Target + Australian Food

I bought two tank tops at Target five years ago and wear them constantly. Alone in the summer, and under sweaters or hoodies in the winter. They're still holding up, but had lost most of their color and elasticity by last summer, so I relegated them to wear during gardening, yoga, and hanging around the house. When I saw Target had tank tops on sale last week, that was the push I needed to buy a few new ones.

Rather than drive to Target and then the grocery store, we decided to just bring a cooler and do our food shopping at Target too. Once we started wandering the food aisles (we rarely shop there and were pretty lost) we saw a bunch of items that advertised "Made in Australia." It seems Target is featuring Australian flavors. (Or maybe this is typical and it's just that I visit too infrequently to notice?)

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Chocolate plus licorice is a strange combination to me, but the Aussie pie reminds of what we'd call a pot pie in the US. Both were yummy :)

Would you try either of these? I'd love to hear thoughts on how authentic this selection is if you live in Australia. :)



linking up with wordless Wednesday

Comments

  1. Those pies look really good - must check if our local Target carries them!

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    1. They were good! Perfect for a late night when I wanted dinner to be ready in 3 minutes :)

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    2. Wow! That's actually really cool that they're done in 3 minutes. Some of the American frozen pot pies take FUH-RE-VER to cook! :-) Nom nom.

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    3. Yep, 3 minutes! That's in the microwave of course, not the oven.

      Yeah, I mistakenly bought a frozen meal for my hubby that had to cook for 8 minutes! He felt awful hogging the break room microwave while everyone stood around and waited. Awkward!

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  2. Ha! Well... I personally wouldn't be caught dead with either, but not because they're Australian or because I lack a sense of adventure where food is concerned. I just happen to think that licorice is the most foul flavor on the face of the planet - right up there with wasabi mustard. To be honest the flavor sort of reminds me of vomit, and I literally cannot understand why anyone would voluntarily consume it. I can only assume that it must taste different to other people! Oh wait... I just saw that it's strawberry licorice, I assumed it was black licorice - hmmm... now that's a different story. I still wouldn't bring it home though because if I liked it I'd probably eat the entire bag and no good can come from that!

    And as for the pot pie, it actually looks delicious, but alas, food allergies prevent me from trying most pre-packaged foods because they often contain "mystery ingredients" and if it's curry flavored there's a significant possibility that it contains coriander, to which I am deathly allergic. Sigh.

    Glad you enjoyed them though! :-) And to illustrate how American-centric I am, it would never even occur to me that "Australian Cuisine" was a "thing"! Not sure what that says about me...

    p.s. I'm totally with you on the tank tops. I wear mine year round!

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    1. No, I totally agree about the black licorice - the flavor is very strong for me (and not in a good way!).

      That's a shame about the mystery ingredients . . I don't have the package any longer, but I'm pretty sure it just said "spices" rather than list them out specifically :(

      Well, I'm hesitant to say either of these is Australian cuisine . . plus I don't really think of Australians as eating that differently than we do (that might be way off too!).

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    2. I think our differences are minor. Eg, I think we eat more lamb than Americans. Obviously more than you, as a vegetarian. Our normal everyday cheddar cheese is different. I had an American cousin visit and his child loved our cheese. I think some of other differences are to do with what we call courses and how we serve dishes, eg salad with a main meal.

      I had a German visitor who stayed recently and she had never had a fresh passionfruit. When I was growing up, people always had a passionfruit vine in their backyard. It's a real Aussie flavour, and is put on pavlova.

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    3. You're right - lamb is rare here. I'd never heard of eating lamb until hubby and I went to a fancy restaurant in NYC, and I was probably 22 or 23 at the time.

      I've never had passionfruit or pavlova! I'd love to grow more fruit in my backyard though - something like an apple tree or blueberry bush.

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  3. Amanda - that's a classic! That pie is NOTHING like an Aussie meat pie! It's full of veggies for a start - Aussie meat pies are an atrocious thing largely made up of ground-up off cuts of meat. Many who eat them are almost perversely proud of their lack of nutritional value. And they don't have that cute, "home-made" crimped pie-edge. They're kind of a tradesman's pie not a homely thing.

    I love it that they're marketing the food as Australian! Sort of a compliment if they think it will sell!

    As for licorice...love it but I've always thought it's of US or UK origins. Will have to look it up!

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    1. Ahh, okay. Thanks for the info! I guess the marketers want us to think Australians moms are lovingly making these pies? haha

      I think they'll definitely sell - they're yummy and cook quickly. Most Americans love it when things are fast :)

      This is what we consider "UK" licorice around here, compared to American licorice (very sweet - and rarely the black kind).

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    2. If you google Darrell lea original soft eating liquorice you'll get one of our best selling liquorices. It's divine. I don't class the strawberry one as liquorice. We have the liquorice allsorts, your UK type, but I don't enjoy them as much.

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    3. It seems Darrell Lea sells licorice lots of places in the US! I probably haven't noticed because I don't eat the traditional black licorice (the flavor is too strong for me).

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  4. Now I'm going to have to write a post on the institution that is the Aussie Meat Pie. Loved seeing this - thank you!

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  5. Sorry for a triple-comment! Just realised that you would have bought the vegetarian version of the pie. Even so...here, the curry and vegetable versions have drastically less actual veggies. That pie is much healthier than our equivalent!

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    1. No worries! I love comments :)

      Yep, I bought this version because I'm vegetarian. They also had steak & potato, chicken & mushroom, and a bacon & egg "brekky" pie. Those pies probably had a lot less veggies (and the breakfast one probably had none).

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  6. Hahahaha I see that the other Aussies have weighed in. The brand of the liquorice has sorta gone through a recession/downsizing, so perhaps that's why target got it's excess? But not typically 'aussie' food.

    Pies, however are, but as other's have said, more as a snack for blue collar workers, or for a b'fast! Yes, weird, and often with a chilled chocolate milk in a plastic bottle. Sold at a servo (gas station). With no veggies, save for occasionally Steak and Mushroom. Usually (also) impossible to eat on the go for the meat oozes out. We have a pie chain, called Pie Face, and some comedians make jokes that there are so many of them you get lost... some pies have happy faces, others sad, it's quite... quirky?

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    1. Opps, sorry Sarah. Wrote my comment below before I read your comment all way through and missed you already mentioned Pie Face.

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    2. That's cool - I love to eat leftovers for breakfast (especially on cold winter mornings), so a pie would be a good option for me. They had one "brekky pie" - bacon & egg. Gas stations around here often serve soft pretzels and hot dogs as to-go foods, not pot pies. Pot pies are a dinner meal in the US.

      Pie Face - oh my. With a name like that, I'm not surprised comedians poke fun.

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  7. I love soft liquorice. But hate chocolate and liquorice together. Mr Sans loves it. One of his favourite lollies are called bullets. Little choc coated hard liquorice. He knows if he buys them they are safe from me, even if there are no other sweets in the house. But soft liquorice! Oh, it is so yummy. (And lollies are what we call sweets.)

    As to the pie, others have said it above. I'll add there is a pie shop franchise here called "Pie Face". Every time I go to the airport I buy a tandori vegetable pie. Delicious! But you can't see big bits of vegies, except for carrots and sweet potato.. And it is more thickened sauce than vegetables.

    I know my fellow Aussies can regal you with stories of eating a meat pie at the footy or at school. Balancing the pie on your lap. Do you peel the pastry top off and then scoop the insides out? Or do you bite straight into the side? Either way you will burn your mouth on the stuff inside. (This was before Seinfeld and health and safety controls. They're not so hot anymore.)

    We have American cuisine in some of our supermarkets. I've never bought any because it looks too sweet (says she of sugar addiction!) and artificial. Next time I'm there, I'll take a photo and note the foods. And you can laugh at our marketers!

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    1. I really enjoy soft licorice as well. Don't think I've ever seen hard licorice though . . ?

      American pot pies usually have a decent amount of gravy with the meat/veggie filling. This one was way too hot for me to hold in my hands, let alone take a bite out of the side. So I cut it open and ate it with my fork. Not very cool, but I then could get veggies and pastry in every bite. :)

      Ooh, yes, I'd love to see what they market to you as American!

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