I believe that a place isn't really "it" until it it has a cult food attached to it. The best example of my theory is (arguably) the best city there is - New York. NYC makes me think of bagels for breakfast, Magnolia bakery cupcakes or - tending towards the obvious - a (big) apple. Admittedly, not every association is as pleasant as a tub of chocolate-peanut butter flavoured whipped air from Tasti D Lite. New York is also home to slices of pastry topped with tortured (or torched?) cheese which is (misleadingly) referred to as pizza. Budding chefs can also garnish their culinary delights with a spray of orange cheese-in-a-can. And don't even get me started on signature cocktails... cosmopolitan anyone?
Applying this theory to Australia is more interesting (and challenging). In Canberra for example, Milk & Honey has got confused and has started serving Sydney mud cake. Unfortunately this doesn't have the same ring to it as a slice of New York mud cake [although I suspect that fat content is similar - only one country beats the good 'ol US of A in terms of obesity levels. I give you three guesses].
Australia as a whole has several signature dishes - think lamingtons, pavlova (if we can steal Russell Crowe we can steal pavlova from the Kiwis) or the quintessential prawn on the barbie. But Sydney, Melbourne (or even Canberra?) won't have really made it until own a bit of grub for ourselves. Perhaps Max Brenner will be the first - having recently moved from Australia to New York?
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