Delicatessens

It’s hard to imagine that until the 1980s most Australians experienced foreign food in the form of lemon chicken or beef with black bean sauce once a month in a restaurant; or, if mum was adventurous, spaghetti bolognese at home. Now, every supermarket has a dedicated delicatessen section and it’s no longer considered peculiar to make foods from around the world part of your everyday fare.

‘Delicatessen’ translates to ‘fine foods’ and at first these were homemade delicacies. Of course, given its German roots, we are talking about food such as cured sausages and cheeses that Europeans traditionally made, often foods that kept well so they could be consumed in winter. As a result, delicatessens sell food that is costly and time-consuming to prepare, such as aged and specialist cheeses, sausages, cured ham, blood sausages and other cold cuts. Often they also sell pre-cooked or ready to eat foods such as spare ribs, cold salads, pickled vegetables, dips, breads and olives.

In Australia, where there are people of many different nationality backgrounds, predominantly German, Italian and Greek foods can be found under the ‘deli’ cabinets. Honey and almond sweets and goats cheese will be sold at a Greek deli, while a German store might sell sauerkraut and black puddings; Italian delicatessens may have specially imported pasta sauces or fragrant olive oils, plus biscuits and coffee.

We are fortunate to live in a country where all kinds of foods are supplied on an authentic basis. And once you get a passion for an exotic delicatessen food, it’s very hard to not visit the counter the next time you’re out shopping for ‘basics’!