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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

Masters of Fare

Chefs, winemakers, providores

Previous exhibition
from Thursday 9 December until Sunday 28 March 2004

Masters of fare: chefs, winemakers, providores celebrates men and women who have championed the unique culinary characteristics and produce of Australia, enriching our lives with new ideas and new flavours over the past forty years.

Margaret Fulton
Margaret Fulton, 1980 (printed 2002) Lewis Morley. © Lewis Morley Archive LLC

As recently as the 1970s, Australian wines afforded material for the Monty Python team to satirise. Since then, Australia has moved from a primarily beer drinking nation to one in which wine commonly features on the family dinner table; Britain imports more Australian wine than French, and the rest of the world is just as eager to have a drink on us. Much else has changed. Once our cities’ restaurants were so few that word of mouth recommendations were all that were required for a restaurateur to prosper. Now magazine articles and good food guides abound to allow demanding consumers to negotiate the ever-changing world of restaurants across the country.

In a short twenty years we have taken to fish sauce, sourdough, mineral water, octopus, wasabi, balsamic vinegar and rocket, organically grown vegetables and our love affair with meat has come full circle, with brand-name lamb, beef, pork and chicken in demand in restaurants and in boutique butcheries.

At a time when food and wine have become accepted as key and positive defining aspects of Australian society, this exhibition pays tribute to four decades of pioneers, innovators and entrepreneurs of the Australian food and wine industries.

23 portraits

1 Peter Cundall, 2000 Courtesy ABC Tasmania. 2 Self portrait, 2004 Peter Russell-Clarke. © Peter Russell-Clarke, Currently on display. 3 Matt Moran, 2004 Murray Fredericks, Lisa Giles. © Murray Fredericks and Lisa Giles. 4 Maurice O'Shea, 1951 (printed 2003) Max Dupain OBE. 5 Stephanie Alexander, 2004 by Simon Schluter. 6 Gay Bilson, 2004 by Peter Fisher. 7 The Mirka Café (now Bistrot Balzac) 1954 (Frenchman Jean Sablon opens Mirka Café, with Mirka Mora centre in dark dress, with friends and Athol Shmith’s wife Bambi in the window), Courtesy of William and Mirka Mora. 8 Luigi Coluzzi Snr (and friends), 2004 by Sahlan Hayes.
© National Portrait Gallery 2024
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The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

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