Food History of Brisbane

Key eras

1. Indigenous Foodways (pre-1824) (Before 1824)

   For more than 22,000 years before European settlement, the Brisbane River valley was a cultural, economic and ceremonial landscape for the Yagara, Turrbal and Quandamooka peoples. The river and its wetlands supplied fish, shellfish and plant foods, productive fishing grounds became long-standing campsites, and archaeology confirms frequent habitation around Musgrave Park.

2. Convict and Colonial Era (1824-1900)

   European settlement began in September 1824 with a British penal outpost at Redcliffe, moved in May 1825 to the banks of the Brisbane River. Transportation to Moreton Bay ended in 1839 and the penal station closed in 1842, opening the district to free settlement; later, Pacific Islander labourers were brought to cotton and sugar plantations along the Logan, Albert and Brisbane rivers.

   Taste it todayMoreton Bay Bug

3. Italian and Greek Communities (by 1980) (To 1980)

   New Farm is known as Brisbane's Little Italy because many Italian immigrants first settled there, and West End has traditionally been home to Brisbane's largest Greek community, with an estimated 75 percent of the city's Greek population living there by 1980. Paniyiri, started in 1976 as a Sunday picnic in Musgrave Park, is now the largest Greek festival in Australia.

4. Vietnamese Refugees in Darra and Inala (from 1975) (1975 to now)

   Vietnamese refugees began to settle in Darra in 1975, and at the 2016 census Inala had the largest Vietnamese Australian community of any suburb in Queensland, 30 percent of its residents. After the Vietnam War, overseas Vietnamese made the banh mi popular in Australia, where it is commonly sold in Asian bakeries.

   Taste it todayBrisbane Banh Mi

5. Wood Fire and Native Ingredients (2018 to now)

   Howard Smith Wharves, below the Story Bridge, opened as a redeveloped riverside site in late 2018 and holds Greca, Stanley and Felons. Agnes in Fortitude Valley cooks on fire alone, with no gas or electricity, and Joy opened in 2019. Finger lime, pepperberry and riberry now appear on the menus of e'cco bistro, Donna Chang and Blackbird.

   Taste it todayFinger LimeAgnesGrecaJoye'cco bistro

Immigrant influences

Italian: New Farm

New Farm is known as Brisbane's Little Italy. Bar Alto has cooked Italian at the Brisbane Powerhouse since 2006, and Festitalia, first held in New Farm Park in 2006, now fills the Showgrounds each September.

Taste it todayFestitaliaBar Alto

Greek: West End

West End has traditionally been home to Brisbane's largest Greek community. Paniyiri, the largest Greek festival in Australia, began in Musgrave Park in 1976, and Hellenika serves Greek food on The Calile's pool deck.

Taste it todayHellenika

Vietnamese: Darra and Inala

Vietnamese refugees began settling in Darra in 1975, and Inala now has the largest Vietnamese community of any Queensland suburb. Phuong Trinh trades in Inala, and West End Vietnamese Foods makes banh mi.

Taste it todayPhuong TrinhWest End Vietnamese Foods

Chinese: Fortitude Valley Chinatown and Sunnybank

Chinatown Mall on Duncan Street in Fortitude Valley opened on 29 January 1987, but Sunnybank is now seen as the hub of Chinese culture in Brisbane. Stanley cooks Cantonese flavours and Donna Chang modern Chinese.

Taste it todayDonna Chang

Signature innovations

• Lamington (Queensland, c. 1900): named after Lord Lamington, Governor of Queensland 1896 to 1901; a recipe for it was printed in 1900.
  Taste it todayLamington
• Moreton Bay Bug on Brisbane Menus: the slipper lobster named after Moreton Bay, in dumplings at Donna Chang and spring rolls at Stanley.
  Taste it todayMoreton Bay BugDonna Chang
• Finger Lime on Brisbane Menus: a rainforest citrus native around Brisbane, with oysters at e'cco and raw kingfish at Donna Chang.
  Taste it todayFinger LimeDonna Chang
• Wood-Fire Cooking at Agnes: no gas and no electricity, only fire fed with ironbark, apple, cherry and olive wood.
  Taste it todayAgnes
• Howard Smith Wharves Precinct (2018): wharves built from 1939 to 1942 below the Story Bridge, redeveloped and opened in late 2018.