Have you ever heard of zucchini? Capsicums, Eggplants, Globe Artichokes, Olive Oil, Garlic and Zucchini at the Australian table before 1947.

28 November 2025

November 2025

Australian Geographic published The Classic Australian Cookbook in 2021. In its introduction it said:

Significant change to our eating habits came after WWII when southern European immigrants introduced foods such as zucchinis, capsicums, eggplants, globe artichokes, olive oil and garlic.

I applaud Australian Geographics for venturing into the cooking sphere however this summation reflects some commonly held inaccuracies. All these vegetables and olive oil were known and being used well before WWII.

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Paul van Reyk
My first essay on food was in Year 10 - people seemed to like it. It took me 56 years to come back to it, so I have a lot of catching up to do. My focus is on Anglo-Saxon settler culinary ways in Australia, roughly from the first days of colonisation to the 1960s - 1970s. I particularly write about stuff that has not been written about before but is very much a part of the Anglo-Saxon Australian table. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I do writing.