Worldwide Cookbooks

The Consumer Viewpoint

SIMPLE ITALIAN COOKERY

American Woman's Home

Art of Living in Australia

Cooking Eggs

Elegant Art of Dining

Guide to Marketing and Cooking

Italian Recipes

Meal Preparation

School and Home Cooking

Physiology of Taste

Tried and True Recipes

Library of Cookery

Hans Christian Andersen . American Fairy Tales . Grimm's Fairy Tales

Aesop's Fables - Tales with Morals . Mother Goose . Mother Goose in Prose

PREFACE.


Although this work fully deals with all the many matters connected with
the art of living in Australia, its principal object is the attempt to
bring about some improvement in the extraordinary food-habits at
present in vogue. For years past the fact that our people live in
direct opposition to their semi-tropical environment has been
constantly before me. As it will be found in the opening portion of the
chapter on School Cookery, the consumption of butcher's meat and of tea
is enormously in excess of any common sense requirements, and is
paralleled nowhere else in the world. On the other hand, there has been
no real attempt to develop our deep-sea fisheries; market gardening is
deplorably neglected, only a few of the more ordinary varieties being
cultivated; salads, which are easily within the daily reach of every
home, are conspicuous by their absence; and Australian wine, which
should be the national beverage of every-day life, is at table--almost
a curiosity.

Nearly three years have been occupied in the preparation of this
volume, as several of the subjects it treats of have hitherto remained
practically unexplored. This statement is not intended to excuse
any shortcomings, but simply to explain the impediments which had to be
overcome. There has been some little difficulty, therefore, in
obtaining information in many instances. At the same time, it must be
cheerfully recorded that assistance was freely forthcoming on the part
of those from whom it was sought. Quite a number have been interviewed
on the topics with which they were familiar; and on several occasions
this has necessitated journeys out of Sydney on the writer's part. With
the object of making inquiries into the fish supply of Melbourne, also,
a special visit was paid to that city. And further, in order to gain an
insight into vineyard work and cellar management, an instructive time
was passed at Dr. T. Fiaschi's magnificent Tizzana vineyard on the
Hawkesbury River.

It may seem to savour somewhat of boldness, yet I hazard the opinion
that the real development of Australia will never actually begin till
this wilful violation of her people's food-life ceases. For let us
suppose that the semi-tropical character of our Australian life was
duly appreciated by one and all. If such were the case--and I would it
were so--there would be a wonderful change from the present state of
affairs. But as it is, the manners and customs of the Australians are a
perpetual challenge to the range of temperature in which they live.
Indeed, the form of food they indulge in proves incontestably
that they have never yet realized their semi-tropical environment. With
a proper recognition of existing climatic surroundings there would be
an overwhelming demand for more fish food; for something better than
the present Liliputian supply; and for the creation of extensive deep-sea
fisheries. Fish in Australia is nothing more than a high-priced
luxury, although projects for the development of the deep-sea fisheries
have been repeatedly suggested. Somehow or other we never get beyond
this stage, and as a consequence the yield from our fisheries is simply
pitiable. A widespread use of fish and an adequate fish supply would
give employment to hundreds and to thousands. As I have pointed out in
the chapter relating to this subject, the want of enterprise shown in
starting our deep-sea fisheries is an inexplicable anomaly. If the
Australian people had sprung from an inland race, this would not,
perhaps, have been so difficult to understand. But coming, as we do,
from a stock the most maritime the world has ever seen, such a defect
is not to our credit as inheritors of the old traditions.

Nor can it be pretended that market gardening has ever been taken up
seriously, if we apply the statement to Australia as a whole. It is
true that Sydney and Melbourne, and possibly Adelaide and Brisbane,
have made an attempt in this direction. But even with this
admission there is not much reason for congratulation from an olitory
point of view. Few--only very few--of the more commonly known
varieties are grown. For if the potato and the cabbage were taken away,
Australia would be almost bereft of vegetables. There are, however,
many others, which are delicious and wholesome, which are easily grown,
and which would make a pleasing addition to the present monotonously
restricted choice. And there is something even more than all this. It
is, that market gardening is a healthy and profitable calling; that it
settles the people on the land; and that it creates a class of small
landed proprietors--the very bone and sinew of any population.

In the chapter relating to Australian Food Habits it will be found that
many of these desirable vegetables are enumerated. Their good qualities
are highly appreciated on the Continent and elsewhere, and there is no
earthly reason why they should not be grown here. The history of the
introduction of the tomato into Australia is instructive in this
connection. For years and years it struggled desperately, but
unsuccessfully, for a place, and the attempt to bring it into use was
on the point of being abandoned in consequence. But at last its
undeniable merits were acknowledged, and to-day it is in universal
request. Now, it is perfectly safe to assume that the same recognition
would be awarded to many other vegetables vegetables at present
practically unknown in Australia. For instance, sweet corn--which,
however, must not be confused with Indian corn--is of exquisite
flavour, almost melting in the mouth, while it possesses also eminently
nourishing properties. It is a great favourite with Americans, and
hundreds of acres are required annually for the New York markets alone.

But if there is one desirable form of food which we should expect to
find in daily use by the whole Community, it is surely the salad. More
than this, it deserves to meet with favour as a national dish. It takes
pre-eminent rank in Southern Europe, and is certainly entitled to
occupy a similar high position in the Australian food list.
Unfortunately there is just the same story to tell, and the strange
neglect of salads can only be expressed by the term incomprehensible.
It is a waste-saving dish; it is wholesome, in that it is purifying to
the blood; it is full of infinite variety; and its low price brings it
within easy every-day reach even of the humblest dwelling. But, as
things are, even the salad plants themselves are represented by a
meagre list, and are confined to only few varieties. And as far as
salad herbs are concerned, they are literally unknown.

Now, although I am strongly of opinion that a more widespread use of
fish, vegetables, and salads in Australia would be attended by the
happiest results (both by benefiting the national health and by
developing Australia's food-industries), yet it must not be understood
that I countenance vegetarianism. So far from being a vegetarian, I am
one of those who firmly believe in the advantages derived from a mixed
diet. But my assertion is that we in Australia habitually consume an
injurious amount of meat to the exclusion of far more needed
nourishment. The golden rule as far as the Australian dietary is
concerned is a minimum of meat, and a relatively maximum amount of the
other classes of food. The influence which food exercises upon health
is a matter of far-reaching importance, in that it affects the daily
life of the whole population. Amongst others, the following medical
writers--Sir James Risdon Bennett, Dr. J. Milner Fothergill, Dr. T.
King Chambers, and Dr. J.H. Bennett--have in the past contributed much
to this subject. In the present day, Sir Henry Thompson, Sir William
Roberts, Dr. T. Lauder Brunton, Dr. F.W. Pavy, Dr. Burney Yeo, and many
more have given their advocacy to the same purpose. It is urged by all
these authorities that there is a needless consumption of animal food
even in the old country, and they all agree that an exaggerated value
is attached to butcher's meat on the part of the public. If
representative medical opinion thus protests against the use of an
unnecessary amount of animal diet in the climatic conditions obtaining
in the United Kingdom, how much more would the misuse of the
same food in a semi-tropical climate like Australia be disapproved of!
Indeed, I am perfectly certain, that were those who have given
attention to food and dietetics in possession of the facts, they would
unhesitatingly condemn the grotesque inversion of food-habits at
present in vogue throughout Australia. There is one very important
matter which unquestionably requires to have special attention drawn to
it. I refer to the customary Australian mid-day meal. Strange to say,
all through the hot season, as well as the rest of the year, this
consists in most cases of a heavy repast always comprising meat. Why,
even in the cooler months, a ponderous meal of this kind is not
required! My own views are that meat in the middle of the day is quite
unnecessary, and, indeed, during the hot months actually prejudicial.
Most people in Australia, after a fair trial, will find that a lunch of
some warm soup, with a course perhaps of some fish, and vegetables, or
salad, or whatever it may be to follow, will not only be ample, but
will give them a sensation of buoyancy in the afternoon they never
before experienced. Among the recipes will be found many which may help
to bring about a reform in this respect. The heavier meal should
certainly be towards the evening after the sun-heat of the day is over,
at which time it is more enjoyed and better digested.

Having thus far referred to our totally inadequate supply of
fish food, of vegetables, and of salad plants and herbs, there is still
the great Australian wine industry to consider. At present only in its
swaddling clothes, it is destined before very long to enter upon its
vigorous life. There was an eminent French naturalist, M.F. Peron, sent
out to Australia by the Emperor Napoleon during the years 1801 to 1804
inclusive. A shrewd observer, he saw even at that early period of
Australian history that there were unequalled possibilities for her
wine. In the course of his interesting narrations he remarks:--"By one
of those chances which are inconceivable, Great Britain is the only one
of the great maritime powers which does not cultivate the vine, either
in its own territories or its colonies; notwithstanding, the
consumption of wine on board its fleets and throughout its vast regions
is immense."

In the whole of Australia the annual production of wine is only a
little over three million gallons; but in France, as well as in Italy,
it is nearly 800 million gallons. These two countries together,
therefore, every year produce about 1,596 million gallons more wine
than Australia. These stupendous figures reveal very plainly what an
enormous expansion awaits our wine industry.

The colossal growth of the wool trade is in striking contrast to the
puny dimensions of the wine industry. In 1805 the exportation of wool
from Australia was "nil." In 1811 it reached to the modest amount of
167 lbs., while Spain exported 6,895,525 lbs. In 1861 the exportation
of wool from Australia increased to 68,428,000 lbs., whilst from Spain
it fell to 1,268,617 lbs. And lastly, in 1891 the amount of wool
exported from Australia reached the majestic figures of 593,830,153
lbs., representing a value of 20,569,093 pounds. If New Zealand be
included, the total export attains to 710,392,909 lbs., having a value of
24,698,779 pounds. It must be borne in mind that these figures represent
only the wool actually exported, and do not include that kept back for
Australian requirements. As I have pointed out in the beginning of the
chapter on Australian wine, if the latter industry had increased in
similar proportion, Australia's prosperity would be second to none in
the world.

There are some other striking figures which are well worth referring
to. The city of Paris alone requires nearly 300,000 gallons of wine
daily. Now, the total yearly wine production of the whole of Australia
is but a little over three million gallons. It will follow from the
preceding, then, that the single city of Paris itself would consume in
12 days all the wine which the whole of Australia takes 12 MONTHS to
make.

The future prosperity of Australia, at least to a very great extent, is
wrapped up in her wine industry; for its development means much more
than a large export trade to other countries. It means, in
fact, the use of Australian wine as a national and every-day wholesome
beverage; it means the covering of the land with smiling vineyards; it
means employment and a healthy calling literally to thousands upon
thousands; and, lastly, it means settlement upon the land, and a more
diffused distribution of the population throughout Australia.

It must be remembered that the nervous system is far more susceptible
to the effects of alcohol in a warm than in a cooler climate. It is
said that in Southern Europe there are very few water drinkers, but
that, on the other hand, there are very few who indulge in strong
drink. The system does not feel to want the strong alcohol, so to
speak. A weaker wine in a warm climate produces the same feeling of
exhilaration that one of greater alcoholic strength does in colder
countries. We shall not go far wrong in Australia if we stick to our
own natural wines. As it will be found in the chapter on Australian
wine, the every-day wine for Australian use is a wine of low alcoholic
strength; a wine of which a tumblerful may be taken with benefit; a
wine, indeed, which is beneficial, cheering, hygienic, restorative, and
wholesome.

By reason of his semi-tropical climate the Australian is bathed in an
atmosphere of sunshine. This has a distinct effect upon the blood, for
the action of sunlight upon this fluid is to redden it--a fact which
has for ages been dwelt upon by the poets. But for a scientific
explanation of this effect of sunlight in reddening the blood we must
turn to the spectrum analysis. The visible solar spectrum as shown
through a prism by the ordinary sunbeam is made up of the seven
different colours, namely, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo,
and violet. Instead of consisting simply of white light as a whole, it
is now universally accepted that in this spectrum different properties
belong to different parts. Light or luminous power to one portion; heat
or calorific power to another; and chemical power or actinism to a
third.

The visible solar or Newtonian luminous spectrum, resulting from the
decomposition of white light by a prism, is only the middle portion of
the whole solar spectrum. Beyond the red end there are rays possessing
still greater-heating effect; and beyond the violet extremity there are
rays endowed with far more powerful chemical action. The violet, and
especially these latter ultra-violet rays, redden the life stream by
increasing the haemoglobin--that crystallizable body which forms so
large a portion of the coloured corpuscles of the blood. Sunlight,
moreover, has not only this action upon the animal kingdom, but also
upon the vegetable world as well Plants, like celery, which are
subjected to blanching, become whitened under the process of
etiolation. This is due to the absence of chlorophyll, the
green colouring matter of plants, which can only be developed by the
presence of light. The tops of celery, being unearthed, retain their
green colour, while the stem embedded in the soil acquires its familiar
whiteness.

Many philosophical writers, notably David Hume and Charles Comte, C.
Montesquieu in his L'Esprit des Lois, and Henry Thomas Buckle in his
HISTORY OF CIVILISATION IN ENGLAND, have dilated upon the influence
which climate exerts over race, and all their forceful opinions are to
the effect that the character of a people is moulded by climatic
conditions. More than this, the same new was entertained by the classic
writers; for we find the philosopher and orator Cicero recording his
belief that "Athens has a light atmosphere, whence the Athenians are
thought to be more keenly intelligent; Thebes a dense one, and the
Thebans fat-witted accordingly." Again, Horace, the poet and satirist,
has given us the famous passage:--" You would swear he (Alexander the
Great) was born in the dense atmosphere of the Boeotians."

But the influence of climate is not confined to ordinary conditions
alone, because without the shadow of a doubt it controls disease as
well. As it is well known, certain diseases are peculiar to, and
confined to, certain regions. And, moreover, a malady will vary in its
type in different zones. Thus the disease known as rickets is
in the old country marked in many cases by bending of the bones, giving
rise to deformities of the limbs, &c. The Australian type of the
disorder, however, is milder altogether, and is of a different
character. The Australian child is straight-limbed almost without
exception, yet the Australian type of rickety disease, as I pointed out
in 1891, is quite a definite affection.

At the Congress of Naturalists and Physicians at Strasburg in 1885 the
great German pathologist, Professor Virchow, called attention to a
sphere of research in which, he alleged, neither the French nor the
English had hitherto accomplished anything of importance, namely, the
modifications of the organism, and particularly of the special
alterations of each organ, connected with the phenomena of
acclimatization. This reproach cannot be denied. We have not yet
reached the stage in Australia of noting the effect which climate has
upon the system in general, much less of inquiring into the changes
which occur in such organs as the liver, spleen, &c. But apart from
investigating the phenomena of acclimatization, it is very plain that
the people of Australia have never given any heed to their semitropical
climate, or else the food-faults now universally practised would have
been rectified long before this.

It has always been a matter of interesting speculation as to what the
characteristic type of the future Australian will be. But reflections
of this kind can only be in the right direction by bearing in mind the
ever-present climatic conditions. Climate is of all forces the most
irresistible; for, on the one hand, the Great Desert of Sahara could
not be crossed in an Arctic costume and on Esquimaux diet; nor, on the
other, could the Polar regions be explored in a Hindoo garb and on
Oriental fare. And though blood is thicker than water, yet the
resistless influence of a semi-tropical range of temperature will be to
imprint on the descendants of the present inhabitants of Australia some
marked peculiarities of skin-colour, of facial expression, of lingual
accent, and perhaps even of bodily conformation.

Quite recently an observing writer, in a keenly analytical if somewhat
facetious article, gave it as his opinion that the coming Australians
will be as follows:--"They will not be so entirely agricultural as the
Americans were; they will be horsemen, not gig-drivers. Descended from
adventurers, not from Puritans, and eager, as men of their climate must
be, for pleasant lives, they will thirst for dependent possessions, for
gardens where fortunes grow. The early Americans were men of austere
temper, who led, on an ungrateful soil, lives of permanent hardship.
They had to fight the sea, the snow, the forest, the Indians, and their
own hearts. The Australians, with a warmer climate, without Puritan
traditions, with wealth among them from the first, will be a
softer, though not a weaker people; fonder of luxury, and better fitted
to enjoy Art, with an appreciation of beauty which the Americans have
never shown. They will be a people growing and drinking wine, caring
much for easy society, addicted to conversation, and never happy
without servants. The note of discontent which penetrates the whole
American character will be absent."

From the climatic standpoint alone it is safe to predict that the
future Australian will be more nearly akin to the inhabitants of
Southern Europe than to his progenitors in the old country; though,
naturally, there will be considerable diversity between the native born
of the various regions, covering as they do such a vast extent of
territory. The ample opportunities for outdoor life will do much
towards ensuring physical development. And, finally, the imaginative
faculties will be very active, and it is quite permissible to hope that
in time there will be a long roll of artists, musicians, and poets.

As it will be seen, a considerable portion of this work is taken up
with the practical side of living, as exemplified by the Australian
Cookery Recipes. From the very first it was recognised that it was
imperative to include them within its compass. It occurred to me,
however, that this important department would better be undertaken by
someone thoroughly conversant with the subject. With this object
in view, therefore, I submitted to Mrs. H. Wicken what I required. I
knew Mrs. Wicken to be well qualified for the task from the following
facts, namely, that she had previously been successful in her culinary
writings; that she was a Diplomee of the National Training School for
Cookery, South Kensington; and that she occupied the responsible post
of lecturer to the Technical College, Sydney. My propositions were that
the recipes were to be written purely for Australian use, and that they
were to be of the strictly economical order. Mrs. Wicken accepted the
task, and it can only be hoped that her efforts will meet with the
approbation they deserve.

In their original form the three chapters on Australian Food Habits,
Australian Fish and Oysters, and on Salads, appeared in THE DAILY
TELEGRAPH, Sydney. I take this opportunity, therefore, of expressing my
sense of obligation to the Proprietors thereof for their courtesy in
permitting me to make complete use of these three contributions. As
they now appear in chapters they have been revised, considerably
altered, and materially added to, for the purposes of reproduction in
book form.

143, Elizabeth Street
Hyde Park, Sydney
September 1893




EPIGRAPH


A farmer being on the point of death, and wishing to show his sons the
way to success in farming, called them to him and said--"My children I
am now departing this life, but all that I have to leave you, you will
find in the vineyard." The sons, supposing that he referred to some
hidden treasure, as soon as the old man was dead, set to work with
their spades and ploughs and every implement that was at hand, and
turned up the soil over and over again. They found indeed no treasure;
but the vines, strengthened and improved by this thorough tillage,
yielded a finer vintage than they had ever yielded before, and more
than repaid the young husbandmen for all their trouble. So truly is
industry in itself a treasure.--THE FABLES OF AESOP.