They explain that when The Barossa Cookery Book was published, it almost exclusively omitted the recipe contributors’ first names, referring to them with their husbands’ name instead.
As Sheralee says, “[Women] were identified with their husbands’ names because the husband was the important one, and she was just an accessory.”
We’ve come a long way in the last century, and Those Barossa Girls realise it’s time the women behind these recipes be given the same recognition as their cooking.
They’re asking questions like who was the woman? What was her life? What is her story?
The answers they’re uncovering are a fascinating slice of history, all to be included in their companion book with updated recipes from the original, alongside the stories of the women who championed them.
The book has been in the works for the past two years, with the hope of being released in early 2022 to preserve the Barossa’s food traditions.
“A huge part of what we’re trying to do is create a collective group of people,” says Sheralee.
“We call ourselves the keepers, so collectively we become the keepers of the family food stories, the skills, the traditions.
“One of the things we say all the time is that the good old days weren’t always good, but there are some things that are too valuable to lose, and these recipes and traditional food skills, they’re too powerful, too important to lose.”