Compost https://compost.sydney/ A food writing space Wed, 21 Oct 2026 20:09:40 +0000 en-AU hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3 Portable, powdered, effervescent. S(n)ippets of lemonade at the Australian table 1806 – 1906 https://compost.sydney/portable-powdered-effervescent-snippets-of-lemonade-at-the-australian-table-1806-1906/ Wed, 21 Oct 2026 20:09:40 +0000 https://compost.sydney/?p=5672 I’ve been a fan of lemonade as an icy pole, an aerated drink, and a mixer with beer as a shandy. With summer, the season of icy poles, coming up now seems a good time to have a look at […]

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]]> Know how to Cook a Plain Dinner. A review of advertisements for employment of men as household cooks1803 – 1853. https://compost.sydney/know-how-to-cook-a-plain-dinner-a-review-of-advertisements-for-employment-of-men-as-household-cooks1803-1853/ Wed, 14 Oct 2026 20:02:17 +0000 https://compost.sydney/?p=5663 It has never occurred to me that a household cook in Australian colonial days could have been a man. Well, I do now.  I came across an advertisement for one in 1807. Wanted, as Cook in a genteel family, a […]

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]]> Okra, bhujia and masala tea. South Indian food at the Petersham domestic table. https://compost.sydney/okra-bhujia-and-masala-tea-south-indian-food-at-the-petersham-domestic-table/ Wed, 07 Oct 2026 20:05:24 +0000 https://compost.sydney/?p=5656 When can we say that a cuisine is now a standard part of the Australian table? We can look at the growth of cuisine specific high-end restaurants. We can gauge it by when recipes for it appear in the Australian […]

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]]> Not an employee but protected. Fair working conditions for food delivery workers https://compost.sydney/not-an-employee-but-protected-fair-working-conditions-for-food-delivery-workers/ Wed, 30 Sep 2026 20:57:05 +0000 https://compost.sydney/?p=5648 In True to The Land. A History of food in Australia I wrote of the gig economy home delivery workers: Whether people working in the gig economy are employees or independent contractors is fundamental to determining their rights and obligations […]

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]]> Bliss, Ultraprocessed foods and me. A consumer’s conundrum. September 2026 https://compost.sydney/bliss-ultraprocessed-foods-and-me-a-consumers-conundrum-september-2026/ Wed, 23 Sep 2026 20:59:31 +0000 https://compost.sydney/?p=5641 Each bite of this Kit Kat I’m eating leaves me wanting more. My response to it is typical of responses to Ultraprocessed Foods (UPFs). I’ve recently come across the term in the context of health risks associated with them and […]

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]]> Aunty Beryl’s Cookbook https://compost.sydney/aunty-beryls-cookbook/ Wed, 16 Sep 2026 20:54:03 +0000 https://compost.sydney/?p=5629 Here I am, I’m a Gamilaroi woman, eighty-three years of age, and I have written a cookbook. That makes me feel really happy, I’m fulfilling a dream I have always had. Aunty Beryl’s Cookbook is the latest cookbook from an […]

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]]> Bidgee, fish paste and mutton stew. Food in Fiona Kelly McGregor’s novels Iris and The Trap https://compost.sydney/bidgee-fish-paste-and-mutton-stew-food-in-fiona-kelly-mcgregors-novels-iris-and-the-trap/ Tue, 08 Sep 2026 21:02:15 +0000 https://compost.sydney/?p=5623 I’m always on the lookout for Australian writers for whom food is an essential part of their narratives. Fiona Kelly McGregor is one such.  Two linked novels of theirs – Iris covering 1932 – 1937, and The Trap covering 1942 […]

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]]> They grew wild over the back shed. A choko story https://compost.sydney/they-grew-wild-over-the-back-shed-a-choko-story/ Wed, 02 Sep 2026 21:14:56 +0000 https://compost.sydney/?p=5617 If there was any vegetable in Australia likely to draw wildly opposing views, it’s the choko – Sechium edule. My first encounter with it was unbeknownst to me one of the preserved fruits in a Sri Lankan Christmas Cake – […]

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]]> The biography of the Sunbeam Mixmaster in Australian kitchens 1933 – 1970 https://compost.sydney/the-biography-of-the-sunbeam-mixmaster-in-australian-kitchens-1933-1970/ Wed, 26 Aug 2026 21:33:41 +0000 https://compost.sydney/?p=5611 In 1933 this advertisement appeared in a Brisbane newspaper. The “Sunbeam Mixmaster” is the latest electrical labour-saving device, designed to aid busy cooks. Its primary use is that of mixing cake ingredients, but among the multitude of uses, the Mix […]

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]]> Pickles, tinned meat and tongues. A snapshot of Ham and Beef Shops 1882 – 1941 https://compost.sydney/pickles-tinned-meat-and-tongues-a-snapshot-of-ham-and-beef-shops-1882-1941/ Wed, 19 Aug 2026 21:47:03 +0000 https://compost.sydney/?p=5603 Then one afternoon I saw Adeline outside Condy’s Ham and Beef at Taylor Square. Iris, Fiona Kelly McGregor. It was only a passing reference, but it stopped me in my tracks. I’ve written extensively on Australian food and foodways but […]

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