[kiri]

hi,
i am currently doing an assignment on fusion cooking. i understand that it's a natural thing as long as people migrate and take their food with them, but i have a few questions to ask.

1) why is fusion cooking so popular in australian restaurants, and do people really care that what they are eating originated from somewhere like france?

2) international foods seem to be used a lot more than native australian things such as kangaroo. is this because people don't like the idea of eating australian animals because of a moral reason, or because international food is more appealing?

3) is it cheaper to buy international food or australian food? does kangaroo or emu cost more than more 'ordinary' meat?

thanks heaps for information you could supply

[pastry--chef]

hey there kiri good topic you have there I am actually from new zealand but worked in Sydney at the Sydney Opera House where we certainly had a diverse group of Chefs we had chinese,swiss- french, austrian ,french,english australians and kiwis now if you get alll these nationalities into a group of four kitchens you are going to get some very interesting fusion cooking, so thats where i think they get the ideas, australia is a huge mixing pot of cultures with excellent produce supplys, you just have to stay in a north sydney suburb to see all the restaurants that survive so close to each other thai,italian, greek, cantonese, vietnamese, australian brasserie. Australians are spoilt fo choice and i think are not scared to try new ideas and ingredients. Sure wombat and koala dont reguarly feature on inner city menus but i do remember emu and kangaroo being on it for special occasions mainly canapes etc... I love australian cooking all that fresh produce and open minds there believe me, cooking in a resort in the canadian rockies can really limit what you serve because of seasonal fruits etc..(we buy our strawberrys from new zealand sometimes how far away is that).
thanx for the topic
P.C

the proof is in the pudding http://communities.msn.co.nz/Michael...ypage/pictures

[Pinarello]

I worked in New zealand for a year and then in Australia for 4 months.
I think fusion was a big hit inlots of western countries, its a fad or a trend and the name will give way to something else in a few years. If I new what it was though I would be rich!