Incorrigible colonist: ginger in Australia, 1788-1950.

Abstract

Ginger, an ‘incorrigible colonist’ since prehistoric times, was transported to Australia as both living plant and dried spice on the First Fleet. The spice was in great demand in Britain, and Joseph Banks considered the plant a potential economic crop for the new colony. From the early 19th century, Chinese settlers also brought ginger rhizomes with them. This thesis provides a commodity history of ginger, focusing on ginger growing and the use of ginger in Australia from 1788 to the mid-20th century. Both British and Chinese settlers arrived in Australia determined to maintain their traditional culinary and medical practices, which required large quantities of ginger. The thesis argues that it was the extent of this demand, together with suitable growing conditions, which eventually led to the establishment of an Australian ginger industry. It highlights the important part played by Chinese settlers, and adds to the written history of Australian culinary and medical practices. The Australian story is set in the context of ginger’s long-standing importance in China, India and Britain. Ginger has been indispensible to Chinese and Indian medicine and food since antiquity, and it was one of the earliest spices to reach the West. The thesis begins by exploring ginger in China and India, and then follows the spice from India through ancient Greece and Rome to Britain, where ginger became used widely in both food and medicine. It also traces the much later journey of the plant from India to the West Indies and then to hothouses in Britain, from where it was brought to Australia. Ginger was grown in the first garden in Sydney. As settlements were established further north, ginger thrived in Australia’s sub-tropical and tropical areas. Despite this, and considerable efforts by governments to persuade farmers to grow ginger commercially, a large-scale Australian ginger industry was not established until the mid-20th century. A major obstacle was that the British required ginger in dried and preserved forms, and processing had to be carried out close to the source of production. Chinese settlers also grew ginger, but Chinese and European ginger growing enterprises were carried out almost completely independently, with little communication. While Chinese gardeners supplied much of the Chinese need for fresh ginger, the Chinese also required ginger in dried and preserved forms. From the beginning of European settlement, large quantities of dried and preserved ginger were imported to meet the ever-increasing demands. As Australians continued British culinary practices, home cooks and food manufacturers used ginger extensively in a variety of cakes and puddings, jams and preserves, condiments and curries, and beverages. Chinese settlers, too, maintained their own food traditions. In addition, ginger continued to be valued for its medicinal properties. Traditional British and Chinese medical practices involved the widespread use of ginger for essentially the same purposes, principally to treat cold-related illnesses, as a digestive, and as a stimulant. The thesis provides compelling evidence that ginger remained in great demand in food and medicine for the period studied.