So interesting Mick, that some Aussies go abroad and quite happily gorge and yet without knowing they have access to such and right at home.
I grew up two hours south, by car, from Montreal, Canada (in The People's Republic of Vermont) and last year was chatting with my doctor about her vacation in Montreal, where she enjoyed eating Putine. (The french fries with cheese curd, smoked brisket bits with gravy often ladled over it too, sometimes duck fat, and various "versions" of this rustic dish).
My brother, also a foodie albeit very passionate about pork, VERY heavy rustic fare, (versus my penchant and preference for exotic, HEALTHFUL, and minimalistically arranged food) appreciates hearing of such things, and so I wrote him, and told him I had learned about a dish he may enjoy that was called "Putine."
Next came him asking how in the hell I could have grown up so close to the Canadian border, dined so many times in Canada therefore as well; and never experienced Putine???? Oh dear.
And so, much like your Aussies, sometimes, we know not, of what's right before us.
Cheers to discovering such though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Leah
