Getting to Know Liz Harfull: Author of The Blue Ribbon Cookbook

In my post on The Blue Ribbon Cookbook I mentioned that the author, Liz Harfull, was in Paris receiving a runner-up award in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.  That must have been the most amazing experience don’t you think? And it all came about from Liz’s passion for rural life in Australia.

I just love the book. There’s Maud’s Ginger Apricot Crunch, Nestor’s Yeast Buns, Sue’s Sausage Rolls and Grandma’s Chococlate Fudge Cake. South Australia has a rich German heritage from the early settlers to that state so there’s also Mumma’s Rote Grutze and Laura Block’s prize winning German Yeast Cake which won first prize at the Tanunda Show in 1978. I particularly enjoy reading the tips from the cook and the judges that make each recipe so personal and reliable.

Liz has highlighted loads of local talent and enthusiasm for maintaining the traditions of show cooking that have continued without fuss or fanfare for generations and been a part of Australian country life for decades. Joan Lindner, for example, is a champion Tanunda cook and show judge who entered 52 classes in the Royal Adelaide Show one year which meant cooking 83 recipes! Can you imagine it?

Anyway, Liz is finally home and amidst a very busy schedule took time to chat with me about the book, the cooks and the part she played in ‘telling the stories of the show cooks and their shows’.  I think you’ll find that once again, success and a deep sense of satisfaction has come from a chance happening and pursuing something you’re passionate about.

Of course, I had to start by asking Liz about the book awards in Paris …

The awards attract something like 7000 entries from about 70 countries, I think. The first stage is to be selected as a national finalist. If you pass that level, you go into the competition for the Best in the World. There are multiple categories. My book was put into the Best Easy Recipe Book category by the award organisers. This section represents something like half of the cookbooks sold in the world.

To even be mentioned in that company is something of which I am very proud. It was a very humbling experience to be there, and representing my country and the traditions of show cooking.

So where did the idea to write about country show cooks in South Australia come?

It was a ‘light bulb’ moment. I was travelling in the United States and came across a small gift book, bringing together art work from posters for State Fairs (the same as our Royal Agricultural Shows) and recipes. I collect cookbooks and have grown up with country shows, and I realised I had never seen a book about either in Australia.

My entire working life has been about sharing the stories of regional Australians, in one form or another, so I quickly realised the key to it all for me was going to be telling the stories of the show cooks and their shows. I put together a one page outline, and met with independent publishing house, Wakefield Press, in Adelaide, before I started researching or writing the book. It took about 15 minutes for them to agree they were interested and within a few weeks I had a signed contract. Unbelievable luck for a first-time author.

How many country shows did you visit?

I only had seven months to do all the research, writing and most of the photography. I managed to get to about 15 shows in that time, but I also hit the round outside show time to meet the cooks, scour the archives of the local show societies and visit the showgrounds. I am not sure of the kilometres travelled, but in the end it must have been thousands. I think I had only one day off in that time, and that was Christmas Day. It was hard work, but it didn’t seem so at the time because I was having so much fun.

Given South Australia’s scattered settlements from coast to desert, what was the most isolated country show you went to?

A hard question to answer … Wudinna on Eyre Peninsula is probably the most isolated in terms of the size of the community and how far I had to travel.

How many categories are there usually in the cooking section at rural shows?

This can vary enormously. I actually spent weeks collecting cookery schedules from all the shows in SA. These schedules appear in the show programs which are sent out to people before the shows outlining all the classes they can enter.

I put them all together in a spreadsheet and I think I came up with about 700 different classes across all the shows for cookery, preserves, junior, novice and open sections. Some shows have only 20 or so classes all up, others have many, many more. No two shows have the same classes, which gives every show its own unique flavour.

What are some of the categories and which are the most popular?

Of all the categories, or classes, the two most common in SA across all the shows are for sultana cakes and apricot jam. Fruit cake classes of various types are very popular, with an incredible array of different types of fruit cakes – from the humble Jubilee Cake (a South Australian invention) to the rich fruit cake which is the focus of a State championship.

Most country backyards across Australia use to traditionally have an apricot tree, and nothing beats homemake apricot jam, so I guess that accounts for that one.

Over the decades, show classes have changed to reflect local culture and produce, and changing trends for what is popularly cooked in the home.

I have often wondered how you get to be a judge?

Most judges are people who have served a long ‘apprenticeship’ as a show cook, and usually, volunteering at their local show as a steward or cookery convenor. Some judges are also trained home economics teachers, but it is very rare to find a judge is a professionally trained commercial cook.

In the next post Liz talks about her favourite recipes from the book, how important it is for her to tell the stories of rural Australians and how she changed her life in order to pursue this passion for ’story telling.’

If you’d like to buy The Blue Ribbon Cookbook: Recipes, Stories and Tips from Prizewinning Country Show Cooks just click on the link.

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