How many meat pies, barbecued prawns and kangaroo steaks can you cook for £1 million?

The Australian Defence Force is about to find out after announcing that it intends to spend A$2 million (£1 million) on improving meals for its troops in Afghanistan.

The Aussies fighting the Taleban insurgency are apparently sick of eating what they have described as “lousy Dutch food”, and want better Down Under fare to be sent to the region.

Australia has about 800 troops in Uruzgan province who have been fed by cooks in the Dutch forces in Kamp Holland during the past three years.

Scores of troops have complained about the European diet, and have passed on their gripes about the food — which they say lacks freshness and taste — to the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and the Defence Minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, on recent visits.

Australia’s military commander, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, defended the continental diet yesterday.

He said that he was more than happy to eat it.

“Our soldiers all the way through have had the required amount of calories and the food has been of a very high standard,” he said at a special defence budget hearing on Wednesday, after the soldiers’ beef had been brought to the attention of the national Parliament. “I think the issue is, it’s not Aussie food, it’s European food and it’s pre-prepared.”

The Australian Defence Force will now send special cooks and extra food, as well as refrigerators, freezers and barbecues into the war zone to ensure the troops get more fresh rations.

While the new Australian-made menu has yet to be drawn up, the Dutch currently provide culinary delights such as cereal, potatoes, baked beans, sausages, eggs, bacon, cold meats, vegetables, fruit and yoghurt for troops eating in their mess halls.

Not all the Australian troops in Afghanistan have had to eat Dutch-supplied fare. Members of the country’s special forces have their own cooks dishing up home-made tucker.

The smell of chefs preparing an Aussie barbecue for the special forces was too much to bear for scores of their fellow troops who were eating in the European dining areas.

David Johnston, Australia’s opposition defence spokesman, described the culinary segregation between defence personnel as insulting.

“I think it was an insult to them,” he said. “The least they could expect when they are deployed for six months is that they can eat proper food.”

Australia, a US ally and the largest non-Nato contributor in Afghanistan, agreed in April to boost troop numbers to about 1,550.

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