Uniquely South Australia - Pt. 1

 

Spending time with native South Australian friends lately has been great for discovering things about South Australia we wouldn't usually find out from our Lonely Planet. Here's a list of some things that are uniquely South Australian ...

Australians have nicknames for Aussies from different states, not unlike the USA. South Australians are known as croweaters, derived from the fact that early colonists ate crows due to poverty and lack of food when the free-settled colony of South Australia was first established in 1836. It's non-derogatory and in fact, one of their football teams is called the Croweaters or simply the Crows.

Bung Fritz – aka Devon sausage in other Australian states, although South Australian bung fritz purists would debate this issue. Typical commercial preparations list the major ingredient as "meat including pork". It is usually composed of several types of pork, basic spices, and a binder. Think a cross between Spam and baloney – Wow! There's even a Bung Fritz Appreciation Society that boasts “no lips and no arseholes.”

The Frog Cake is a sponge cake dessert in the shape of a frog's head originally covered with green fondant icing and two little black dots for eyes. It now comes in a host of colors. It was created by the Balfours bakery in 1922, and became a popular treat in South Australia. The frog cake is considered "uniquely South Australian" and in 2001 it was listed as a South Australian Heritage Icon by the National Trust of South Australia.

The Kitchener Bun is another South Australian sweet dessert which resembles a jelly doughnut, split in half, topped with a chantilly cream and dusted with sugar. Yum! These South Aussies know their sweet treats.

Farmer's Union Iced Coffee outsells Coke in South Australia. Even McDonald's sells it. South Australians consume 36 million litres/year making it the only place in the world where a milk drink outsells cola. The product was traditionally sold in cardboard containers and when they introduced it in a plastic “stubby” bottle, they had fun with their advertising. We tried it … definitely better than Coke.

Pie floaters – A true epicurean delight and available on many menus in South Australia. Take a meat pie, set it afloat in thick, green pea soup and squeeze a mighty squirt of tomato catsup on the top and you've got a pie floater. We're told it's good for a hangover. Makes you want to give up drinking, I'd say. The Enjoy Bakery offers them 24 hours!

Stay tuned for Part 2 and more Uniquely SA tomorrow.