"The Pursuit of Happiness from Colony to Republic"
Hobart, 26-29 September 1999
Report by Colin Sheringham
Any conference that has the theme 'the pursuit of happiness' and begins with a jostle to gain a drink at the bar of one of Hobart's oldest pubs would seem to be off to a flying start. The ceremonial cutting of an aged wheel of Heidi gruyère, a simple but refined onion soup, an impassioned description of Robyn Black's Sunday night dinners shared by family and friends, a step back into history to the life and times of Edward Abbott set the scene for the 11th Symposium of Australian gastronomy.
Up early, a brisk walk round Constitution dock, a picturesque bus drive through the hinterland to Peter Althaus' Stoney Vineyard a welcome expresso on the terrace, then into the cask room for the first of the paper sessions. Surrounded by casks of fermenting wine the opening panel began the fermentation of ideas with a set of themes that would be picked up during the following days. Genetically modified food, food in a societal context and the sheer passion for quality ingredients.
The following papers did not seem to deliver their full potential, complex ideas presented verbally without time for reflexion. Lunch provided the opportunity to return to our colonial past, pay tribute to the art of the charcutier and enjoy the quality of Tasmanian ingredients. With the stomach now full the afternoon sessions saw the group divided into various salons to wrestle with (admittedly briefly) weighty gastronomic issues.
That night buoyed by a sense of Hobart's history delegates were led to the Long Gallery in Salamanca Place. Waiting was a sensual feast featuring Nubian kids roasted and place whole in the centre of a long table where we were forced to dismember the animal with our hands.
Tuesday's papers seemed more accessible than the previous day's, Rosemary Stanton sparking numerous questions concerned with genetically modified foods, Anita Stewart's poetic description of the foods of Canada, but for me the highlight was the first real debate at this symposium on the merits of Edward Abbot's cookery book.
The banquet, despite its setting on the stage of the Theatre Royal, lacked a sense of theatre that has come to be so much a part of the final diner; the food however was not wanting. The hot-smoked atlantic salmon amply demonstrating the super quality of Tasmanian produce.
One theme that had been developed throughout the symposium concerned the passion and devotion that goes into the production of quality ingredients. The final session panel of local producers left no doubt that the pursuit of excellence is alive and well in Tasmania.
Colin Sheringham is Lecturer Hospitality Management at the University of Western Sydney - Hawkesbury.
His own contribution to the Symposium, entitled "Making a Meal in the New Millennium", was a provocative examination of attitudes toward food from the ancient world to the present.
