2024
I was gustatorily surprised in a nice way. There on the menu at a local bar was an item called Starving Artist’s Plate. It consisted of slices of cabanossi, cubes of cheddar cheese, green pickled olives, and Jatz biscuits. It took me back to parties I attended or gave in the late 1970s early 1980s when it was almost de rigueur to have a plate of cabanossi, cheese, and Jatz biscuits on a convenient table or on a plate handed around. The combination was also standard fare at wine bars in the 1970’s Olives usually came separately with tooth picks.
It set me wondering about the back story of cabanossi. When was it first in Australia? What apart from nibbles did folk do with cabanossi? When did it first get paired with Jatz biscuits.? For that matter, what was cabanossi? What was the story of Jatz biscuits? Or cheddar cheese? As always, I turned to Trove, the digital repository of newspapers, magazines and journals managed by the National Library of Australia.
