A Glimpse at the True History of Pasta in Australia

My mind has recently turned to pasta, because my Lady Love and assorted family and friends banded together to get me a pasta attachment for my Kitchenaid for Christmas. Needless to say we are all now in a near-constant carbohydrate coma in the Colonial Cottage.

This led me to wonder if Australians were enjoying the many delights of pasta back in the Colonial Era. Conventional wisdom holds that pasta was introduced by the wave of Italian migrants that arrived after World War II. Wild Colonial Grandma has memories of living in a farming settlement that was all Italians and Cornish (she was Cornish) for a little while growing up, and attests that pasta was a big part of the migrant cuisine. But was there pasta in Australia before that?

One important thing that I soon discovered was that before the modern era 'macaroni' was a catch-all term in English for all types of pasta. It was also a slang word for a dandy, which might clear up any confusion you have about just what's going on in the song "Yankee Doodle".



Macaroni Wheats. (1900, March 24). The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), p. 682. Retrieved January 13, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165302182

If we look for 'macaroni' rather than 'pasta' in Australian newspapers, we find that it was definitely in circulation, and from a very early era.

An advertisement from Sydney in 1823 indicates that one J. Tawell of 18 Pitt St had for sale macaroni, as well as many other items including Spanish liquorice and German sweetmeats. (Classified Advertising. (1823, September 18). The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), p. 4. Retrieved January 12, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2182216)

As the following article indicates, though, it does not seem to have achieved the status of a staple in Australian cooking:

"MACARONI.   THIS nutritious and wholesome article of food is little used in this country. In Italy, however, its use is universal, often constitute- ing the principal food, or taking the place of fish, vegetables, and the desert generally in the regular dinner. It is also sold and eaten in the streets as freely as fruits are with us. Its use is extensive in France and Germany.

It consists of pure gluten, which element constitutes only three and one-half per cent. of wheat flour, and is wholly wanting in rye and oatmeal. The gluten, when wet, is a tough, elastic mass, of a yellowish brown color, and is obtained by dissolving out the starch and other constituents of the flour with cold water.

The process is as follows: The flour, having been made up into a soft dough, is placed on a fine sieve, over a vat of water, and is kneaded-in Italy with the feet --as long as the water which falls on it in a spray, runs through milky. The tenacious nature of the gluten prevents its passing through. Starch is manufactured from the contents of the vat.

The long, hollow tubes are formed by pressing the gluten through a peculiar shaped opening in a metalic plate; and this tubular form, so important to it in cooking is indispensable to the ... moist, rapidly tends to decomposition.

Counterfeit macaroni is made from flour, instead of from its gluten. It has, moreover, a starchy appearance; is more smooth and glossy than the genuine; is apt to be mouldy inside; is not as elastic; when broken, does not show the glossy fracture of the former; and in cooking becomes pasty, and does not preserve the tubular form. The genuine also -as the counterfeit does not- swells up to more than double its original thickness.

It would be a gain to our cookery if macaroni were in more common use among us."

MACARONI. (1879, June 21). The Bacchus Marsh Express (Vic. : 1866 - 1918), p. 4. Retrieved January 12, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article89702126

 Australian readers, what memories do you have of pasta growing up? Overseas readers, is pasta part of your food culture? If it is, when did it arrive?

"We know our duty...we perform it faithfully": Freedom of Expression, Even in 1856

The reason that newspaper archives provide such an excellent source of information about everyday life is in large part due to the newspaper editors' commitment to freedom of expression. While books are usually edited to appeal to the largest possible audience, a sizeable group of newspapers have always held themselves to a higher moral standard, and in doing so have preserved the culture of their day, warts and all.

In response to criticisms of letters they had published, the editors of the Freeman's Journal in 1856 angrily wrote:

"On the contrary, were we to refuse insertion to such letters, we should be arrogating to ourselves NOT the privilege of Editors, but the duties of censors. We are true friends of a free press, and as such must allow freedom of expression to our contributors. If we may not insert certain communications on account of their bad tone, it is equally certain that we have no right to ' dish them up,' — to emasculate them — to cut a sentence out here, and insert another there — to render a rough bushman's right, sturdy, and honest letter something nice — recherche — fit for elegant ladies to rend. We know our duty, and we think moreover, that every man of sense will acknowledge that we perform it faithfully."

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. (1856, January 19). Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), p. 2. Retrieved January 9, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article115563300

In light of the recent terrorist attack at the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, I think it is worth celebrating those editors, journalists and cartoonists who publish the unpopular, the controversial, and even the offensive.  They protect our liberty in the present day, and a more robust view of our culture in the historical record.

"Land Hunger"; or The Great Australian Dream

Commentators often note that the Australian obsession with home ownership is a cultural peculiarity. In Europe and Britain, where a great deal of Australians originated, renting is not seen as a financial black hole that will ruin your life, as it is here.

In Australia, every man's (or woman's) house is their castle. In the case of this 1860s house near Colac, it helped it that looked like an actual castle.

Image: THE RESIDENCE OF W. ROBERTSON, ESQ., NEAR COLAC. (1868, February 4). Illustrated Australian News for Home Readers (Melbourne, Vic. : 1867 - 1875), p. 5 Supplement: SUPPLEMENT TO THE ILLUSTRATED AUSTRALIAN NEWS

Reading very early newspaper articles from the Colonial Era gives interesting impressions about the reasons people came to the colony. The shared interests of these early colonists shaped the culture of our nation, and by all accounts one of the great draws of coming to Australia was owning property.

The following excerpt is from an advertisement for land in Colac, near Geelong. The language, though of course intended to persuade the reader, nevertheless used gives a clear idea of just how passionate the average colonist may have felt about the Great Australian Dream of land ownership:

"There is now no impediment to the gratification of land hunger to the extent of a man's means, and to all who covet a portion of the earth's surface, who wish   to try Sir Waiter Scott's recipe   for an appetite—" walk a mile or two on your own land before breakfast"; who wish to stamp their heel on the ground and say " this is mine from the surface to the centre

of gravity," now is the time."

 

THURSDAY MORNING, NOV. 15, 1860. (1860, November 15). Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1859 - 1924), p. 2. Retrieved January 7, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article148887775

 

It is also interesting to note that the view that one could own land was the basis for many misunderstandings between the European colonists and Indigenous Australians who see themselves as custodians rather than owners. When Indigenous people were offered goods by colonists to buy their land, they often thought they were being given a gift to allow the colonists safe passage through their tribe's territory. It must have been a nasty surprise indeed when the colonists began to set up a homestead instead of passing through.

 

Having said that, I fully admit to being a product of my culture. The day my wife and I bought our cottage was the culmination of a dream I have cherished since childhood. When I walk up the driveway of my cottage today, I may just give a little stamp, and say "this is mine from the surface to the centre of gravity".

A Miscellaneous New Year's Present

Happy New Year, cookery friends!

Often, when researching colonial era recipes or ingredients I come across things that aren't from Australia or the colonial era, but are jolly interesting nonetheless. This is one such thing, that I thought I'd share with you at New Year's.

How to Use Corn Meal, Oat Meal, Barley, Buckwheat, Potatoes, Rice, Etc., and Save Wheat Flour: Best War Time Recipes

When looking up Buckwheat recipes on Trove (the NLA database), I came across this little pamphlet from America during World War I. It suggests alternatives to traditional wheat bread, all of which can be made with baking powder. It was altruistically produced by the Royal Baking Co., who clearly believed in making the best of a bad situation.

A charming feature of this digitalised copy is the letter to the original recipient, scanned on the first page.

I hope you enjoy this little off-topic digression as much as I did.

Let me know if you try any of the recipes!