Australians' eating habits reflect their British heritage. A traditional breakfast may include fruit or juice, cold cereal or hot porridge, fried eggs and sausages, with hot tea or coffee. Toast may be spread with Vegemite, a concentrated yeast extract. For more leisurely breakfasts, some people enjoy baked beans, spaghetti or minced meat on toast.
The noon meal is usually quite light. Most people eat sandwiches during the work week. Other lunch foods include Australian meat pies (a flaky pastry filled with ground beef mixed in spices) and sausage rolls with hot chips (French fries). Children enjoy milk flavored with vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, peppermint or spearmint. An afternoon snack may feature lamingtons (small sponge cakes with chocolate frosting and coconut) or pikelets (small pancakes) and tea.
A typical dinner consists of meat, potatoes and vegetables. Most families have barbecues and often grill their meat. One specialty is steak stuffed with oysters. The array of available seafood includes lobsters, Sydney rock oysters, barramundi fish, mud crabs, crayfish, prawns and snapper.
Dessert is often fresh fruit, such as bananas, mangoes, pawpaws (papayas), pineapples, pears, apples and citrus fruit. Custard is also a popular dessert. Another well-known dessert is pavlova, made with meringue, cream and fruit. The name honors the ballerina Anna Pavlova, who visited Australia in the 1920's.