/ck/ - Food & Cooking

and THIS, is an Australian ADF military ration. Same year.
Why is China, purported to have one of the most developed and rich cuisines in the world, while also being a very rich country with a large emphasis on military spending, utterly mogged by the Australians?

Granted we are called the 'Lucky Country' for a reason, but this goes beyond Australian exceptionalism. Or does it? What culinary philosophy is on display here?