Is the Halal snack pack Australia’s answer to poutine? Also known as a meat box, an Aussie pack or, in Adelaide, an AB, the HSP – available from most kebab stores – is a box packed with hot chips and shreds of doner beef, chicken or lamb covered with melted cheese. The trifecta of sauces on top – garlic, chilli and barbecue – is its crowning glory.
Australia’s claim to have created the HSP appears to be uncontested, since Lebanese or Turkish meat and chip plates don’t traditionally feature cheese. HSPs have been a hot topic in politics and online of late. Lauded as a symbol of multiculturalism, they’ve inspired a 161,000-member HSP Appreciation Society on Facebook, while in March, New South Wales senator Sam Dastyari immortalised the HSP at Campbelltown’s King Kebab House with a glowing review in parliament. Dastyari called the pack a “great Sydney tradition,” but, for the record, The North Adelaide Burger Bar claims to have created the late-night snack in the 1970s.
King Kebab House, 2/171-179 Queen St, Campbelltown, NSW, (02) 4656 1707, kingkebabhouse.com.au.
