sausage sizzle (port moresby style)

Today's blog is a bit off the beaten track...(but trust me, this version is full of love)

I had the pleasure of travelling to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea for work. PNG is a country just north of Australia, look it up folks! The country is one of the world's least explored, culturally and geographically, and many undiscovered species of plants and animals are thought to exist in the interior of Papua New Guinea. Even more amazing is that it is the site of a weekly world famous sausage sizzle. Kanga bangers, in fact, are on the menu. Kanga bangers for those of you who don't speak Aussie are Kangaroo sausages. as Homer would say, mmm...sausage. Yes indeed my friends, it was a perfect end to an otherwise incredible work trip in the Ports (as Jane would say). Barb McGrory (a colleague) organizes this sausage sizzle and all the proceeds are donated to a charity. Thank you Barb for your compassion and prowess with the grill. I need to give a special shout out to Barb for the home made mustard (damn good stuff, which she should probably start exporting ;)). The sausages are adorned with tomato sauce, mustard and onions. It may not be a burger, but this sausage will forever hold a special place in my heart.

If you happen to find yourself in PNG, don't forget to stop by Foodworld on Saturday for a Kanga Banga!

34 burgers...or was it years (I stopped counting)!

http://www.grilld.com.au/

Grill’d have promised to take my feedback serious, so here I go.

Grill’d is a chain in Australia and lucky for me there is one right down the street from our office. It is shocking to believe that I have been here for 2 months and only NOW just trying it out. When my workmates asked me if I would like to do a birthday lunch I decided that this was as good a day as any to have a burger (isn’t everyday?). It started off with a bang. The lovely man behind the counter asked me if I would like to try the Carlton challenge (answer the question under the cap) and get your drink free. I have really really nice friends who helped me a bit, it was Australian-centric after all. How would a yank know which Australian prime minister was used as the hero for a musical?

They advertise themselves as healthy burgers. Beef, bread, cheese, lettuce, onion, mustard and ketchup. What isn’t healthy about that? I believe you have all your food groups in one fell swoop. Well done Grill’d. The lettuce was a bit excessive, as a condiment they list salad – which they were not kidding around about. There may have been 8 large pieces of lettuce on my burger some of which promptly moved onto Casey’s mini-me small adult sized burger. The beef was juicy and very tasty. A solid 8 or 8.5, I would say. I will happily admit, for a chain restaurant burger they get my vote. Maybe I should bring one back to America???!!! Another winning burger expedition on a very special day for me. What more could you ask for?

p.s. A wonderful couple gave me an appropro gift for my bday. "Hamburger" a global history by Andrew F. Smith. Did you know that Ray Kroc did not found McDonald's and the first McDonald's restaurant was not in Des Plaines, Illinois. more fun burger facts to come.