Lady Victoria Buxton, wife of the Governor of South Australia (1895 - 1899), described Adelaide in 1896 as a “Land of Cakes”.   Coming from a family focused on evangelical and community works she began the Lady Victoria Buxton Girls’ Club in 1898  under the guidance of the Anglican church, as an alternative for young working women of Adelaide instead of the beach or street; namely a club to provide rooms where girls might ‘meet for amusement and instruction’.  It then developed into a hostel for 25 girls until 1955.  Lady Buxton had undertaken similar projects in London and involving the YWCA before moving to Australia.

One of the primary means of fundraising for the Girls’ Club was the sale of The Kookaburra Cookery Book, the proceeds of which were used to purchase buildings for the Club’s use.  First published in 1911,  The Kookaburra Cookery Book was reprinted a number of times both in Adelaide and by E W Cole in Melbourne and was continuously in print until 1930.  Later editions had additional recipes,  and were occasionally bound in green cloth, but these additions didn’t change the focus of the book which was, despite 70 categories of recipt (over 1200 in all), predominantly baking and sweets (almost 1/3 of the book).

Most of the recipes are attributed to their contributor, some coming from far afield including NSW, Victora, Western Australia and the United Kingdom - even America.  Mrs P Stow (actually the whole Stow family) seems to have contributed a lot!  And we can thank Mrs Robertson of Melbourne for her dish of Savoury Oysters -

Season some oysters with lemon juice and cayenne.  Roll each in thin pieces of fat bacon, have ready some beaten egg into which dip each oyster and bacon, then put into pan of boiling fat and fry till brown, drain on paper and serve very hot on pieces of fried bread.

Predominantly English or French recipes, there is a smattering of recipes from the Indian Raj including kabobs, chutneys, curries etc with the odd helpful hint such as”never serve a curry as an entree, always after the piece or the joint”

Sadly, despite its name, there is almost no reference to native produce apart froma Kangaroo Tail soup and a Parrot Pie (which includes the useful advice to substitute quail!); definitely no Kookaburra dishes!

Not rare, but rarely not well used, we usually have one or two in store.  For anyone interested in early Federation cookery in Australia, this is a useful source.

Over the years, when asked what cookbook we would love to find a box of, the Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book (the one with ‘the train on the front’) always topped the list.

Published in 1980, it has sold well over half a million copies.  We’ve had countless requests going back years for copies, and have seen it advertised on eBay at over $100; we’ve had parents, grandparents, Aunts & Godparents all chasing it, keen to reproduce the cakes of their children or childhood for the latest generation of Australian kids.

There has even been a show: Josh Earl vs The Australian Women’s Weekly Children’s Birthday Cake Book recently featured at the Melbourne Comedy Festival and around Australia (see reviews); by all accounts very funny & distinctly Australian.

Tim’s first cake was a soccer field ( an adaptation of the cricket pitch ) and he still remembers the addictively sweet, oddly compelling green dessicated coconut grass.  Months would be spent combing over the book making strategic decisions about what cake one should ask for.  With siblings you always had to make sure they didn’t gazump your favourite cake!

So imagine our excitement, when the Australian Women’s Weekly announced they would reissue it as a vintage edition - almost exactly as it was!  A bit like counting down to your birthday, we’ve been counting down the days until it was available to bookstores.

The wave of nostalgia has been almost a tsunami.  We’ve had copies in the window for only a few days and everyone who has picked it up has told us about the cakes they had as a child, the cakes they desired (and not always got) and  the first cake they are going to make when they get home!

Even if you think you have too many cookbooks, you do need this one.  Why don’t you tell us about your favourite cake!

Instore now at $14.95

When we first heard of Penguin’s plan to publish what could be described as ‘Popular Penguins’ for foodies, we were pretty excited.  The idea of having morsels, tidbits, appetisers and amuse bouches as books that we could read, collect (and sell) was mouthwatering.  To be able to dip into MFK Fisher and then taste Elizabeth David, Eliza Acton and Hannah Glasse in digestible bites seemed perfect.

And so they are - all 20 titles are interesting, exciting & evocative - truly covetable.  The authors & texts are drawn from over 4 centuries, several continents, the formal and domestic, food writing and instructional manuals.  They each mark a point in the history of food. But what has made them truly stand out - is their jackets.

The jackets were designed by one of Penguin’s senior designers, Coralie Bickford-Smith, who has used an appropriate period ceramic tile/style as the background for each title.  As with all good food, its the garnishes that make the difference;in this case embossed/textured lettering & calligraphy by Stephen Raw & clever graphic details such as the penguin logo armed with a knife & fork.

These are our favourites at the moment, if we have a quibble, its that we would have loved a slipcase to put them into…but then we wouldn’t see the jackets!

The series was the inspiration of Pen Vogler at Penguin and the publishing story can be found at her blog Pen’s Great Food Club.

The twenty titles are: Dr A W Chase  Buffalo Cake and Indian Pudding; Isabella Beeton Campaign for Domestic Happiness, Alexis Soyer  Chef at War, Charles Lamb Dissertation Upon Roast Pig and Other Essays, Calvin Trillin Eating with the Pilgrims and Other Pieces, Eliza Acton Elegant Economist, Hannah Glasse Everlasting Syllabub and the Art of Carving, Pellegrino
Artusi Exciting Food for Southern Types, Alexandre Dumas From Absinthe to Zest: An Alphabet for Food Lovers, Samuel Pepys Joys of Excess, Agnes Jekyll Little Dinner Before the Play, MFK Fisher  Love in a Dish and Other Pieces, Claudia Roden Middle Eastern Feast, Alice B Toklas Murder in the Kitchen, Colonel Wyvern Notes from Madras:, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin Pleasures of the Table, Alice Waters Recipes and Lessons from a Delicious Cooking Revolution, William Verrall Recipes from the White Hart Inn, Elizabeth David  Taste of the Sun, & Gervase Markham Well-Kept Kitchen.

Oh, and they are a steal at 9.95 each - check them out instore