Cookbook success tastes sweet

By Andrew Humphries

What springs to mind when we think of great Australian traditions?

Cricket in summer and footy in winter, perhaps, maybe Anzac Day and Anzac biscuits, the running of the Melbourne Cup.

Well here’s another one: the Presbyterian Women’s Missionary Union (PWMU) Cookbook, which this year celebrates its 120th birthday.

Since 1904, families around Australia have eaten wonderful meals following PWMU Cookbook recipes, while our country has lived through world wars, the Great Depression, the brilliance of Don Bradman, and 30 Prime Ministers.

It’s something well worth recognising, and North Ringwood Uniting Church will be the venue for a suitable celebration on October 24.

PWMU Cookbook Committee Secretary Pam Grant is looking forward to paying tribute to 120 years of cookery history this month.

“It’s a pretty exciting thing to have a little book like this, and it is a humble little book in many ways, celebrating its 120th birthday,” she says.

“It has been a huge part of Australia’s culinary history, but it’s also a cookbook familiar to many people from other countries.”

Pam proudly confirms that the PWMU Cookbook has never been out of print since its launch, making it the oldest continuous cookbook in Australia.

Its story begins in 1904, when the PWMU General Committee received a letter from Melbourne publisher Arbuckle, Waddell and Fawckner inviting the committee to combine with them in the production of a cookbook for general sale.

It took some time for the first edition to be ready for printing, but once printing took place it sold very well.

The title of P.W.M.U. Cookery Book of Victoria first appeared in 1916, followed by The New P.W.M.U. Cookery Book in 1929.

Royalties from the sale of each cookbook went to the PWMU for general missional purposes and, since the formation of the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977, they have been divided equally between the two Churches.

The PWMU and Uniting Church Adult Fellowship (Victoria) each determine where the funds they receive will be distributed, to support mission-based ministries or activities.

The cookbook has also played a part in the healing process for communities dealing with great hardship.

In the aftermath of the Black Saturday bushfires of 2009, the Black Summer fires of 2020, and this year’s Pomonal bushfire, the PWMU committee was able to donate copies of the cookbook to families who had lost their primary place of residence.

One of the interesting features of the PWMU Cookbook is that it doesn’t contain photos of the finished product, with very good reason says Pam.

“I think the cookbook without photos works because there are no expectations that go with making something from the recipes inside,” she says.

“Generally if people see a recipe online or in another cookbook, they will compare what they have produced with the accompanying photo, and then feel that they have failed if it doesn’t look the same.

“The only failure, though, is if what you have made can’t be eaten, not what it looks like, so that is one reason why the PWMU cookbook doesn’t have photos.

“The other reason is that not having pictures cuts the production cost in half, and that allows us to keep it at a realistic sale price.

“It means we can keep it to $25 and, on special occasions, even $20.”

Pam says the PWMU Cookbook’s ability to keep up with the times has been its strength for 120 years.

“Many years ago, when Australia went to metric measurement, they redid the whole cookbook and retested every recipe to ensure that weight and temperature conversions were correct,” she says.

“It’s a good example of how the committee has always worked with the publisher to ensure the cookbook remains relevant.

“It’s a cookbook that has also changed as our eating habits have changed, and one that has gone through generations of families.”

Pam hopes many more generations will be able to enjoy the PWMU Cookbook for many years to come.

“As long as it keeps that basic honesty, and doesn’t try to pretend to be something that it’s not, it will continue,” she says proudly.

Bookings are essential for the October 24 celebration and can be made up until October 14 here