August 2025
The story of Macaroni Cheese in Australia begins somewhere before 1823. In that year, in the first reference to macaroni I found, it and vermicelli are listed as goods for sale from the ship Woodlark recently arrived in Sydney. There were subsequently regular mentions of macaroni in lists of goods from ships. What were colonists doing with the macaroni?
‘In 1820s Sydney merchants advertised both ‘English’ and ‘Italian’ macaroni along with vermicelli. When it reached the table it was more commonly served as part of the cheese or dessert course.’
Eliza Acton in her 1874 Modern Cookery In All Its Branches Reduced To A System of Easy Practice For The Use Of Private Families gives recipes for Sweet Macaroni and Dressed Macaroni. It is likely that these were the ways that macaroni was being used in the colony.
