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At lunchtime in the school yard of my Australian childhood, Vegemite worms abounded. Just what was the composition of this most familiar and comforting food?

A combination of Vegemite and butter forced through the holes of a wheat cracker. During any recess or lunchtime, at any school across Australia, children could be seen placing two thickly spread wheat crackers together and squeezing. The resultant mix of the thick dark savoury Vegemite and the butter or margarine, would then be forced through the tiny holes in the crackers. As tradition had it - it was then incumbent upon the owner to lick off the swirly brown worms, before crunching into the sadly depleted and slightly soggy crackers. Vita-Wheats were the only product which stood up to this treatment, but the makers of this trusty cracker have seen fit to change the recipe. No longer do swirly worms appear - it has something to do with the addition of more sesame seeds I'm told - but Australia as a nation mourns.

In the 1950s and '60s, my visits to the movies in Australia were always accompanied by a food induced noise. Without fail, about ten minutes after interval, there came a sound akin to about 20 marbles being dropped onto a wooden floor. Someone had dropped a box of what type of confectionery?

Jaffas. Jaffas were round balls of chocolate, covered with a hard candy orange shell. Cheers would erupt as the Jaffas rattled their way down the sloping wooden floor of the theatre. Any recovery of the sweet rollers was quickly claimed and the hard candy missiles were thrown back at the owner. Fantales, Minties and Marella Jubes were all traditional movie fare. The trend towards carpet laden, boutique theatre complexes has sadly seen the demise of the rolling Jaffa.

No self respecting Australian birthday party would be complete without Fairy Bread. Generations of Aussie kids eagerly plundered large platters of this unique party food. White bread was a must - and butter - but what was sprinkled on top?

Hundreds and Thousands. It had to be white bread - mothers who made a desperate attempt at "healthy" birthday food were immediately branded as social outcasts. Butter was de rigeur - never margarine - and then the Hundreds and Thousands were very thickly sprinkled on top. Rainbow tongues, lips and cheeks were the order of the day. Candy sprinkles seem to be the closest equivalent elsewhere but the genuine Aussie product continues to be superior.

Chocolate Crackles were probably the most enduring of all my childhood treats. It was always the staple food item at any Australian birthday celebration. When I visited the United States in 1990, I dearly wanted to make them for a friend's children but it was impossible. Why?

They could only be made with Copha which is rarely available in the USA. Yes folks! The magic ingredient I needed was Copha. Copha is made from coconut oil and trust me, no other shortening on the planet can come close, if you are making Crackles. The ingredients are roughly as follows: 4 cups Kellogg’s Rice Bubbles 1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted 1 cup desiccated coconut 3 tbsp cocoa 250g Copha,chopped and melted You then need to combine all ingredients and spoon into paper patties. Cool and then refrigerate. Rice Krispies work fine, icing sugar is confectioners' sugar and I was able to locate all the other ingredients with little trouble. The children went hungry because the recipe would have been a dismal failure without the correct shortening. Chocolate Crackles have been an Australian childhood favourite since the 1930s and the recipe is still included on boxes of Rice Bubbles even today. Thank goodness some things never change.

Each year, every capital city and most regional areas of Australia held their agricultural shows, and an appalling amount of extremely unhealthy food was consumed. One particular food item came into its own during these festivities. While this popular consumable was available at other times, it simply didn't taste quite the same. Just what was this Sideshow Alley favourite?

All of these (Pluto pup, Dagwood Dog, Battered sav). No matter which Australian state or territory you hailed from - or what you called this curious delicacy - nothing matched a batter covered hot dog on a stick, slathered in tomato sauce. Mind you, the experience was not complete until a large dollop of the sauce reached your shirt front, and your greasy hands were covered with a fine layer of grime from the dusty showground. It was heaven!

One of the after school highlights that I hold most dear in my Australian childhood, was a trip to the local corner store. Judicious budgeting could result in quite a variety of treats including bullets, fags, love hearts, frogs, cobbers, raspberries and mint leaves. What were these items?

any of these. I grew up as the daughter of the only dentist in a small country town. This resulted in many displays of excess on my part, where these sweet confections were concerned. My very favourites were cobbers, which were hard caramel cubes covered in chocolate. At one penny each, they were expensive but worth the investment. Bullets were choc-coated licorice pellets and candy love hearts had cute messages inscribed on hard fondant. Fags were just that - cigarette shaped sticks of candy with a red tip. We thought they were cool in the 1950s but they are now banned under that commercial name. Chocolate Freddo frogs are still popular today as are raspberries - fruit shaped red jubes that stuck your teeth together. Mint leaves were the best value for my money at four for a penny, but they made me feel sick.

Milo moustaches were an Aussie badge of honour. They signified that you had been able to defy parental odds, and appropriate enough spoonfuls of the delicious stuff to create the perfect fashion accessory. Just what was Milo?

Chocolate malt granules. Milo in its purest form was designed to be used one or two small spoonfuls at a time, and mixed with cold or hot milk. The resulting drink was pleasant - but incredibly boring. The ideal approach was to ladle mountains of the crunchy drink base into ice-cold milk, and keep on adding until the milk was a supersaturated solution. Then at least two more heaped spoonfuls were added to float on top of the thick delicious creation. If conditions were perfect, and parental intervention was avoided, any attempts to drink this heavenly ambrosia would result in the most splendid of milky chocolate moustaches.

Authorities in the Australia of the 1950s were the self appointed guardians of the health of its youthful citizens. All children received this food item each day. It must be admitted that the enthusiasm of the powers that be for this initiative, was only ever greeted with lukewarm distaste by the Baby Boomers of the nation. What was distributed and reluctantly consumed each school day?

milk. Lukewarm was indeed the operative word. Crates of small glass milk bottles were delivered throughout the land, and judiciously left in the blazing sun until recess. Teachers appointed to playground duty were entrusted with the dubious task of ensuring the odious stuff was actually consumed. Children's stomachs often rebelled and much of the offending liquid found its way into the school drains. In high summer the playground stench was quite something. Sanity eventually prevailed and this was one childhood food tradition that disappeared without one single murmer of dissent.

As a child I grew up in country Queensland and large social picnics and barbecues were highlights - still fondly remembered. After the sausages and sauce were finished, my favourite dessert pie of all was caramel tart. To a seven year old, it was the most delicious sweet treat imaginable. How was the caramel made?

By boiling an unopened tin of sweetened condensed milk. The tin of milk was not without inherent danger. It needed to be boiled for several hours to reach the correct caramel consistency. If not handled carefully it could actually explode. A family friend redecorated an entire corner of her kitchen in burnt caramel. Opening the boiled can was never to be attempted until it had cooled completely. The contents were then spooned into a sweet pie shell, and the fight to clean out the nearly empty caramel-lined tin was fierce.

This is probably the most deliciously disgusting of all Australian food habits - the Tim Tam straw, or maybe you know it as the TimTam slam. Fortunately this treat is not endangered so hold tight. You may well learn something that could change your life - forever. First take your TimTam. Hang on - just what is a TimTam?

A chocolate coated, chocolate filled, chocolate biscuit sandwich. First take your TimTam. Given that this delicious chocolate morsel is rectangular, you must then bite off the diagonally opposing corners to reveal the chocolate filling. Place one corner into a hot cup of tea or coffee and drink your beverage through the opposite corner of the TimTam. It is heaven. You haven't lived until you have taken tea or coffee through this famous Aussie straw. So while some treats have become but sweet memories, others have emerged to ensure that Australian dietary habits will always be diverse, inventive and unique.