July 2025
I’ve written before on aspects of the making of the Multiculinary Australian Table. But they have all been based on reviewing the story of a particular cuisine – Sri Lankan for example – from recipes, advertisements, or articles about it.
Often in the introduction to a particular recipe recipe maker has assured readers that most in not all of the ingredients, particularly the spices, are available in Australia, or gives substitutes that are available. This is often to encourage the ‘housewife’ to attempt dishes in the cuisine. They usually recommend health food shops and shops that feature the cuisine – Chinese grocers, for example. Arguably the proof of a multiculinary table is that the local generalist store can supply the housewife with a range of ingredients for a particular cuisine/ or cuisines that share enough alternative ingredients to be grouped together.
