

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It's not a trip to Australia without Vegemite. I tried it, but I'm not sure I'll be eating it again anytime soon.

Vegemite is a thick, dark spread made of yeast, onion, malt, and celery. It is popular across the continent, and according to The New York Times, about 22 million jars are consumed by Australians annually.

While it might have the same color and texture as Nutella, another popular spread, Vegemite is savory and salty.

When I decided to try it, Australians told me to scrape a thin, thin layer of Vegemite on buttered toast.

I did just that, and unfortunately, it wasn't to my taste. It was too salty for me, and since the butter I used was already salted, the toast was overwhelmed by sodium.

I was thrilled to finally try the spread I've seen for years, but the next time I'm offered a slice of Vegemite toast, I'll likely pass.

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But I did love Australia's treasured Tim Tams.

As I was packing my bags, multiple friends begged me to save room in my suitcase to bring them back boxes of Tim Tams, which are a popular Australian biscuit, or, for American readers, otherwise known as a cookie.

A Tim Tam is made of a cream filling sandwiched between two biscuits and coated in chocolate. They're produced by the Australian biscuit company Arnott's and were first introduced to Australians in 1964, according to National Today.

Today, Australian grocery stores stock a variety of Tim Tam flavors, including salted caramel brownie, white chocolate, dark chocolate, and dark chocolate raspberry tart. And according to Mashed, Australians consume 45 million boxes every year.

To see what the hype was about, I tried nine different flavors of Tim Tams.

Ultimately, the original milk chocolate Tim Tam ranked supreme in my taste test. I'm partial to milk chocolate and didn't love some of the flavors like raspberry. Plus, I thought the original Tim Tam had the best ratio of cookie, coating, and filling.

And yes, I did manage to stuff a few boxes in my suitcase to bring back to America.

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I'll be ordering another Lamington the next time I'm back in Australia.

The Lamington is known as the "national cake of Australia," according to CNN. The dessert is an individual sponge cake shaped like a cube, coated in chocolate, and tossed in coconut. Often, there's a layer of cream and jam inside, Australians told me.

The Lamington has a few origin stories all datingback to around 1900. According to the Ferguson Plarre Bakehouse, the creation of the dish was accidental. A servant for Lord Lamington, who was the governor of Queensland between 1896 and 1901, mistakenly dropped a cake in melted chocolate. Lord Lamington didn't want to waste the dish, so he suggested coating it in coconut and serving it, the same source said.

Australian Food Timeline, on the other hand, reports that the dish was likely created by Lord Lamington's French chef, Armand Galland. He was tasked with feeding unexpected guests and took an old sponge cake, cut it into cubes, dipped it in chocolate, and coated it in coconut. The guests and Lord Lamington loved the dish so much that it became a staple, according to this second source.

While I can't be sure which story is true, I did want to try it. I grabbed a Lamington from a food stand inside the Sydney Airport, and I'll admit, it wasn't as impressive as I hoped.

The cake itself was dry and the layer of cream was thin, I thought. Plus, I wished it had jam, which would've added fruity flavor to the dessert.

But a Lamington has all the components of desserts I love. I'm a big fan of cakes, I love sweet coconut, and chocolate is easily my favorite treat.

So I haven't ruled Australia's national cake out just yet, and I'll be tracking it down at a reputable Australian bakery the next time I'm in the country.

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I indulged in homegrown passion fruit during Australia's winter.

Australia is home to a variety of tropical fruits, and thanks to the country's climate, places like Queensland can grow fruit year round, according to Travel NQ.

Even though I was visiting during Australia's winter, I saw piles of mangoes, pineapples, and bananas in grocery stores. And when I arrived at an Airbnb in Innisfail, my host left behind a bowl of passion fruit grown in her backyard.

She told me that she grew more than she could imagine eating and hoped I'd help make a dent in her stockpile. The fruits looked similar to the Passiflora edulis variety, which according to Passionfruit Australia, is the most popular passion fruit grown in the country.

I couldn't remember if I had tasted fresh passion fruit before, and I often don't love the flavor of artificial passion fruit in candies. So, I initially didn't think I'd like it.

But I cut one open anyway, and after scooping out a spoonful of the bright, yellow pearls, I realized I was wrong. The juicy fruit was both sweet and sour, and I ate every last seed.

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There are still plenty of Aussies foods I didn't get to try, which is the perfect excuse for another trip to the country.

While I tried plenty of new foods in 10 days, I only scratched the surface of Australia's culinary offerings.

I didn't get my hands on pavlova, which is a dessert that Australians and New Zealanders debate over ownership, and I missed an opportunity to try kangaroo.

So if Australia's breathtaking scenery, welcoming people, and endless adventure weren't enough to entice me back, the food sure will.