How did your Australian Food knowledge stack up?
True or False? Tim Tams were named after a horse.
True. Tim Tams were named after the horse that won the Kentucky Derby in 1958.
True or False? In the 1920s Vegemite was called Parwill
True. For seven years during the 1920s Vegemite was rebranded “Parwill”. In an attempt to outsell Marmite, Vegemite was renamed and marketed with the slogan “Ma might, but Parwill.” The name reverted to Vegemite in 1935.
True or False? The iconic Pavlova was named for a Russian dancer.
True. Pavlova was named for Russian prima ballerina Anna Matveyevna Pavlova.
True or False? Maltesers were originally marketed to young women as diet food.
True. Maltesers were originally called “energy balls” but didn’t take off and were renamed Maltesers.
True or False? The Violet Crumble is Australia’s oldest chocolate bar.
True. The Violet Crumble was created in 1913. The Cherry Ripe is often mistakenly named Australia’s oldest chocolate bar, but it was first produced in 1924.
True or False? Food Standards Australia regulations state meat pies must contain beef.
False. Meat pies can legally contain meat from “buffalo, camel, cattle, deer, goats, hare, pig, poultry, rabbit or sheep”. The Food Standards Code stipulates that a meat pie must contain a minimum 25% meat sourced from any of the sources listed.
True or False? The Caramello Koala’s real name is Henry.
False. The Caramel Koala’s real name is George.
True or False? The Flat White was invented in Sydney.
True. The Flat White was created by Alan Preston in Sydney in 1985.
True or False? The average consumption of meat pies in Australia is 12 pies per person per year.
True. Australians are the world’s biggest consumer of meat pies, tucking into an average of 12 meat pies a year. That’s 270 million pies annually! (Kiwis are even hungrier. Eating an average of 15 meat pies, totalling 66 million pies a year!)
True or False? Melba toast and Peach Melba are named after Helen Porter Mitchell.
True. Melba toast and Peach Melba were named after Dame Nellie Melba, the stage name of Australian opera singer Helen Porter Mitchell.
LOVE this post so much! I learned so much. Although I knew we Kiwis ate heaps of pies, hence the phrase we often use, ‘who ate all the pies’ and ‘I’ve been eating too many pies’ for when we’re feeling a bit porky!
This is fabulous … apart from the fact that I nearly failed, only scoring 60%. Seems I’m better at eating food than knowing much about it.