Edited from Perth Now, January 25, 2010

The comment from the Masterchef finalist, who will be seen next month in her own cooking show on ABC-TV, came as chefs, politicians and celebrities argued that our national dish was everything from a sausage in bread to pavlova.

Masterchef judge Matt Preston didn’t nominate a dish but said a barbecue  was “how we express our Australianness”.

“Friends from a range of cultures can get together around the same flame and share their cultural heritage.”

While Poh acknowledged that a barbecue was “the perfect reflection of our climate and very laid back way of life”, she said salt and pepper squid had been adopted with “zeal” in restaurants and cafes.

“It’s
a classic example of Australian’s eating lighter and with Asian
flavours filtering into mainstream dining. Served with a salad, it’s
become a more diminutive replacement for fish and chips and a meal that
is perfect for al fresco dining or being by the beach, which is also
very Aussie.”

A recent Galaxy poll in News Limited papers
revealed that 37 per cent of people believed a meat pie was our
national dish, followed by roast lamb with 28 per cent.



It’s a result that the former TV chef and director of the Tasting Australia festival Ian Parmenter found hard to stomach.



He said that while many people claimed the meat pie was our national dish, “I grew up on them in the UK”.

“If you were to take a beef pie overseas and use it to represent your nation, people would probably laugh,” he said.



“As
someone who's come here from the United Kingdom, pavlova and lamingtons
are the two things that hit me as being uniquely from here.



“But in terms of a dish that says ‘We are Australian’ I don't think we have one.”



Chef and author Maggie Beer said roast lamb was no longer a dish suitable to our climate and lifestyle.



“I would have a roast leg of lamb once every two years,” she said. “That’s our English heritage that would bring that forward.”



She
said each state or region should have its own signature dish. “I think
here in South Australia it should be a beautiful salad of blue swimmer
crab. Something that is peculiar to us.”



The Treasurer Wayne Swan also nominated a dish that was close to home.



“In Queensland you can't go past some seafood on the barbie and a XXXX to quench the thirst,” he said.



“It's
a reflection of our outdoors lifestyle, gathering with family and
friends and enjoying the warm weather and the ready availability of
fresh fish, prawns and oysters. But I have noticed that the salad on
the side is now a bit more sophisticated than it used to be. The old
iceberg lettuce struggles to get a look in these days.”



Masterchef
celebrity winner, swimmer Eamon Sullivan, wants to promote the pavlova
to prevent it being overtaken by some culinary imports.



“I think
the English national dish is something like Butter Chicken (Indian) or something
so hopefully it doesn’t get to that. I think maybe it is time for a
Pavlova revival.”



Fellow swimmer and dual Olympic gold medallist Grant Hackett opts for the food of his childhood.



“It
would be a sausage in a piece of bread with tomato sauce,” he said.
“Growing up these were a favourite in our household. Later on I’d
always have them at the surf club. I’m constantly being told off for
picking food off the barbecue.”



Comedian and radio personality Dave O’Neil was another fan of the snag in bread.



“It's a hand held dish that goes with the active Aussie image,” he said.



“It
was probably introduced for convict gangs, so they could eat and keep
working. It's now the natural addition to any occasion, be it a fete,
ceremony or funeral.



“The sausage in bread is an Aussie icon like the esky or the beer stubbie. If we didn't invent it, we certainly own it now. ”