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It was the 1980s. Hair was big and cassette tapes were rad. In the evenings, we indulged in apricot chicken, prawn cocktails and fondues. But during the day, when we needed to eat a quick snack on the run, we were drawn towards greasy satisfaction. When we were hungry, we grabbed a
Chiko rolls are a deep-fried takeaway food that satisfied generations of Australians. Today, the savoury snack is still so iconic that, according to the new SBS series, it may end up being titled 'Australia’s national dish.'
Writer, Yasmin Noone, gets nostalgic and grabs a Chiko roll from her local fish and chip shop.
So what is a Chiko roll?
Imagine a traditional Chinese spring roll encased in deep-fried batter – the kind you might find on a Scotch egg or deep-fried chocolate bar. Sound healthy? It gets better. Chiko rolls were always sprinkled with heaps of salt. If you were lucky, your Chiko roll would be adorned with chicken salt and tomato sauce, before being placed in its own trademarked bag.
In the 80s, no one really seemed to care that eating Chiko rolls on repeat could give you a heart attack (even though they do contain vegetables). It was an era when people thought avocados presented a cholesterol risk and everyone did exercise while wearing leg warmers.
Flashback to a different food era
To Aussies back then, the Chiko roll was sheer genius. The snack was designed so you could eat it on the move without a plate or cutlery. That meant you could eat a dense meal and walk (or watch footy) at the same time! You could buy Chiko rolls from fish and chips shops, milk bars, sportsground tuckshops and train station takeaway shops. No wonder it became a food of the people.
Inspired by Chinese cuisine, the popularity of the snack also signalled an Australian style of eating that was slowly becoming more multicultural. Around the same time that the roll was on-trend, Aussies were also enjoying and egg fried rice.
From the Chinese restaurant to the footy and the fish and chip shop, fried dim sims and chiko rolls have become something dead set true blue.Poh Ling Yeow
The meaning behind the icon
The Chiko Roll was invented by Frank McEncroe and first sold in Australia in 1951 as a ‘Chicken Roll’, even though it never actually contained chicken.
I was exposed to the cultural habit of eating Chiko rolls as a young kid of the 1980s. To me, the roll was a complete meal I could buy with my own pocket money. It represented independence.
When I ate a Chiko roll, I was just like the big kids – especially the Australian-born teens that lived in my diverse suburb.
Everyone I knew ate Chiko rolls. To be anyone, you had to eat a Chiko roll. So as a first-generation Australian with a Chiko roll in-hand, I suddenly belonged.
Although Chiko rolls have fallen out of fashion, they’re still sold at takeaway shops today. You can even pick up a packet of frozen Chiko rolls from the supermarket.
For the sake of nostalgia though, I recently visited my local fish and chip shop to see if I could buy one and send my tastebuds on a trip back to their youth. Much to my delight, the Chiko rolls were embedded in the middle of the shop’s menu, somewhere near the potato scallops. So I ordered two Chiko rolls, priced at $3 each, a small serve of chips (costing a lot more) and pineapple fritters.
As I went to pay, one of the shop's staff of Greek heritage pointed to my order and screamed out: ‘what a flashback to Australia in the 80s’. You’re not wrong mate. Chiko rolls are really true blue!
