There is nothing more Australian than this misnamed snack

The dish

Chiko Roll, Australia

Plate up

The iconic Chiko Roll made its debut in Wagga Wagga in 1951.

Allow me to present to you, my thesis. In this essay I will argue that the Chiko Roll is the ultimate Australian foodstuff. I will prove that there is nothing more Australian. To begin with, as we will learn below, the Chiko Roll isn’t just a snack that turned out to be convenient to eat at the footy: it was designed specifically for the footy. This dish and our national sport go hand in hand.

Next point: the Chiko Roll leans heavily on the migrant cuisines of Australia, in particular the Chinese spring roll. This bastardised delicacy has a filling of cabbage and barley, plus carrot, green beans, beef, celery and onion, stuffed inside wheat-flour pastry, deep-fried to golden, bubbly perfection. To complete its inherent Australianness, the Chiko Roll is unquestionably egalitarian, the food of the people, cheap, filling and (fairly) tasty.

First serve

Frank McEncroe was a man with a vision. Back in 1950, the Bendigo boilermaker was standing outside Richmond Football Ground, watching punters buy Chinese spring rolls, and he had an idea. Make them larger, make them heftier, a meal in your hand, the sort of thing you could devour while simultaneously holding a beer and watching footy.

He pioneered his “Chicken Roll” at the Wagga Wagga Show in 1951, before moving to Melbourne and beginning its commercial production. Some would say the true genius of his invention was its packaging: a small rectangular bag perfect for carrying and eating on the go. By the 1970s, Australians were devouring more than 40 million Chiko Rolls a year.

Order there

To eat a Chiko Roll in its true home you should be watching a footy game in Melbourne. Though the likes of the MCG and Marvel Stadium are these days too fancy for this humble snack, you can still find it at Melbourne’s suburban grounds.

Order here

Australians don’t have to go far to sample a Chiko Roll. Try your local servo (served lukewarm), or supermarket (sold frozen).

One more thing

You might be wondering about the name change. McEncroe’s snack was originally called the “Chicken Roll”, though given it didn’t contain any chicken, he quickly saw fit to rename it.