Not quite Chicago style, but still tasty

A free three hour walking tour of Sydney was something I just couldn't pass up. And it really was free. The guide works for tips. If you don't like the tour, don't pay a thing. If you like the tour, you still don't have to pay. That would be rude, but you could do it. You give what you feel the tour is worth. Our tour guide was young, energetic and full of stories and facts about her hometown, Sydney. The tour is well worth the money.

Australian Coat of Arms

One stop on the tour was outside the General Post Office of Sydney. On the facade of the post office is a stone carving of the Australian Coat of Arms. It consists of a shield with the badges of each Australian state and a seven pointed star, representing each state plus one for the commonwealth as a whole, all being held up by a kangaroo and an emu. We were told the kangaroo and emu were chosen because the stand erect on two feet and that neither the kangaroo nor emu can walk backwards, only forwards. Because they walk erect they are somehow noblier than a critter who walks on all four and moving forward represents Australian progress. This explaination was then followed with "and they are tasty too", so I'm not sure the story is 100% true. Australia may be the only country that eats their national symbols. The USA could have been had Benjamin Franklin gotten his way in naming the turkey as our national sysmbol instead of the bald eagle.

After the tour I stopped for lunch to have some pizza. Being from Chicago I do appreciate a good pizza. While I do like Chicago style deep dish pizza, I'm more traditional and prefer a simple thin crust with either sausage or pepperoni. But my choice of topping today.................kangaroo. The pizza was kangaroo with roasted peppers and cranberries. I am not a big fan of fruit on pizzas, but the cranberries and roasted peepers nicely complemented the kangaroo.  The topping was very tasty, but the crust left a little to be desired. The bottom wasn't cooked quite right, but least you didn't have to fold it to eat it. Overall I have to agree with our guide (at least for kangaroo) that the Australian coat of arms is delicious. I'll let you know how the emu tastes later.

Kangaroo, roasted pepper and cranberry pizza

So long from down under.

norb