A taste of local culture

Boy, do I feel Australian these last couple of days.

After a fairly uninteresting and uninspiring couple of weeks spent mostly working and saving money (you'll notice I haven't written much lately on the blog), I turned up to weekly Tuesday job at the Wine and Food Society of New South Wales. The society is a bit like a secret society in that you'd never know it existed unless you were a member or, as the case may be, a waiter who serves its members. It's definitely been one of my most interesting jobs so far. The club has been around since 1939, meeting every Tuesday for a celebration of food and drink in a heritage house just next to Sydney's Harbour Bridge. Membership is only open to men so it's a bit of an "old boys' club" and I mean that literally as the average age of the members must be 60.

Perhaps the best part of the job is that I, as a waiter, get to sample a bit of the wine and eat the same meal as the members once I'm done serving. This is a huge bonus on a backpacker's budget. So far the food has been very tasty but mostly predictable (roasts, stews and the like). Well, yesterday I was in for a surprise as the day's featured entree was none other than kangaroo. At first I thought the chefs were pulling my leg when I asked what the meat was. Oh, how gullible they think we travellers are! But, in fact, they were quite serious about the matter.

So how did it taste? A lot like beef, to tell the truth. So much so that if they had told me it was roast beef I would have believed them. Still, it was an experience and I felt slightly squeamish the first couple of bites. Is it wrong that I've now eaten kangaroo but have not yet seen one in Australia? The ironies of life.

I have more to say on Anzac Day (a public holiday held today) but have run out of time. I'll save that for tomorrow's entry.