The Food and Drink of Sydney

April 16, 2018
Hunwick, a food service and nutrition consultant in Sydney, expertly guides readers through the culinary history of Australia’s oldest and most populous city. Hunwick came to Sydney from Canada in 1973 with a desire to explore its food from 1788, when it was founded as a British penal colony, to post-WWII, when it became a city of diverse immigrant cuisines. “To arrive in Sydney is to enter the front door of Australia,” writes Hunwick. She begins her detailed survey with 18th-century British ingredients—salted meats, dried peas, and oatmeal—and then focuses on how the cuisine changed: the Irish settled in the 1840s and found they could grow potatoes; in the 1890s, Chinese immigrants set up tea shops and what became known as chop suey joints; fruit stands proliferated after Italians emigrated in large numbers in the 1930s. Hunwick explores “American food cultural imperialism” and the introduction of Coke, Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and McDonald’s. She discusses the aboriginal influence of eating local fish, as well as the Australian love of fish cafes, oyster saloons, and food stands that serve Chiko Rolls, savory pastries stuffed with cabbage and beef. Hunwick is a solid writer, and this volume is a wonderful introduction to Sydney’s culinary history.