la.foodblogging

A vibrant and familiar iconic symbol caught my eye at Gelsons, yesterday. It was a golden flying kangaroo inside a green triangle = Aussies! Turns out there were some new Aussie products to sample and I was feeling peckish.

Here’s a bit of background:

Many of you dear readers will already know that A.O.C. is not just Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne’s chic and fantastic little “small platesâ€? wine bar on Third St (in WeHo); it also stands for Appellation d’origine contrôlée.

A.O.C. is the French government’s stamp of authenticity granted to certain French products, such as wines, cheeses, butters and other agricultural products, to indicate their genuine geographical origins. Hence, no one can call their sparkling wine a ‘Champagne’ unless it is actually from the Champagne region of France. Instead, many wineries use the term “méthod champenoise.� Also European law dictates that unless your cheese was aged in the natural Cambalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, your blue cheese is not a Roquefort.

And so on.

Spain has a similar rating of authenticity, as does Italy.

Well, I am pleased to report that Australia has recently come out with their own version, called “Australian Made™� which is signified by the national colours of a gum tree-green triangle with a wattle-gold flying kangaroo within. Only authorized products may carry this logo and must meet a number of stringent guidelines to qualify for this privilege.

This official stamp of quality has been granted to various delicacies, such as macadamia nuts (product of a native tree indigenous to Australia); low-mercury tuna from local waters; premium varieties of honey; muesli and oils etc etc

Now a select range of some of these fine products can be found at boutique supermarkets in LA such as Gelsons and Bristol Farms, as I discovered when I stumbled upon a tasting booth at my local Gelsons (NoHo) yesterday.

Okay, I am an Aussie, so I’m definitely biased. But these are truly wonderful and high quality products.

I instantly fell in love with G’Day Gourmet’s range of South Pacific Skipjack Tuna, in various appetising flavours. I found out it is naturally low in mercury and that the tuna is harvested using sustainable, ocean-friendly practices. Good to know!

A couple of cool things about the design; these cans stack nicely in your pantry (I bought a handful) and they’ve placed the ring-pull opening on the underside of the can so that it doesn’t interfere with the information on the top of the can. In fact, it states there is an “easy open lid Down Under.�

I just thought that was so ingenious!

These tiny tins of tuna are surprisingly voluminous. My SO and I shared a tin’s worth as snack on the crackerthins. I can easily see myself consuming a whole tin of this tasty tuna for a nice Atkins-friendly (meaning protein-packed) lunch.

Gelsons currently has them on sale – three tins for $6.00.

The all-natural tunas come in various flavours, including Tomato Onion, Tomato Salsa, Mild Indian Curry (which I sampled – that one was really delicious), Lemon Pepper (not sure if I’d like that one) and so on.

Valley Produce Company’s Crackerthins (which are wafer-thin water crackers) were the perfect accompaniment to this tuna; light, thin and crispy. But I noticed the cracker got a bit soggy after I took the photos, so it’s probably best not to prepare these in advance. Just pile the tuna onto the cracker when you’re ready to scarf it down. Two flavours – plain and cracked black pepper.

Other new Aussie foods now available in LA include –

Valley Produce Company’s award-winning Fruit Pyramids made from dried fruit, nuts and honey which are ideal to serve with cheese

Brookfarm’s Toasted Macadamia Muesli, featuring local flavors such as unprocessed bush honey, macadamia nut oil, Barossa Valley currants and Murrumbidgee apricots.

Brookfarm’s oven roasted Macadamias, in three flavours; natural with sea salt, Kashmiri chili and bush pepper spice and sea salt with lemon myrtle.

Beechworth Pure Australian Honey, with distinct rich and earthy flavors. This high-quality honey is made from the blossom of century-old eucalyptus trees back home. *sigh*

Gelsons are staging in-store demonstrations all this month at almost all of their stores across LA, so watch out for a table and a smiling woman offering you a tasty sample.

You will not be disappointed.

By MaxMillion (see more of her posts). Max Million is the nom de 'net of Pauline Adamek. Born in Sydney, Australia, Pauline has lived in Los Angeles for the past ten years and finds it agrees with her. She has been reviewing films and filing celebrity-based interview articles since 1991, and has filed stories from various international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. She is completing a family cookbook and also writes novels for 8-12 year olds.