Store

Migrant Foodways in Australia

Diaspora

⚠ THE SINGLE BIGGEST THING THAT HAPPENED TO AUSTRALIAN FOOD, and it happened fast. Post-war assisted migration from 1945 brought ITALIANS and GREEKS in very large numbers — Melbourne is one of the largest Greek-speaking cities outside Greece — along with Maltese, Yugoslav, Lebanese, Turkish, Dutch and German arrivals; the espresso machine, the continental delicatessen, the milk bar, pizza and souvlaki all arrive here. ⚠ THE END OF THE WHITE AUSTRALIA POLICY in the early 1970s and the arrival of VIETNAMESE refugees from 1975 changed it again: Cabramatta and Footscray, pho and bánh mì, and then Cantonese, Hokkien, Malaysian, Cambodian, Lao and Thai kitchens. Since the 1990s: Chinese from the PRC in very large numbers, Indian and Nepali, Sudanese and Somali, Afghan and Iranian, Filipino, Korean and Japanese. ⚠ AND THE EARLIER LAYERS ARE NOT FORGOTTEN: CHINESE market gardeners and cooks arrived with the 1850s goldrushes and the country Chinese restaurant predates almost everything else; AFGHAN cameleers worked the inland from the 1860s; and a documented LEBANESE presence dates from the 1880s.

Atlas — where and when

Where in the world

Communities and languages

  • Italian Australians community documented
  • Greek Australians community documented
  • Vietnamese Australians community documented
  • Chinese Australians community documented
  • Lebanese Australians community documented

Languages: English, Japanese

What is recorded

  • Post-war assisted migration brings Italians, Greeks, Maltese, Yugoslavs, Lebanese, Dutch and Germans to Australia; the espresso machine, the continental delicatessen and pizza arrive with them. documented
  • Vietnamese refugee arrival following the fall of Saigon reshapes Australian food a second time; Cabramatta and Footscray become food districts. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

  • part of Australian Foodways documented
  • related to Asian documented

    Vietnamese refugees from 1975 reshaped Australian food a second time after the post-war European migration — Cabramatta and Footscray, pho and bánh mì. ⚠ This edge is pointed at the Asian umbrella only because no Vietnamese entity exists yet; it is not a claim that Vietnamese food is a generic Asian one.

  • related to Chinese documented

    ⚠ The earliest layer, not the newest: Chinese market gardeners and cooks arrived with the 1850s goldrushes and the country Chinese restaurant predates almost everything else in Australian food.

  • related to Greek-Australian Foodways documented

    Melbourne is one of the largest Greek-speaking cities outside Greece.

  • related to Irish-Australian Foodways documented
  • related to Levantine Foodways documented

    A documented Lebanese presence from the 1880s.

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.