Author Jacqui Newling with her new book, Eat Your HIstory: A Shared Table, at Vaucluse House, Sydney. Photograph by Jenny McInerney.

Jacqui Newling, Eat Your History: Stories and Recipes from Australian Kitchen (Kensington, New South Wales: Sydney Living Museums and Newsouth Books, 2015), 1–272. ISBN: 9 781 74223 468 7. RRP: $49.99

As curator and resident gastronomer at the Museum of Sydney, Jacqui Newling gives us a unique perspective on culinary history of Australia. Weaving together the available produce of the day and stories from the simplest or best equipped kitchens, Newling gives us a rich understanding of the ingenuity and skills of the women whose recipes are available here to try. Adapting English recipes to use wonga pigeon or wallaby added colour to colonial times but the flavours often depended on your economic status. Mustards, cloves, nutmeg or cinnamon could only be afforded by wealthier households but ginger was much more affordable so enjoying the Gingernuts gave me a new appreciation their social status and flavour! Well indexed and beautifully illustrated, the stories and recipes add a new dimension to ‘making do’ – preserving, waiting for the iceman or the milko, or coping with early Kooka stoves.  

Jacqui Newling, Eat Your History: Stories and Recipes from Australian Kitchen (Kensington, New South Wales: Sydney Living Museums and Newsouth Books, 2015), 1–272. ISBN: 9 781 74223 468 7. RRP: $49.99

While the stories continue through post-war migration of the 1960s and 70s, the emphasis is very much on the first century of our culinary history – making it an ideal read for anyone who wants to appreciate our social history through the table we sat at or the food that was served. And it gave me some great ideas for sharing the four generations of handwritten recipes I’ve inherited of my own family’s journey through food. Jenny McInerney, 2015 Available from Sydney's Living Museums, New South Books and all good book stores!