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 have never before encountered Ham and Beef Shops. McGregor’s novel is set in the mid-1930s. It’s meticulously researched in food as in other aspects of living in Sydney during these years. Had she found something I’d missed?
I went searching.
