OK, we see a lot of soft licorice marketed here in the States as Aussie licorice. I like the stuff, so I grabbed a bag of Darrel Lea black today. Not quite is flavorful as some brands, but still very good, and the company claims to have invented this style of licorice in the 1920s.
So I have to ask, do real Australians really eat soft black "Aussie" licorice, or is this just more marketing aimed at naive Yanks?
Let me down easy lads. I think it was Bakes who broke the news to me that Foster's lager is "a fizzy drink for oiks" that no real Digger would think of drinking.

G'day Bill, my wife and her friends eat the soft licorice but I prefer Liquorice All Sorts. (Licorice, liquorice, just different spelling of the same thing). The All Sorts are just small cubes of liceorice that are layered with different flavours.

Whatever it is, it couldn't be worse than Dutch licorice, which has more in common with that other Aussie icon called Vegemite.

I lived in Canberra up until 18 months ago. Yes, you can buy a wide variety of Australian made licorice in Australia.

Do Australians eat it? Probably, it sells well enough to be on the shelves everywhere you go.

Kind of like the round red vines only softer and some of them have a bit more flavor.

Everyone in my family prefers it to the kinds available in America.

As for Fosters, the Canberra rifle club doesn't serve it. As it was the only place I ever publicly had a beer while in Australia, I would imagine that most Australians don't drink Fosters.

I drank Victoria Bitter primarily, and a bit of Sheafs Stout.

When I would buy beer for parties I usually bought lager, as just like America a lot of blokes drink lager.

Australians make a lot of jokes about American beer, and a lot of Americans drink primarily pilsner. But not all Australian beer is great stuff either.

We have a lot larger micro-brewery industry in America, and Australians have more of a local preference for certain kinds of beers. In that way it is similar to America in the 1970s. Where you couldn't get Coors Banquet beer back east.

Australians on the other hand have a much larger group of folks that brew their own beer. I knew tons of brewers in Australia.

Kind of like reloading. Aussies are the world champions of the reloading game. I never learned so much as my 3 years there about reloading. They are just about as tops at as can be.

They have a much greater concept of making due, because they have horrible supply channels compared to America.

Maybe that's where the home brewing and reloading comes from.

Bill - it used to be very popular with another, older generation of Australians. Not so much now. My generation would like it OK but not so popular with the kids. That's how I see it.

Like Fosters I guess that means its time to sell it to the rest of the world!!!

Love the stuff.
As a kid at a town of Buladelah the local IGA corner shop had a great verity.

G'Day Fella's,

Bill/Oregon, I reckon Daryl Lea brand Licorice, has to be one of if not The BEST of them all!

Mmmmmmmmmmm
Homer

IGA = Australia's most expensive grocery store.

When we would have VIP visitors to Australia and they would ask to be taken to the grocery store, IGA is always where I took them.

Thanks fellas. Sounds like the Darrel Lea is the real deal, not something cooked up by an advert agency. Still working on my jar of Vegemite. Tastes a little better each time.

Think of Vegemite as butter and not peanut butter and you'll have the right amount on your bread.

Some good options:

Grilled cheese with vegemite, cheddar and tomatos.

Vegemite on very sharp cheddar is good

Bacon and vegemite are good mates, especially under a bit of cheddar.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Thanks fellas. Sounds like the Darrel Lea is the real deal, not something cooked up by an advert agency. Still working on my jar of Vegemite. Tastes a little better each time.

Careful with that stuff Bill - it will make you talk funny!!

the brand we see here is the one with the really hot looking woman on the back of the bag, and two even hotter daughters...

if you layer the Vegemite on so you can see the butter through it you are probable about right . If you apply it like jam you definately have it wrong.

A thin smear is all you need , although a healthy spoonful into a stew or casserole make a world of differance.

G'Day Fella's,

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Thanks fellas. Sounds like the Darrel Lea is the real deal, not something cooked up by an advert agency. Still working on my jar of Vegemite. Tastes a little better each time.

Happy to be of some help Bill!
Yes, Vegemite requires and Acquired Taste but it is supposed to be good for you......?

Regards
Homer

No Muzza, you lay the butter on thick as and do the same with the vegemite. My favourite is the tinned cheese, crackers and vegemite out of our ration packs. Its my favourite snack out bush.

Getting back to licorice, it is traditionally the junk end of confectionery, where all the scraps are combined and drowned in aniseed. But some of us like it (and various liqueurs that taste like it) and it apparently helps with constipation.

I like a heavy layer of the vege too , Bakes , but if you are new to it the thinner the better , eh ;-)

Sambarman: I like licorice flavors, too, from Greek Ouzo to fennel.
Bakes, the idea of cheese and Vegemite has come up a couple of times here. Will give it a go.
Update: Spread some Vegemite on a chunk of our Oregon Tillamook cheddar and, lacking suitable crackers, sandwiched it between a couple of potato chips. Very, very good!

G'Day Fella's,

Bill, it looks like you have become an Honorary Aussie!
Welcome on board Mate!!!

Regards
Homer

Another convert to 'Salty axle grease'

I have definitely gotten to the point where I get a real jones for that unduplicated flavor and simply must have some -- not yet on a daily basis, but getting there. I have been addicted to that American staple peanut butter since childhood, and am sorry I met Vegemite so late in life.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Sambarman: I like licorice flavors, too, from Greek Ouzo to fennel.
Bakes, the idea of cheese and Vegemite has come up a couple of times here. Will give it a go.
Update: Spread some Vegemite on a chunk of our Oregon Tillamook cheddar and, lacking suitable crackers, sandwiched it between a couple of potato chips. Very, very good!

Oh my gosh, I suppose it takes all types. I cannot but think of a waste of cheddar?

Scriptus, my friend, you're going to have to learn to eat this stuff if you want to fit in in your new home!

You mean another Afrikaaner is moving to Australia? I had never heard of that before.

The church we attended in Canberra was about 90% Afrikaaners.

A lot of them had moved over from Perth.

None of them were hunters.

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
You mean another Afrikaaner is moving to Australia? I had never heard of that before.

The church we attended in Canberra was about 90% Afrikaaners.

A lot of them had moved over from Perth.

None of them were hunters.

Well Cantberra is the home of our politicians and those who brown nose to or suck from them. a beautiful place spoiled by the pollies

It isn't that bad, the Australian Rifle Club folks were all retired mils, civil servants who worked for a gov agency or tradie-buider types.

I miss the place dearly, truth be told.

We had a nice place to hunt sambar, had friends with roo tags, and the fishing wasn't bad.

SSAA and NRA ranges were wonderful, best ranges I have ever belonged to and I have lived on 4 continents and belonged to 20 ranges in my life.

I had a key to the SSAA range and we used to shoot it at 5AM before work. Wonderful place.

Of course there are lots of politicians and crack heads, I just didn't run in those circles.

quote:

Originally posted by HomerOz:
G'Day Fella's,

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
Thanks fellas. Sounds like the Darrel Lea is the real deal, not something cooked up by an advert agency. Still working on my jar of Vegemite. Tastes a little better each time.

Happy to be of some help Bill!
Yes, Vegemite requires and Acquired Taste but it is supposed to be good for you......?

Regards
Homer

Not Vegemite, but the related product Marmite (or was it Bovril?)

Sorry to be so imprecise, my Dad had a friend many years ago who was captured by the Japanese in the fall of Singapore. The conditions they were held in were rather unpleasant, and the food did not contain 5 veg and 2 fruit per day ....

As a result many of the POWs were getting deficiency diseases like Beri Beri, rickets, scurvy.

Some POWs were detailed to work on the docks, where there were warehouses full of this stuff (Marmite or Bovril - I wish I could remember). They were given instructions by the doctors (POWs as well) to steal it.

Apparently one teaspoon a day for a week would clear up rickets or Beri-beri very satisfactorily.

So no reason Vegemite wouldn't do the same.

Sorry to be so vague - it was over 50 years ago I heard the stories.

G'Day Fella's,

Bren, sorry I can't be of any assistance in the Marmite-Bovril subject but you are doing pretty well to remember that much! 50 years, is a bloody long time ago!!!

Pleased also, to have you confirm to me that Vegie is probably Good for me!

Lol
Homer

The best Australian licorice comes from New Zealand. But most dumbshit americans wouldn't know the difference as the shit they eat is mainly plastic..red vines etc.

Hokkaido, you're selling some of us Yanks short. While I do relish a go at a tub of really fresh Red Vines now and then, I don't consider it real licorice. When a lad, the real deal -- black licorice -- sold for two for a penny, and if that wasn't good enough, you could pop for medicinal licorice, strong and unsweetened.
By the way, I did not know of this risk:

http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumer...pdates/ucm277152.htm

I used to bring Darrel Lee home by the case when I first started going to New Zealand as all the women in our family love it. Now we just order it off the internet or pick it up at the grocery store.

Well, I am one happy Jose after finding out there is a small ice cream company in Portland that will custom make me a 1.5 gallon batch of black licorice ice cream for just $22 ...

quote:

Originally posted by HomerOz:
G'Day Fella's,

Bren, sorry I can't be of any assistance in the Marmite-Bovril subject but you are doing pretty well to remember that much! 50 years, is a bloody long time ago!!!

Pleased also, to have you confirm to me that Vegie is probably Good for me!

Lol
Homer

If you had any idea how much I've drunk in my life, especially after my brother died, you'd be amazed I could even tie my shoelaces ....

Bill, flick me your address and I'll get the finest licorice made in Australia to you.