History Week Events Next Week

History Week 2011 kicks off next week and this year’s theme is one I will enjoy – “Eat History”. The aim is to take everyone across the food and fads of history, what we ate, where it came from and why it ended up on our tables. From our City’s perspective, “Eat History” will be about where it came from.

We’ve got two events for History Week and both will be at the Mascot Library and Museum, at 2 Hatfield Street, Mascot. There’s a one day event and an exhibition that runs through until March next year. First, the one-off. Our City used to be the location of the David Gelatine factory – now an apartment complex, which shows how we’ve changed. But long before TV cooking shows and celebrity chefs, our own Davis Gelatine encouraged home cooks to get away from bangers and mash, or chops or steak and be adventurous. Dainty dishes was the clarion call of this local manufacturer and through exotic moulds, cook books and some strong presentations at the Royal Easter Show (when it was at the Showgrounds) Australian cooking made perhaps it biggest change prior to the influx of European and Asian influences. David Gelatine was Australia’s biggest exporter of manufactured goods prior to the Second World War and was both a local and national landmark.

So, on September 17 the Mascot Library will host a locally-oriented discussion “Dainty Dishes; The Story of Davis Gelatine”, commencing at 2.00pm. It’s free but you will need to book, which you can by calling our library staff on 9366-3888. The second event is an exhibition “Made in Botany: The history of Manufacturing in the City of Botany Bay”. The most known – and eaten – food manufactured in our City comes from Kellogg’s. Corn flakes through to the myriad of breakfast cereals have all come from the manufacturing plant established in 1928. The exhibition will feature the old cereal boxes, photos and much more. Again the exhibition (which runs from September 5 through to March 2, 2012) is free and you don’t need to book. The Museum is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 12.00pm and 5.00pm and on Tuesday and Thursday between 9.00am and 2.00pm. Both the talk and the exhibition give a great representation of the food history of our City.