Friday Food Challenge #amblogging #amtraveling Australia trip #5
Australian Food Journey
The term breakfast originated from the Middle English words break and fast. For those of you who rarely fast never heard fasting, it is a noun or a verb, not an adjective to describe a guy in a bar or how one drives a Lamborghini on the German Autobahn. To fast means to go without eating. A fast means a period of time without eating.
Yikes! This is a foodie channel! Fasting is not an alternative!
Actually, the Middle English decided in the 15th century that everyone fasted while they sleep. They did not know about the American’s love of refrigerator raiding in the middle of the night.
Assume you awoke starving after your fast. You would not go hunt and kill a possum or a rabbit, cook it for hours to make it tender, and have rabbit stew for breakfast, would you?
No, you want something quick and fresh.
Breakfasts have changed over time and places. I would not be a fan of eating locusts and butter spread on unleavened bread as the Arabs did according to a book published in 1843. The Austrians loved their croissants. I love those especially with scrambled eggs, cheese, and Canadian bacon inside. I’m not fussed on Australian Vegemite on toast and butter. Don’t ever let and Aussie offer you a spoonful of it!
But consider pavlova for breakfast. It has the essential food groups. Eggs for protein, cream or milk for more protein, fruit for energy, and of course, sugar for energy. You can get your grains anywhere.
I watched Carol, and it’s easy to make.
Carol’s Pavlova
Before you start preheat your oven to 350 F (180 C). You will turn it down when you start baking.
Ingredients: Egg whites, cornflour and vinegar and sugar.
- 4 egg whites
- 1 and 1/2 C caster sugar (This is a very finely granulated sugar.)
- 1 tsp cornflour (cornstarch in the USA)
- 1 tsp vinegar
Separate 1/4 cup of sugar and mix together with cornflour. Beat egg whites while adding 1 and 1/4 C sugar gradually. Beat until the sugar has completely dissolved and is no longer grainy. Fold the cornflour-sugar mixture into the egg mixture and gradually fold in vinegar.
Spread pavlova on a tray with baking paper. Bake at 200 degrees F (100 degrees C ) for 1 and a half hours. Turn the oven off and leave pavlova in the oven until the oven is cold.
Put whatever fruit on pavlova you like. You can sweeten the whipped cream which covers the breakfast delight or not. Carol’s niece, Kate, prefers to sweeten the whipped cream. Carol prefers to leave the cream unsweetened. They are both teachers, so it made for quite a discussion. Which would you prefer?
I argued that unsweetened cream was like butter. Carol disagreed. I had never tried unsweetened cream, so I lost the argument before it started.
I tried pavlova both ways. I admit to a little hesitancy about unsweetened cream but Carol’s pavlova is VERY sweet. It needed no extra sugar.
Carol had one more card in her favor for those of you who enjoy a good bet. She made quiche with the leftover cream for dinner.
That’s another story. I love quiche, so I’ll vote with unsweetened if you mix the whipping cream yourself. For lazy folks like me, a can of whipping cream will do.
Carol was not fussed with the idea of Cool Whip. (See how I’m picking up a bit of Aussie vocabulary? I wish I could get Carol to record this post for you, but she does not like to be recorded. Bummer!)
“Have you read what the ingredients are? Cream is much better than Cool Whip!”
I’m warning you right now, you don’t need to argue with Carol about the benefits of Cool Whip.
I’m sure I have made my case for eating pavlova for breakfast. One more convincing argument is that pavlova keeps very well in the refrigerator in an airtight container. As it ages overnight it develops a bit of a gooey sauce of its own on the bottom which makes it even better.
Carol served naked pavlova and let us put the fruit and cream on that we liked. I’m not showing you how much cream and how many peaches and banana slices I used.
What’s your favorite non-traditional breakfast delight?
For more food head over to Yvette’s Friday Food Challenge.
More About Australia
- Melbourne’s Walk in the Park Tour: Treasury Gardens AT#2
- Fun Flying from Melbourne to Toowoomba AT#3
- Finding new places and catching up Leanne Cole
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