How to make traditional Aussie -dimmer (2024)

FAQs

What are Australian meat pies made of? ›

In Australia and New Zealand, a meat pie is a hand-sized pie containing diced or minced meat and gravy, sometimes with onion, mushrooms, or cheese and is often consumed as a takeaway food snack.

Because the Aussie meat pie is ingrained in the lifestyle, it's smaller than British variations – making them a perfect snack at the footy, community events, road trips, and backyard parties. They're often dubbed 'pocket warmers' for this very reason.

Damper, also known as bush bread or seedcake, is a European term that refers to bread made by Australian Aborigines for many thousands of years. Damper is made by crushing a variety of native seeds, and sometimes nuts and roots, into a dough and then baking the dough in the coals of a fire.

Breads like damper and soda bread can be healthier alternatives to plain white bread.

Roast lamb has been declared Australia's national dish in a major poll that shows we're still a country of meat eaters at heart. The poll, held on News Ltd websites across all mainland capitals, attracted more than 24,000 votes.

A sausage roll is a savoury dish, popular in current and former Commonwealth nations, consisting of sausage meat wrapped in puff pastry. Although variations are known throughout Europe and in other regions, the sausage roll is most closely associated with British cuisine.

When compared with its major export partners, Australia's meat consumption closely matches the United States (Figure 2). In both countries poultry is the most consumed meat at over 40 kg per person. Beef and veal and pig meat each account for between 20 and 30 kg per person.

Lamb is very popular in Australia, with roasting cuts (legs and shoulders), chops, and shanks being the most common cuts. Lamb will often form part of either a Sunday roast or a barbecue.

Most Australian cattle are raised exclusively on pasture. Grassfed beef tends to vary in flavour, texture and tenderness due to Australia's considerable differences in cattle breeds, pasture quality and type, soil conditions, topography and climate.

Why do you put cornstarch in pie filling? ›

Cornstarch has thickening power similar to Instant ClearJel. Like flour, it lends a cloudy, semi-transparent look to filling. It can also give filling a starchy taste. For full effectiveness, make sure the pie filling is bubbling up through the crust before removing your pie from the oven.

The best suggestions start with overworking the dough, too little fat and/or too much moisture. Also, since you wrote thick, that suggests not rolling thin enough. Chewy will follow thick in a poorly made pie dough. Pie dough is one of those pastrys which flummoxes many cooks.

Firstly, it's best for the filling to be fridge cold to ensure the meat pie base doesn't go soggy. Secondly, as with all stews, the filling is even better the next day! Don't reduce the sauce too much. Some liquid evaporates while the filling is cooling and liquid gets absorbed by the pie crust.

Pour bark into a food processor and grind into a coarse salt consistency. Using a mortar and pestle grind the cooled bark into a fine salt consistency. Sift the flour to remove larger pieces. Repeat as necessary.

The more gluten, the more elastic, stretchy and strong the dough will be. Mixing gluten and water results in a dough that almost feels like rubber.

Xanthan gum, a fine powder that comes from the coating of xanthom*onas campestris bacteria, is a gluten-free baking ingredient that mimics the effects of gluten by binding ingredients together and providing moisture and structure. Xanthan Gum adds thickness and viscosity to gluten-free breads and other baked goods.