BOOK telling the story of how a highly successful Gawler cookbook raised money for charity and recorded 600 recipes from around the region has been nominated for a global award.
South Australian author Liz Harfull’s book ‘Tried, Tested and True’, recounts the creation of the ‘The Modern Athens Cookery Book’, which was created in Gawler in 1927.
‘The Modern Athens Cookery Book’ was published as part of an annual charity carnival held in Gawler to generate funds for a range of local organisations that provided health care services and support to underprivileged people.
The name of the cookbook stemmed from Gawler’s 1800s nickname of ‘Modern Athens’ due to the towns’ highly intellectual and civic reputation – similar to the ancient Greek capital.
Two volunteers, Florence Barnet, whose family owned The Bunyip at the time, and Laura Farrelly compiled the cookbook by themselves.
The pair put the word out in an edition of The Bunyip that they were looking for 500 recipes.
Within days, almost double the required recipes were submitted to Mrs Barnet and Miss Farrelly, with 600 ultimately chosen to be included in the cookbook.
The book sold 500 copies within hours of its release and two more editions had to be printed within days to meet the demand.
Mrs Harfull said what began as an investigation in to charity cookbooks quickly drew her to the old Gawler book.
“My focus was cookbooks produced to raise money for worthy causes, covering a period of about 100 years, starting in the 1890s,” she said.
“Many of them were humble publications, but they came with a promise.
“People knew the recipes would be reliable because they were usually donated by home cooks with a reputation for excellence.
“In the case of the Gawler cookbook, I was initially drawn by the title.
It seemed very cosmopolitan for that period in our history to have a Greek cookery book.
“Of course, on closer inspection I discovered it had nothing to do with Greek cooking at all, so I was immediately curious how the title came about.”
Mrs Harfull’s book has been shortlisted for the ‘best book based around an aspect of food heritage’ at the Gourmand Awards, which
celebrate the best food and wine books, magazines and digital content from around the world.
The award ceremony will take place in Macau on July 4.
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