One of the things that happens when you grow up somewhere that isn’t a big city, and then you move to a big city (much like Babe, pig in the city), is that you inevitably carry your home town with you.
Regardless of your feelings towards it, whether the memories are sweet or traumatic, your eye will always be drawn to any news story, event, achievement – basically any mention of your previous home or people from there.
For me, that place is a regional city in Queensland, Australia, called Toowoomba. It’s known as “the Garden City” by some and “the Meth and Garden City” by others, and I have a complicated relationship with it.
I spent the 80s and 90s growing up closeted in its conservative environment, and attended my first protest in high school when the One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, hosted a rally in the town square. I have some good memories from high school; my parents, brothers and many niblings still live there. I’ll always have a deep connection to it.
Your home town is much like a sibling you occasionally scream at – and you alone are allowed to point out its flaws. The shit-talking of a home town belongs to the people who earned their stripes, who put in the hours.
Toowoomba is an ever-growing regional centre that boasts beautiful gardens and produces an alarming number of rugby league players. Unbelievably, none of these things have put us on the map internationally.
All that has changed since Toowoomba became extremely and randomly famous in … South Korea. For something that is entirely disconnected from the city itself, but bears the name, so it counts. I’m talking, of course, about Toowoomba pasta: a creamy seafood dish. Classic Toowoomba.
In an inexplicable turn of events, Toowoomba pasta has taken South Korea by storm and is not only sold in restaurants but also convenience stores. This is bizarre for a couple of reasons.
Toowoomba Grilled Mushroom Cream Pasta Sauce in a store in Seoul, South Korea Photograph: Hari Raj
I first encountered Toowoomba pasta about a decade ago, when I was travelling in the US and visited an “Australia-themed” restaurant, Outback Steakhouse. I knew the theme wasn’t going to be accurate at all, and would instead offer a look at the strange way Americans view Australia. When I spotted Toowoomba pasta, I was obviously intrigued. I was even more intrigued to discover that prawns are the hero ingredient.
One thing Toowoomba is most certainly NOT known for is seafood. We are HOURS inland. I can speak to this more than most, as I once worked at a fish and chips place in a shopping centre food court there. For some reason, the business did not last long.
I’m sure things have improved now but in my day Toowoomba was not known for its cuisine. It didn’t have sushi until a kiosk opened in a shopping centre when I was 20, and there was no Mexican restaurant until 2015 (my mum sent me the newspaper article). In 2017 she sent me the news that the town was getting an Oporto.
But reality doesn’t matter; Toowoomba pasta is more popular than ever, the Toowoomba name is now synonymous with prawns, sought by Koreans with a hankering for a warming regional Queensland seafood pasta.
It seems that Toowoomba pasta, despite its total, beautiful delusional incongruity, is here to stay, and quite frankly, I’ll take it. It’s better than a lot of things Toowoomba is associated with. Being known for a delicious creamy pasta dish that people love is quite nice. We should be happy to take the credit. Cities have been built on less.
It also gives me something to aim for – to become more famous than a pasta.