Thewhite colonisers of Australia suffered from Alliumphobia, a fear ofgarlic. Local cooks didn't touch the stuff and it took centuries for that fearto lift. This food history of Australia shows we held onto British assumptionsabout produce and cooking for a long time and these fed our views on racialhierarchies and our place in the world. Before Garlic we had meat and potatoes;After Garlic what we ate got much more interesting. But has a national cuisineemerged? What is Australian food culture?

Renowned food writer John Newton visits haute cuisineor fine dining restaurants, thecafes and mid-range restaurants, and heads home to the dinner tables as hesamples what everyday people have cooked and eaten over centuries. Hisobservations and recipes old and new, show what has changed and what hasn'tchanged as much as we might think even though our chefs are hailed as some ofthe best in the world.