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Australian Food – Multicultural Food, Evolution of Cuisine

Updated: Jul 15, 2021

Australia is a multicultural and vibrant country. Australians have more than 270 ancestries, with oldest civilization on our planet. All Australians from different part of the world brought different cultural background and experiences. When it comes to food there are certain things Australian love, such as BBQs snags, Chicken Parmigiana, Lamingtons, Meat pies, Vegemite toast, meat burgers, fish and chips etc.


Multicultural food ingredients are easily found in Australia in most big grocery stores, supermarket giants such as Coles, Woolworths, Aldi have dedicated sections for food from different part of the world. You will see whole section allocated to Italian, Asian, Mexican or Indian food. These supermarkets also have started having specials around other countries festivals such as Chinese New Year, Diwali for Indian community, October Fest for Germans, etc. Important message here is to stay connected to culture and exposure to other cultures who want to try and enjoy different food and cultural experiences. It also creates a sense of community and enjoyment.


Average weekly households spending on groceries in NSW Australia is approximately $275 as per


Looking at this figure, food in Australia is expensive as compared to other nations. Amongst most popular international cuisines are Chinese, Italian, Thai, Indian, Mexican, Japanese, Greek, Middle Eastern, Lebanese and French.


If you love any specific international food and enjoy cooking at home, there are plenty of recipes available on Internet. Through my blogging my aim is to share budget friendly healthy recipes. Cooking International food can also be cheaper as compared to local ingredients. I find Asian food ingredients much cheaper, e.g., pack of noodles, whole packet of dry lentils etc. My objective here to is to provide you some information on how to set up a multicultural kitchen and how to save money in a longer run on your grocery bills.


Following are the kitchen staples for top 6 international cuisines (Italian, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Mexican). I have also added general kitchen staples to start with, which I have already shared on one my posts on Instagram to check follow us @foodieatcentralcoast


10 Kitchen Essential Ingredients


Oil: essential for baking, frying and general cooking

Salt: “Must have” ingredient to add basic flavor in any recipe

Sugar: Important ingredient when it comes to baking a cake or having a cuppa, only if you have a sweet tooth

Butter: Simply slather over any crispy warm bread and enjoy or cook with garlic to make garlic butter

Soya Sauce: Add to water to make a very basic soup base or use as a dipping sauce

Eggs: Essential part of breakfast or even lunches, depends how you like your eggs

Bread: Always keep some fresh bread to keep you going those busy weeks of work

Noodles: Pack of Instant noodles, soba or rice noodles

Soups: Some pre-cooked and packaged soups would be nice have if you don’t want to cook at all

Baked Beans: I Don’t mind having them in my pantry it’s a perfect comfort food to go with eggs


10 Essentials Ingredients for Mexican Cooking

One of the main factors making Mexican food so irresistible, is that it is a blend of spices, seasoning and beautiful presentation. Mexican food has become everyday food in Australia and variety of recipes available in super markets are easier to make at home. Lots of healthy options available for consumers such as gluten free corn chips or tortillas. Tacos are well known not just for how good they taste but also how easy they are to prepare. See the list below to set up a small section of Mexican cooking in your pantry



Fresh Tacos, Tortillas: For everyday cooking these are your kitchen staples and budget friendly. You can turn tortillas easy into chips or dip into any sauce, or make quesadillas

Black beans: Black beans are also essential to make Burrito bowl and tacos. To make Mexican beans chili it’s a great vegetarian option

Fresh Lime: Most Mexican food is all about fresh ingredients, once you have all basic ingredients set up you add more to your list

Avocadoes: These are such a versatile food from breakfast to dinner, always keep them in your kitchen. Guacamole dip is one of most popular food across the planet and eating with chips or adding to burritos, list is endless

Corn Kernels: Corn are used in Mexican cooking to make salsa, corn pudding, chowder or Corn truffle Quesadillas, full of flavors great companion of lime juice

Mexican spices, cumin, paprika, oregano or coriander: These are most commonly used Mexican spices, combine these with everyday kitchen staples to get a signature flavor in Mexican cooking

Dried Chorizos: To add to any sauce or chili, great addition to tacos or burritos or salads

Rice- long grain: Basic ingredients to create burrito bowls, Enchiladas or simply Mexican rice!

Mexican chocolate or dark chocolate: Used in Mole sauces in Mexican cooking, previously I have shared Beef Chili Mole recipe in one of my blogs. Mexican chocolate has a tint of cinnamon flavor, it can be used to make dipping sauce for churros

Jalapenos: Great addition to tacos, burritos or any other Mexican recipes. You can use those fresh or pickled


10 Essential Ingredients for Italian Cooking

Italian food uses fresh, natural ingredients and the healthiest of fats such as olive oil. Adding vegetables to Italian sauces and dishes can double your intake of daily vegetable consumption. Most Italian recipes are made from the scratch and very easy to learn. I hope following ingredients get you going and inspire you to set up your Italian kitchen in a useful manner. Following ingredients are basic requirement, add fresh meat and vegetables to create flavorsome recipes #italian #italiancooking #italianingredients #italianfoodie #italianfoodporn #italianfoodpic



Olive oil: used in cooking any Italian dish, extra virgin olive oil is mostly used in garnishing any recipe to give peppery flavor or in a salad to create dressing of your choice

Cheese: Most popular Italian cheese are Parmigiano-Reggiano, Mozzarella, Parmesan and Ricotta

Canned tomatoes: Use as a base to make pasta sauces, lasagna, or baking a fish or meat in Italian style

Dry Italian herbs: Most versatile ingredient in Italian cooking, from making pizzas, sauces and even bread. Varieties include oregano, basil, sage, parsley, rosemary

Capers: These are little salt bombs, can be used in pizza topping, salad, pasta sauces or in any Italian recipe bake. These are full of flavors and you don’t need to add more salt to your recipe

Olives: I cannot describe them enough, must have in your Italian salads or topped on pizza, or just eat them as it is, full of flavors and YUMM!

Garlic: No Italian cooking is finished without using garlic, full of flavor and it comes with various health benefits

Pasta: Keep always good amount of pasta in your pantry, they are cheap to buy and also have long shelving life, definitely super easy to cook

Anchovies: Salty rich small fish add very strong and complex flavor to any Italian recipe. These fillets come in can or jar or paste form, Choose the variety you like. Add these to sauces, bake or even pizzas

Polenta: Great gluten free substitute for pasta. It’s made by mixing cornmeal with water or milk and stirring constantly over low heat. Serve with sauce, meat or cheese. Cooked polenta can be cut into wedges, rounds or other shapes. It can be grilled, baked or pan-fried


10 Essentials Ingredients for Indian Cooking

Indian cooking is vast and can be overwhelming for people from different cultural background. If you love Indian food and not sure where to start, I have listed just 10 Ingredients here, which you should keep to cook most Indian curries, dal and vegetables dishes. Most Westerners understanding of Indian food is curry, however not all dishes cooked in India are curries. Indians don’t eat beef due to their religious belief, however beef meat can be used to create most fusion dishes such as beef vindaloo. Indians love food preservation as refrigeration facilities in India aren’t available to everyone. I have personally seen most villagers in India use earthen clay pots to store and preserve food. Most food is kept dried and preserved, great examples are lentils, rice and variety of pickles. There are hundreds of ingredients to choose from, I have enlisted top 10 here, trust me as was very difficult to come up with this list



Cumin Seeds: Most dishes use cumin seeds or cumin powder for extra flavor, it goes well with raitas, dal soup and any other Indian recipes for seasoning

Chili Powder: Love hot and spicy food, make sure you add this to your pantry, Indian Chili powder is hotter than other variant available in markets. Make sure you use that in moderation to get use to taste first

Coriander powder: This spice is essential to make any masala base, purely made of coriander seeds

Turmeric: This spice is world known for its anti-inflammatory health benefits, add it to curries, rice, bhajis, veggies for color and flavor

Ginger and Garlic paste: Buy a combined ready-made paste and keep it in your fridge all times to Indian recipes or buy fresh if you prefer. Powder version of both ingredients is also available in super markets

Garam Masala: It is a spice blend widely used in Indian cuisine, from curries to dal soups. Garam masala is a multi-purpose spice and versatile in its uses

Basmati Rice: Known for its low GI index and long grains, full of flavor. Basmati rice is a perfect side dish with all Indian food, also used to make pilaf and biryani

Lentils/Beans: Keep variety of dal in your pantry, most popular are tuar (yellow), kali (black), laal (red) split dahl, rajma (red kidney beans), chhole (chick peas)

Whole Meal Atta (Flour): Staple ingredient in any Indian kitchen. Atta (flour) is used to make roti, naan, parathas, puri or any other Indian bread

Ghee: Melted over steamed hot curries, cooked rice or Indian breads such as roti or parantas. Ghee is loaded with essential fat-soluble vitamins D, K, E and A and reduce inflammation, good for skin and hair


10 Essential Ingredients for Japanese Cooking

One thing I love the most about Japanese food is its simplicity and purity. Japanese food emphasizes on using basic ingredients as it is and trains our palate to taste & accept food in its natural state. Mostly served in small quantities, it is not just food for the body but also for the soul. Most Japanese recipes are done using water which limits the use of oil in cooking. Steaming is the most commonly used way of cooking it helps to maintain nutrients level and keep it healthy. Quality is most important than quantity of the food and freshness is another key factor. I have enlisted 10 ingredients most of them are dried, however important base for cooking everyday Japanese food


Photo by Richard Iwaki


Medium grain rice: These days are sold as “Sushi Rice”, there are other types available at Asian super markets

Japanese soya sauce (Shoyu): Sweeter in taste as compared to Chinese soya sauce. Chinese soya sauce is made of 100% soya, however Japanese use 50/50 ratio of soya and wheat

Bonito Flakes (Katsuobushi): It is used in making dashi stock and use as a condiment in many foods such as tofu or blanched spinach

Dried Seaweed (Nori): You can buy dry seaweed and add hot water to make it softer when cooking soups or adding to dashi stock

Dried Shitake Mushrooms: They have more stronger flavor than fresh mushrooms, used in soups or Japanese curries

Sesame oil: Use in stir fry, cooking, frying, sauces and salad dressings

Wasabi Paste: Use as a condiment with Japanese food specially Shushi or Sashimi

Panko Bread Crumbs: Use to make tempuras prawns, veggies etc.

Miso Paste: White paste has versatile uses, there are different types available, easily available in super market

Noodles: Keep pack or 2 of Soba, Udon, Harusame, Somen noodles in your pantry



10 Essentials Ingredients for Thai Cooking

As compared to other countries in southeast Asia, Thailand’s staple food is Jasmine rice. Thailand’s main export revenue comes from exporting Jasmine rice to different countries across the globe. Thailand’s most dishes are served with rice, even most dessert dished served as rice. Once I visited Thailand and I was amazed and taken with the aroma of street food everywhere.

I have put together a list of ingredients for everyday Thai cooking which you may find helpful


Photo by Vernon Raineil


Jasmine Rice: As I mentioned earlier most Thai dishes are served with rice on side. Thai never cooks their rice with any seasoning as rice itself has great food aroma

Coconut milk or cream: Keep desiccated coconut in your pantry to make coconut milk from scratch or buy cans of ready-made coconut milk or cream

Green Curry paste: There are several recipes available on internet which will show you how to make green curry paste, however it will require to buy more fresh ingredients. Otherwise most Asian stores sell readymade paste and it last long if kept in the fridge. Thai Green curry with rice is one of the most popular recipes all around the world

Red Curry paste: Similar to green paste, this paste is used to make Thai red curry, soups, salad or noodles

Palm sugar: Essential to create Thai food recipes or desserts, it is quite similar to brown sugar and has earthy flavor. It comes in a round block or cubed in a tray, personally I find cubes are easier to use

Thai Sauces: Most commonly sauces are soya, fish and oyster

Thai Basil: Thai Basil are easier grow and plant lasts longer than Italian basil. It has distinctive taste as compared to Italian basil. I grew Thai basil from seeds and one plant lasted more than 8 months, and cost was next to nothing

Galangal: It looks like ginger and has red skin however ginger is not a substitute for galangal. If you cannot find fresh one, frozen galangal might be an option

Kaffir Lime leaves: Kaffir leaves have spiced-citrus flavor and they are used to lift flavor in Thai coconut-based curries or fish curries. These leaves are used widely in Thai, Cambodian and Indonesian cooking

Thai bird eye chili: Thai Bird Chili are omnipresent and very hot, be careful with the amount you put in your curries, they taste best when used fresh


10 Essential Ingredients for Chinese cooking

Everyday Chinese cooking is easy, most recipes shared on Internet or cooking books are fast and easy to cook, I don’t have any personal preference when it comes to setting up Chinese Kitchen staples, I have found a very useful article to read on SBS website which shows you most top 10 ingredients you must have in Chinese kitchen


Photo by Olivia Cocacicco


In addition to the ingredients listed in above mentioned article, there are other fresh ingredients which give flavor to any Chinese recipe- such as fresh ginger, garlic, fresh coriander and spring onions


I have found an interesting article for Chinese Kitchen Ingredients, please follow this link if you like to know more https://www.sbs.com.au/food/article/2018/08/23/10-Chinese-pantry-staples


Other related articles you may find useful:


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