If you walked past Meroogal on your way to the show you may have sampled some 19th century fare. Continue reading
…And the winners are!
Cattle resting at the Nowra Show, February 2016. (c) Scott Hill, Sydney Living Museums
Posts in the category: Meroogal
Birds of a feather – rosella jam
Crimson Rosella. Pennantian P[arrot] (Detail). Watercolour on paper watermarked ‘J Whatman’. Volume 04: Zoology of N. [New] Holland etc. [Album view] item 43. © State Library of New South Wales PXD 1098 / vol. 4
Taking advantage of the relative calm that the new year has brought, I’ve been savouring some of the manuscript and heirloom recipes in our collections. Expect to find in the next few weeks a thatched roof pie, a meat souffle and sago plum pudding, but today’s pick is ‘Rosella Jam’. Continue reading
Off to the Nowra show!
At the Nowra show, ca1910. From 'Shoalhaven scenes and people; Cyrus S Moss photographer. State Library of NSW ON436
Agricultural shows have always been centers for display as much as community get-togethers. For the inhabitants of Meroogal the annual Nowra show – which opens next week – was an anticipated event, and not just because they were its immediate neighbors. Continue reading
Eat your history – the book!
Jacqui Newling, author of Eat your history: stories and recipes from Australian kitchens Photo © James Horan for Sydney Living Museums
Handwritten recipes passed through the generations, tales of goats running wild in colonial gardens and early settlers’ experimentation with native foods…
Eat your history dishes up stories and recipes for Australian kitchens and dining tables from 1788 to the 1950s.Jacqui Newling, resident gastronomer at Sydney Living Museums, invites you to share forgotten tastes and lost techniques, and to rediscover some delicious culinary treasures. Continue reading
Spring has sprung!
Damson plum blossom at Meroogal. Photo (c) Scott Hill for Sydney Living Museums
It looks like Spring has well and truly arrived at Meroogal, with the damson plum bursting into bloom by the side of the house! Continue reading
Of sideboards and serving tables – parte the seconde
Regency sideboard in the dining room of Leslie Walford's apartment (detail). Photo © Brenton McGeachie for Sydney Living Museums
If you were looking at sideboards for your 1830s colonial house the biggest issues you faced, apart from style and cost, was the sheer size of the thing! Perhaps a chiffonier was the answer. Continue reading
‘At home’
Thorburn family tea service and manuscript recipe book in the Eat your history: a shared table exhibition, 2014. Photo © Jamie North for Sydney Living Museums
On the first Monday of each month the Thorburn sisters, Belle (Annabella), Kate (Jessie Catherine), Georgina and Tot (Kennina) entertained ‘At home’ at Meroogal. ‘At homes’ were something of an institution from the 1880s and survived well into the 1920s. Continue reading
Anzacs in civvies
Anzac biscuits. Photo © Jacqui Newling
It’s Anzac week and as Sydney and surrounds grapple with a third day of wild rain storms, we can barely complain when we think of what conditions front-line soldiers endure for weeks, sometimes months, on end. Many of us take added comfort on Anzac Day, from baking Anzac biscuits, which fills the kitchen with inviting aromas. Continue reading
Christmas cookery
Christmas rum balls. Photo Jacqui Newling © Sydney Living Museums
T’is the week before Christmas – and egads! I’d better get on with the festive fare. It’s not too late to make a pudding, for the family table or as a gift for friends, or home made treats that follow long-standing Christmas traditions. Continue reading
The ‘cocoanut’ ice challenge
'Cocoanut' ice. Photo Jacqui Newling © Sydney Living Museums
“½ cup of milk, 2 cups of sugar, 25 grams copha, 3/4 cup of coconut. How hard can it be to make coconut ice?” For the past few months a dedicated team of passionate and curious volunteer cooks have been testing out manuscript recipes from our families’ collections. One of the team, Paula Southcombe, reflects on one of the more challenging recipes: Continue reading