Italian Cooks of the Tropics

In 1891 a group of 330 Northern Italians arrived to work on the canefields of tropical North Queensland. It was one of the first Italian communities to be established in Australia.

From the early 1920’s to the late 1930’s, migration from Northern Italy to North Queensland increased substantially. This was due, in part, to the White Australia Policy and the need for a new workforce on the canefields as the Government of the day had forcibly returned the Pacific Island workforce to their home islands after capturing them by force and deception generations before.

The final wave of Italian migrants to arrive in North Queensland was after the second world war and this group was predominantly from southern Italy. 

Against the odds, the Italian community has thrived in the hot and humid conditions of north Queensland.  Today, there are many generations who still feel connected to their Italian heritage and if you walk through the streets of Mareeba or Ingham  you may still find a few older locals  gathered together chatting in dialect - Sicilian or Calabrian usually.

The legacy of Italian migration is most apparent in the surnames of the population, the kitchens and food businesses of North Queensland - the paste di mandorla at Rusty’s Market, Mick’s Italian biscuits in Mareeba; Diana Hall’s storch and biscotti in any of the three Italian delicatessen’s in Ingham.

‘Italian Cooks of the Tropics’ tells the story of three waves of Italian migration in North Queensland through food. 

In each episode we visit the kitchens of descendants and journey into the experiences of early Italian and mid-century Italian migration to Australia and find out what it was like to live and cook in the early days, what cooking traditions have persisted and what cooking traditions have morphed into something  totally new and unique.

'Italian Cooks of the Tropics' is proposed as a three-part, 50 minute documentary series.

This project is currently in the early stages of development.