What the rest of the world really loves, but few seem able to articulate, is the inherent egalitarianism of the food culture Here, great food is for everybody, all the time Sydney says: breakfast is as important as dinner It says: good Chinese cooking is as admirable as French. It says: if you wanna turn up in shorts on a hot day and order an eight-course degustation menu, no worries. After all, a top-flight restaurant (Aqua Dining) has just opened at North Sydney swimming pool. Best-known for its fusion or Pacific Rim cooking, which London has taken to with enthusiasm, Sydney also boasts many superb chefs dedicated to European and Mediterranean cuisines, as well as Chinese eateries on a par with the best in Hong Kong, and David Thompson, the world's leading authority on Thai food. Recently there has been talk about a revival in French bistro cooking.Matthew Evans, restaurant reviewer for the Sydney Morning Herald explains: "Sydney stepped away from that kind of food for a while, partly because Australians were very against French nuclear testing in the Pacific.

We're still Asian-crazy, but now we're saying: 'Hang on, French food is good, and there's a lot of it that can be simplified and made to suit our climate.'" His favourite example is Luke Mangan's Bistro Lulu He also names restaurants Bonne Femme and Balzac. Luke Mangan, says Evans, "is one of the people who'll be defining Sydney style in years to come". Mangan's other restaurant, Salt, is a design-conscious and very fashionable Mod Oz venue, on the surface not unlike contemporary restaurants in London or New York, but, says Evans, it represents "the new vanguard of where food can go".What's unique about the Sydney food scene, however, is that it is not entirely, or even primarily, chef-led. Food writers and stylists have a phenomenal impact and, in the case of Joan Campbell of Vogue Entertaining & Travel magazine, have inspired the chefs. Launched in 1978 as a hostess guide for readers of Vogue Living, VET has evolved into the world's most influential, most beautiful and most copied food magazine.

It's now widely available in London, offering food-loving Brits a tantalising glimpse of coming trends The future, by the way, is verjuice (see right). That is, unless you still haven't discovered orange flower water or pomegranate molasses.Where VET has led, other Australian foodies have followed, making an impression in Britain, too. Donna Hay of Australian Marie Claire, whose stylishly mouthwatering books include New Entertaining and Food Fast, is a bestseller around the world. Critics at The New York Times, whose crushing assessments of British chef books have been known to make the front page, have described Hay as brilliant.Equally inspiring is Jill Dupleix, whose New Food remains as fresh and directional as when it was published in 1994. Now that she's ensconced in Britain as food editor of The Times, and has brought along food-writing partner Terry Durack, you could be forgiven for thinking that Australian foodies had decided to make England a colonial outpost Don't worry, you'll soon be asking for second helpings. Sharyn Storrier Lynham, editor of VET, sums up the Australian attitude that's putting Down Under on top: "Life is too short to have a bad meal.". The accent is on hearty here; this soup is a supper in itself.

Chorizo renders its paprika-red fat into the broth, enriching and scenting it with garlic.extra virgin olive oil2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped1 red onion, peeled, halved and sliced2 sticks of celery heart, sliced1 soupspoon red wine vinegar1.2l chicken stocksea salt, black pepperHalf Savoy cabbage (outer leaves and tough stalks discarded), finely sliced1 x 425g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed125g chorizo sausage, skinned if necessary and sliced 1cm thick4 slices of baguette approx. 1cm thickHeat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and sweat the garlic, onion and celery for 5 minutes until they are soft and beginning to colour Sprinkle over the vinegar which should sizzle ferociously. Once this has evaporated add the chicken stock and some seasoning, bring to the boil then turn the heat down low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cabbage, chickpeas and chorizo, bring back to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes Season to taste.Toast the bread. Place the croutons in the base of four hot soup bowls and drizzle over a little oil. Ladle the soup on top, drizzle over a little more oil and serve.. Fresh doubts have been raised about the scientific research that was reported this week to show that farmed salmon are contaminated with much higher levels of toxins than their wild cousins.