ANALYSIS: The first 'MasterChef' wasn't televised — and it celebrated overlooked women
The earliest of Australia's cooking competitions were at agricultural shows. In 1910, the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW hosted its first competition for "perishable foods" at the Royal Easter Show.By the 1920s, the cookery category at the Easter Show had been firmly established. It was purely the preserve of women. Men were prohibited from entering and wouldn't be allowed to enter until after the second world war.
Cookery competitions allowed women to receive recognition for their often-overlooked hard work and skill. Contestants were encouraged to break out of their comfort zones, to be creative, innovate and impress.With women as their key demographic, it is little wonder that, by the 1960s, women's magazines such as the Australian Women's Weekly began hosting large-scale cookery competitions open to readers around the country.
Thousands competed at the state level of these competitions, and one from each state and territory would go on to the final. These were held in either Sydney or Melbourne in front of live audiences, usually in the middle of a department store. These celebrity chefs judged the main course section; the overtly feminine baking sections were judged primarily by women.
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