It is believed that for thousands of years the Australian Aborigines harvested grains and seeds from wild plants, which they would ground to make “flour” and mix with water. They moulded a dough of flour and water into cakes, which were dried in the sun or baked beside coals.




Many of the first convicts were deported to Australia for stealing bread. When they arrived in the colony they must have been delighted to have found that bread was the main staple food of the colony. Damper was made with the government rations of flour and salt, by adding water, and cooking over camp-fire coals. It is still popular today.



The first grain store and bakery in Australia was run by John Palmer who arrived on the first fleet in 1788. The bakery was set up in Sydney Town, and had all the necessary equipment including an attached windmill. It sold bread, and milled grain including wheat, corn and barley.



Bread making was done by hand until around 1910 when the process became mechanised and a large bakery opened up in Melbourne. Soon, other cities had bakeries and other states soon followed and bread was delivered door to door.



In 1920 Harold Clapp arrived in Melbourne from the USA to take up the position of Chairman of Victorian Railways. In 1923 he opened a bakery to provide 'wholesome goods', especially those containing dried fruit, for sale in refreshment rooms, and later ice cream and milkshakes. Clapp is often credited with creating raisin bread in 1923 and for being the first person to sell wrapped bread in Australia in 1925.



In 1928 an American named Otto Frederick Rohwedder introduced the world’s first industrial bread slicer. With the increasing availability of electricity in households in the 1930s toasters were becoming popular. The first toasters did not pop up and needed to be watched as they cooked. They were often kept on the breakfast table beside a jar of vegemite.


Over time Australian bakeries became more mechanised and the 1950s saw more medium sized bakeries open up. When supermarkets became popular in the 1960s, and the trend to shop at small local grocery stores began to diminish, sliced and wrapped bread became widely accepted.




Historical Recipes on Australian Flavour



An Account of Making Bread



Prior to 1910 and for some years later in the outback areas of Australia, bread was made by hand. What a chore this must have been is demonstrated by two recipes reprinted here from Mrs Rutledge in (1899). Mrs Rutledge said in her preface, “I have tried to leave nothing to chance, and the vague counsels to ‘make a nice light crust for a pie,’ or  ‘make a batter as thick as cream’ find no place here."


Yeast (No. 1)

One ounce of hops (about a breakfastcupful), a handful of bran, 2 medium-sized potatoes, 3 pints of water.Boil for twenty minutes; then strain, and add 1 teacup of flour, a good tablespoon of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, and a gill yeast.

To Make Bread with Yeast (No. 1)

Boil 6 unpeeled potatoes, mash them, and add as much cold water as will let you hold your hand in the mixture; then pour in ½ a bottle of yeast made by recipe No. 1, and as much flour as will make a thin batter. Let this stand all night in a warm place if the wether is cold. In the morning, make a hole in your pan of flour; put in a tablespoon of fine salt and the same of sugar. Strain the sponge through a colander or sieve, and add it, with a dipper of warm water to the flour in the pan. Form into a light dough, not too stiff. Let it rise well, make into loaves, and then let them rise for a short time. Bake in a brick oven, if possible. This is the most excellent recipe; I have never known it fail if carried out carefully. Do not have too much flour in the pan at first; some should be kneaded in afterwards.


Damper  


"A Bushman’s recipe, which some people swear by and others swear at. Make a hole in some flour in a ration bag, pour in a quart pot of boiling water and stir it with a stick until you have a lump of dough, which you lift out from the surrounding flour, slightly flatten and bake in the ashes. A more luxurious way to mix it is to take off your leather legging and mix it on that, or a piece of bark."



Above quote The Kookaburra Cookery Book, dated 1911