The Mayor's Column
One of my treasured possessions is a cookbook, a modest, tattered paperback publication, handed down to me by my mother. It is a cookbook compiled by the women of Orange, the central western NSW town in which I grew up. More than a cookbook, it is a social history of the town, the times and the people.
Many Australian towns and suburbs used to publish such cookbooks to raise money, maybe for the school or the hospital. According to my mother, it was prestigious to have your recipe printed and a lot of thought went into the woman’s choice. Men did certainly not feature in cookbooks in those days!
The Orange Recipe Giftbook reflected the times in the 50s when meat was expensive, hence recipes for “Mock Chicken” and Christmas “ham” made from mutton. Household hints included making your own soap. Backyards had space for chooks, vegetables and fruit trees and women preserved their own fruit.
Reading the old recipes fills me with nostalgia and admiration for my mother, for her skill and ingenuity as a cook in providing delicious meals for a family of six children on a limited budget.
These cookbooks thus become family treasures and much more than a collection of recipes to be jettisoned when food fads change. My sisters and I are in hysterics when reading some of the old recipes and remembering our childhood.
Mosman has had some such books compiled over the years. The last one was in 1983.
Thanks to our Young Achiever Group, Mosman is about to have a ‘2008 Mosman Cookbook’.
The Young Achievers are sponsored by Mosman Council on an annual basis. This year there are 13 Year 11 students from local schools taking part in the programme. They learn to develop and run a real life business under the supervision of adult mentors. They conduct market research, develop action plans and are introduced to finance, budgeting and cash flows.
They plan to design, produce and sell a cookbook which will be “a celebration of everything quintessentially Mosman.” With contributions from well-known restaurants, cafes and residents, this will reflect the cultural cuisine of our times.
I am submitting a favourite recipe. Would you like to contribute? Please send your recipes and any Mosman photos, plus a short piece about what Mosman means to you to maniya@live.com.au or drop them in to Mosman Council by Friday 27 June, marked to the attention of ‘Sarah Edwardes, Youth Development Officer’.
Young Achievers will let you know where to buy the Mosman Cookbook..
Cr Denise Wilton, Mayor of Mosman
