The 12th Symposium of Australian Gastronomy was held in Adelaide from 10th-13th March 2002. The theme was The Edible City: Ideas for Urban Gastronomy.
The Proceedings are currently available in the National Library of Australia and will later be available online here.
Jennifer Hillier’s report on the 12th Symposium is available below.
Jennifer Hillier’s Report
Adelaide’s belated summer provided perfect March weather for the Twelfth Symposium of Australian Gastronomy. The theme “The Edible City: Ideas for Urban Gastronomy” meshed with the Adelaide Festival 2002, when committee member (and associate Festival director ) Gay Bilson provided the city with “edible leis”, an “edible library” and “edible” hospital food.
The day sessions were in an airy room at the Mawson Institute of TAFE overlooking the once vibrant Port River, warehouses and tugs. With the bulk of the shipping moved to container terminals at Outer Harbour, the urban landscape is an eloquent reminder of the fate of port centres around Australia and around the world. Urban “renewal” and gentrification is on the way. Following patterns elsewhere, the Port Adelaide basin will soon be awash with yachts, but the tugs will be gone.
Visitors and locals enjoyed the river regardless; the quay outside our seminar room proved to be a great location for all the lunches. The prevailing ethos was one of simplicity, coherence and hospitality. The tradition of the banquet on the last night was inverted, the most elaborate of our meals being presented on the first night. The purpose of the meals was not to show off chefs. Each cook worked with the limits of the same bowl and the same plate – created especially for the symposium by Damon Moon — and a spoon and a splayd. The spoons were of anodised aluminium and crafted by Andrew Welch of the Jam Factory. They dipped into bowls of lemon gelato, tofu with ginger syrup, garlic mayonnaise and even balanced eggs in a race to revive us after our last lunch. They were carried on thongs like totemic leis around our necks. Mine is claret red and already my favourite piece of jewelry.
Evening meals were a ten minutes drive across the peninsula at the Largs Bay Sailing Club. While nothing to write home about architecturally, it offered two large club rooms, two bars, an adequate kitchen and stunning views of the Gulf of Saint Vincent and the jetties of both Semaphore and Largs. The first evening of welcome featured a return of bookseller Michael Treloar, jigs before and laments after supper played on the Irish bagpipes by Dicky Degan, and a talk by original Festival director Peter Sellars.
The table of superb Mezze was prepared by Brigita Turninski. On the second night Cheong Liew and Pangming Chiu cooked the comforting dish of boiled chicken from Hainan, followed by a gentle bowl of tender tofu with ginger syrup, fried pastries and red date tea — sustaining simplicity indeed! Our last ‘Beach Dinner’ consisted of Le Grand Aioli and Camembert made for the Symposium by Woodside Cheesewrights, fresh grapes and Gay Bilson’s Pamelas. Here finding inspiration in the simple yet refined festive tradition of the South of France, Cath Kerry guided her chef from the Art Gallery Café, Tania Cavaiuolo, who was helped by Jodie Polkinghorne.
Our menu of ‘Riverside Lunches’ featured on the first day: McLaren Vale olives, pesce in sabor with tommy ruff fillets, pesce gratinato with garfish, rocket, pink grapefruit and witloof salad, Parmigiano Regiano, taralli, Willunga almonds and gelato al limone. It was the perfect lunch :the fish was meltingly fresh, the parmesan delicious, the new season almonds a revelation. Thanks to Salvatore Pepe from Cibo Ristorante. On the second day, Russell Jeavons barbecued local blue swimmer crabs with vegetable salad and his wood oven wholemeal bread. For those willing, the picked crab shells didn’t got to waste, providing the flavour for a full bowl of broth.
Wines throughout the Symposium were mostly from Chain of Ponds, selected by Zar Brooks, with a contribution from Possum’s Vineyard McLaren Vale for the final dinner.
The food for thought took the form of extended conversations introduced by discussion papers. John Fitzpatrick and John Coveney led off with contributions on the relationships between cities and their broad environments. Jean Duruz described how contemporary urban kitchens are ‘haunted’ by the romanticised past, and Paul Van Reyk described food and sex in his utopias and dystopias. Stephanie Alexander explained her school garden and kitchen project at Collingwood College in Melbourne. These kids are also discovering how to dine together. Jill Stone gave an impressive account of her life growing herbs for an increasingly bureaucratised market place. Jane Adams described her experiences as a consultant working with local groups trying to establish farmers markets. Bob MacLennan explored the history of Beefsteak and Burgundy clubs in Brisbane. Former Lord Mayor and new Labor MP, Dr Jane Lomax Smith, outlined her vision for Adelaide, the gastronomic city. A session on the ‘Foodie Flaneur’ attracted a curator of European Art, Angus Trumble, a restaurateur, Scott Minervini, and an academic, Colin Sheringham.
Each day we heard stories of favourite ‘edible cities’ and ‘edible streets’ and each day participants described culinary objects brought for our ‘show and tells’. Many of these short statements were highlights of the symposium. Having inspired the ‘show and tells’ by agreeing to show her dinner sets, Cath Kerry capped off the session with an erudite talk on her fine collection. The counterpoint to the ‘private show and tell’ session on the first day was the ‘public show and tell’ on the second. This included Angus Trumble from the Art Gallery, Andrew Welch from the Jam Factory and Janice Lally, curator of the recent Jam Factory exhibition ‘The Ritual of Tea’.
Sessions were punctuated by our usual yummy contributed biscuits and Rio Coffee. During the afternoon tiny glasses of Gay’s limoncello were handed around.
Our summing-up breakfast was catered by Cath Kerry at the Art Gallery of SA Café — Watermelon juice with mint, fresh fruit, brik, gallette with goats curd, honey and dates. The brik was a revelation. Adapted from a Tunisian recipe, it consisted of breakfast eggs cooked to perfection totally enclosed in a fried pastry.
The next Symposium is to be held in Sydney in about eighteen months.
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