Australia: Kangaroo Burger and Lamingtons

Ok, not gonna lie- this meal was a disaster. I mean, not totally… but mostly. From the beginning, I had a hard time deciding what to make- Australia is such a multicultural country, with significant British and Asian influences on their food, so it was really hard to find many dishes that were truly “Australian,” besides the indigenous bushfoods (fruits, vegetables and animals native to Australia), which are next to impossible to find in the US.

I finally landed on making kangaroo burgers, Vegemite and cheese “scrolls” and a dessert called laminations, which I actually tried while in Australia several years ago. Well rather than explaining each dish this time, I’m just going to describe the disasters for you…

Disaster #1: The Tale of the Missing Vegemite

The title pretty much sums it up… I ordered Vegemite on Amazon and it never came. Disappointing yes, but I wasn’t letting that stop me!I scratched that recipe from the meal plan and moved on!

(Edit: I did eventually get the Vegemite, about a month after ordering… it tasted just as disgusting as I remembered, but I was able to utilize it as a broth base and it actually turned out pretty good!)

Disaster #2: The Mystery of the Dry Burger

Not much of a mystery- the kangaroo burgers did NOT turn out well. I’ve actually had kangaroo meat before (as a steak) and really enjoyed it so I was excited to make these when I found ground kangaroo meat at my local meat market! I followed a recipe that added breadcrumbs and egg to the meat and unfortunately, I think this caused most of the burgers to fall apart on the grill. Because of this I left the intact burgers on the grill too long since I was afraid to flip them too early and have them fall apart as well. What we were left with were very overcooked burgers with an unappetizing flavor and texture.

I did add a slice of beet and some camembert cheese, which I think salvaged the burger enough to make it edible, but they were extremely disappointing. Everything I’ve read says that it’s very easy to overcook kangaroo meat, which makes it very dry and tough, so if I were to try this again I wouldn’t add the egg or breadcrumbs and would cook them rare to medium rare.

Disaster #3: The Dinner Party That Never Happened

Ok, so this last disaster may have actually ended up being a blessing since the dishes I was making were dropping like flies… I had planned to have a few friends over to try an exciting “exotic” meal and, wouldn’t you know it, about an hour before everyone was supposed to come over, we had a crazy windstorm come through and it took out our power! I had no idea when we’d regain power so I could finish cooking, so we had to cancel our party! Looking back though, I’m glad no one else had to taste the god-awful burgers hahaha!

One Bright Spot: Lamingtons

I obviously didn’t love much about this meal, but the one thing I did love was the Lamingtons! They’re small squares of pound cake dipped in chocolate and then coated in coconut and they are soooo good. Perfectly moist and almost (but not quite!) overly sweet, they were exactly how I remembered them when they were served during a waterfall tour I took in Australia in 2018. So, so delicious!