Travel through the ages to some of the best foodie experiences our great state has experienced at the free new exhibition, Sweet and Savoury: Menus from the collections of the State Library.
Whether you’re a history buff, distinguished foodie, or simply looking for a fascinating adventure through time, this exhibition will cater to all.
Expect a look at South Australia’s oldest, most notable menus ranging from an 1867 Government House dinner, to those recently acquired from South Australian restaurants large and small celebrating cuisines from around the world.
Curators of the exhibition, Mark Gilbert (Exhibitions, Media & Marketing Librarian) and Peter
Zajicek (Senior Conservator), have organised menus into themes to share a taste of each display.
Travel through time and cuisine with themes such as hotel dining, world leading chefs, a taste of country, Italian style, country cooking and plenty more themes to look forward to at the event.
Showcasing at the exhibition will be the Library’s oldest South Australian menu, dating back to 1867, a rather harsh critique written on the menu of Ernest’s Restaurant, known for its fine dining and even a menu written on a cleaver!
Enjoy comparing current and past menus from iconic South Australian restaurants such as Nediz Tu, Mistress Augustine’s, Possums, The Magic Flute and The Pheasant Farm.
“This exhibition shows the diversity of the State Library’s collection. Some people might not see the importance of collecting and preserving menus for future generations, but they can tell us so much more than what was on the menu,” says the Director State Library of South Australia, Geoff Strempel.
“The menu collection holds the history of changing trends in food, dining, restaurants, menu design, and reflects the social history of the time, such as Adelaide’s culinary revolution that took hold during the Don Dunstan era of the 1970s.”
Menus showcased at the exhibition are kept as part of the Library’s ephemera collection- material designed to be short lived- but the Library has brought them back to life to reveal a record of South Australian life and social customs, arts and popular culture, and local and national issues.
Also on offer for visitors are a range of photographs of restaurants, some of which no longer exist, as well as two short films on display- A Taste of Adelaide in the 1970s and Hotel Elizabeth, showing people at the hotel during the late 1950s/early 1960s.
The free exhibition is on until the end of June 2023. For more information on the exhibition, click here.
Event: Sweet and savoury: Menus from the collections of the State Library
Where: Treasures Wall, Spence Wing (Level 1), State Library of South Australia, 5000
When: Until end of June
Cost: Free
More News
