Undergraduate Report: International Culinary Culture of Melbourne

This report offers a comprehensive analysis of Australia's culinary culture, centered around a site visit to Melbourne's Queen Victoria Market. It delves into the market's history, operational aspects, and diverse offerings, including food products, breakfast spots, and various market sections. The report explores the impact of globalization on the evolution of the food market, highlighting the rise of food trucks and their influence on culinary heritage. It examines the theoretical framework of food as intangible heritage and provides research evidence on the interplay of culture, heritage, identity, and politics within the market context. The report concludes with recommendations based on the findings, providing a detailed overview of the culinary landscape and its cultural significance.

Running Head: INTERNATIONAL CULINARY CULTURE, UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL
International culinary culture, undergraduate level
Student’s Name
University Name
Author’s Note

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Executive summary
The culinary culture of Australia is executed from the perspective of The Heritage Marketplace
of Queen Victoria market of Melbourne. This is a market place which is also and Exhibition of
Confluence of culture, both domestic as well as International based on personal culinary
experiences. This is a market which is equally popular among the local people of Melbourne for
regular purchase as well as a site of attraction for the international tourists. Detailed description
of the site visit is provided in the report that follows. The evolution of food culture is another
aspect that has been undertaken for analysis in this report. This aspect has been discussed in the
report from the perspective of globalisation and its impact on change in food culture, which is
evident in the street food culture which has been popularized by the food trucks, available in
abundance in the Victoria market. This popular culture surrounding the food trucks is delineated
with Impact in this report. The food events organised by the market authority also bears evidence
of impact of globalisation on the culinary culture. The theoretical analysis in this report is
developed on the Framework which highlights food as an intangible heritage. There is further
research evidence in this report where the specific factors like Heritage, culture, identity as well
as political influence Upon the Queen Victoria market of Melbourne have been discussed in
detail with analysis of the apprehended future impacts.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Site visit: understanding food as a generator of experiences...........................................................4
Evolution of food market in current context:..................................................................................7
Theoretical Framework....................................................................................................................9
Research evidence.........................................................................................................................10
Conclusion and Recommendation.................................................................................................12
Reference List................................................................................................................................13
Appendices....................................................................................................................................14
Appendix 1: Nuts and Grains.....................................................................................................14
Appendix 2: The Packaged Fruits Market.................................................................................15
Appendix 3: Preserved Foods Market........................................................................................16
Appendix 4: Wine and Beverages..............................................................................................17
Appendix 5: Seafoods (Wet and processed)..............................................................................18
Appendix 6: Confectionaries.....................................................................................................19
Appendix 7: Groceries Hall.......................................................................................................20
Appendix 8: Groceries Market Picture 2...................................................................................21
Appendix 9: Organic Extracts....................................................................................................22
Appendix 10: Organic Market Entrance....................................................................................23

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Introduction
This report is a detailed analysis of the culinary culture of Australia develops on the basis of site
visit of the Queen Victoria market of Melbourne. In the first section of the report, the details of
the site visit including name location as well as basic promotion and marketing channels used by
the Victoria market have been provided. The details regarding the products available in the
market and their alignment with Australian culture and culture have also been done. The next
part of the report discuss the importance of food culture in context to the contemporary topics of
globalisation and the increase of food trucks, delineating their impact on the evolution of food
culture and its influence on the national culinary heritage. In the next section, this report provides
evidence of theoretical framework in order to exhibit the impact of culinary culture. The
concluding section of the report provides research evidence related to food. The topics
undertaken for research under this section includes the impact of culture and heritage, identity as
well as politics and the discussion of these topics have been concentrated around the information
collected from the site visit.
Site visit: understanding food as a generator of experiences
The Victoria market of Melbourne is a Heritage site of Australia that has been into operation for
more than 140 years. The site was constructed at a place which was once recognised as a
cemetery. Initially there were several independent market in that site like the hay market, the
Western market the lower market and so on. After renovation in 1975 all individual markets
where located different stalls under the same roof of the Queen are Victoria market. It is an

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example of one of the most advanced and scientific marketplaces conducting operations as a
popular and active wet market. The scientific approach with which the market was developed is
evident in the installation of a worm farm in the year 2015 so that sustainable waste management
can be done. Victoria market is exactly located on the queen Street. People can reach the market
buy halting at stop 7 or stop 9, Peel Street Undertaker walk to reach the place. However, the best
option is to avail a private car and easy parking is available also. The market is open from 6 a.m.
to 2 p.m. however the timing may fluctuate on different days of the week. Remains closed on
Wednesdays and on specific time of the year, we have the summer night market from 5 p.m. to
10 p.m. there are more than 700 active stores in the market. In terms of foods, the reputation of
Victoria market is particularly high. The best sections include liquor, organic foods, meat,
poultry, sea food, bread and so on. The biggest advantage of this which market is that most stall
owners allow Shoppers to test their products producers on the spot. A shopper cannot leave the
market without checking on the vegetable as well as the fruit section since this section offers the
best variety and quality of fruits and vegetables in entire Melbourne. This is the reason by at least
10 million people visit this Marketplace every year out of which 91% are regular purchasers and
the rest are tourist visitors.
The foodie tour hosted by the market is one of the major attractions. Famous breakfast points
include Pickett’s Deli whose waffles with caramelized banana soaked in rum is popular even
outside Melbourne. There are other small corner shops offering exquisite delicacies like crispy
pork roll with coleslaw for pineapple chutney.
There are specific divisions of the market, which can help the visitors to enter their desired stalls
directly.

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For evidence, the breakfast or lunch sector comes at first, which gives way to the market lane of
an array of coffee shops.
Then there is the dairy hall where customers generally visit to purchase supplies for one week or
more. Dairy products all across Victoria and even abroad is sold in this hall with butters of
various flavour, whey specialised butter, cheese and Curds. It needs special mention that the
Corner Lader of the dairy hall is famous for their amazing cheese as well as antipasto.
The next attraction is the meat and fish hall where almost all varieties of fresh sea foods are
available and it is certain that if a customer buys seafood from any of the stalls, he is going to get
the finest quality. Lucky customer can even get the sea urchin available here. The name of
Victoria Quality Meats needs to be highlighted for the finest pork and beef available there. The
offer some or the other special discount offers almost throughout the year and that too without
any compromise on quality. Organic meats of Hagen’s Organic Meats are also famous
(Sumartojo et al. 2017).
The wonderful organisation of the market is revealed in the presence of the small snack time
counters in between the fish and meat hall and the fruit and vegetable sector. The maintenance
committee of the market keeps into mind that the visitors might get tired and hungry since most
of them keep Surfing the market throughout the day. In this snack time stores, there is assortment
of Pre cooked and processed foods from various reasons which into Chinese from Indian,
Spanish, Malaysian, Sri-Lankan as well as Greek and many others.
The next section is the fruit and vegetable section where the large file of stocks of various fruits
is a definite attraction. The family Run fruit stalls in this place; all have specific sets of loyal
customers. In this place, all have specific sets of loyal customers. Visitors can find them

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discussing with the shopkeepers over the nutritive quality of various fruits and vegetables. If you
visit the fruit and vegetable store, you can overhear visitors requesting the shopkeepers to fetch
them unique imported fruits (Andrewartha 2017).
At the dearer end of the market, there is the general Merchandise section which involves general
merchandise, trinkets, clothing and so on.
Evolution of food market in current context:
Globalisation has forced people to live in organised urban areas. This implies that they are not
connected to the fresh farms that produce fruits and vegetables. All kinds of food, including
meat, egg, fruits or vegetables are currently produced, process as well as packaged and
distributed to a diverse population with the help of globalisation including biotechnology,
availability of convenient transportation and so on. Naturally, more than Fresh Food, the
prevalence of packaged food has developed across various urban demographics. However,
because of globalisation, and the availability of ready information with the new digital age
Shoppers, demand for healthy food in terms of quality, variety as well as food safety has
increased. Because of globalisation, the food culture of other Nations has been inherited by the
people of this country also. Please provide the chance as well as opportunity to people of various
Geographic groups to present their food products in this market, while the customers coming
from other states as well as from abroad get a chance of trying various new products. In this
context, the increasing popularity of the food trucks that we can see park in various locations of
the Victoria market of Melbourne can be specified. Because of globalisation, the international
cuisines are offered by local market holders, rather than the big brands only. This is the reason
behind the popularity of food trucks in Victoria market of Melbourne. The majority of Traveller
section of visitors prefer student from the food trucks. This is because, the activities taking place

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on the food truck are vibrant and attract the attention of the customers automatically. Hence,
whenever any new product is introduced or any particular food product is on sale, people in the
local market place can easily watch it. In fact, in the snacks hall as well as the breakfast hall, you
can observe that there is popularity of some specific food trucks that specialises in local food
products as well as some typical foreign cuisines popular in Australia. Because of globalisation,
travelling has been boosted and people have been shifting across countries and cultures in order
to set up business also. Providence, we can speak of the Chinese family, who has shifted to
Australia and currently operates a Chinese food stall in the Victoria market.
After shifting to Australia for education, the fore-runners of the food stall, attracted by the
number of Asian tourists in Australia and the growing demand for local Asian food in the
country, decided to set up their culinary business (Simons and Maitri 2006). This is how the
importance of local cuisines of radius different countries started to play a crucial role in creating
memorable experiences for the foreign as well as the domestic tourists on some instances,
coming to visit the Victoria market of Melbourne.
The dining experience in the food trucks is not only affiliated with the quality of food and the
delicacy with which it is served. There is lack of mannerism in the serving of food from food
trucks with people standing in long queues for their food, gossiping and talking and making
themselves comfortable in a festive mood. In fact, the food trucks act as a place of Confluence
for people from various cultures, both foreign and domestic. People talk over food about the
political, religious cultural as well as linguistic and other differences between them. Hence, it can
be commented that the atmosphere as well as the setting of food trucks are one of the centrifugal
points of attraction for the Victoria market. This is why Simons and Maitri (2006), conclude that

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food can be considered as a big component for recognising the experiences as well as memories
created at a destination.
In order to attract more customers, the market authority organisers organises a combined food
fest. It is evident that food and dining have a crucial role to play, in order to attract customers
who visit the Victoria market with various intentions. The combined food fest includes initiatives
from the owners of various food trucks in developing new food items pertaining to their ethnic
cuisine, availability of big discounts over popular food items and US ceremonial designing of the
front outlets of the food trucks with posters, banners and lightings.
Theoretical Framework
Some of the theoretical frameworks connecting food and culture highlights that the specific
countries need to promote as well as protect their own traditional gastronomic as well as culinary
heritages. In this context the theory of food as an intangible Heritage can be highlighted.
The notion of Heritage is primarily bestowed upon the historical distinctions of any place.
However, many researchers like Buyya and Bubendorfer (2010), associate another
conceptualization, by the name of terroir, whose white definition is the taste of a place. The
fundamental proposition of this conceptualization is that the Heritage claims should also be
associated with the specific environment in terms of the socio-cultural organisational
peculiarities of that spot also.
In this context, this theory derives the notion of terroir, aligning it with food specific notion of
Heritage.
This theory primarily stresses on two considerations. Firstly, the biological components in any
environment provide uniqueness as well as authenticity to the product of that particular place,

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rebooting it from being replicated in any other place of the world. Hence, it can be argued that
although processed and packaged Chinese mushroom are available in the Victorian market, they
will never be of the same taste and quality, as that is cultured in China. Besides, researchers like
Dixon, Scully and Parkinson (2006), are blaming globalisation for the easy availability of
traditional raw/processed or packaged traditional food of any specific culture in all other parts of
the world. This diminishes the attraction and affinity for that particular culture.
Food makes a particular tourist spot exclusive with the representation of their personal identity as
well as culture. It is indeed an element of attraction as well as tourist experience playing and
intangible role in delineating the Heritage. Because of the free trade agreements and the open
trade facility between Australia and other Asian markets like Malaysia, China, Japan, Indonesia,
India and so on the Heritage and cultural food of all these places are available in each other’s
marketplaces.
The slow food movement can also be highlighted in this context. This is an initiative that is
launched in various markets including the Victorian market also. The aim is to change the
perception of people towards fast food by encouraging them to consume tasty natural organic
food that is directly acquired from the market of the farmers and other food producers.
Research evidence
Heritage
Victoria market has been significant for several people for specific reasons. This market is one of
the greatest 19th century markets of Victoria and one of the surviving groups of Central Market
that has existed for more than 150 years. Initially it was recognised as a wholesale market of the
Melbourne chief and from that stage it has gone through successful reinvention to become one of

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the most successful retail markets. This market plays a crucial social role in regulating the
economy as well as the social history of Melbourne city. The authority of the Victoria market has
taken several initiatives like the renewal preservation of the physical heritage of the market like
the dairy Production Hall, the meat and fish halls in order to keep them just as they were hundred
years ago.
Identity
The Queen Victoria market of Melbourne is supposed to be design recently by the R-Co brand.
Developing from a traditional with market look, branding and promotion of the individual stalls
with setting up of a multitude of small sales brand is going to be done in the market
(Andrewartha 2017). The initiative includes development of new logo for the market. This new
revamping program was developed for providing a sensation of Style to the market as well as the
culture of destination branding. However, in this move of providing a new identity to the market,
the history and traditional identity of the market might be lost. Hence, it has been observed that
many stall owners are against this motive of changing the identity of the market and several
petition campaign has also been launched. They have the perception that the emotional
connection the the customers had developed this market will be lost as an outcome of the new
rebranding program.
Politics
The impact of politics on the operations of the market was not evident until recently.
Nevertheless, the trade union of the governing authority of this market had never executed
political biasness and kept themselves free from influence of higher political authorities.
Nevertheless, the Labour party Union of the Victoria market has now recently put up a big

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petition campaign in order to preserve the iconic trading shades along with the underground
traders Arena or the popular car parking facility of the market (Andrewartha 2017).
Under the new rebranding campaign undertaken by the Melbourne city Municipal authority,
installation of the new Pavilion and registration of new facilities along with removal of the
traditional food trucks and their replacement with outdoor seating areas is definitely going to
alternate the typical and traditional Marketplace culture which is the centre of attraction of the
Victoria market of Melbourne.
Conclusion and Recommendation
The Victoria market site visit can be considered as a memoir of a food experience, with an
amalgamation of local cuisines, destination shopping and a vibrant market culture. This market is
is making a great promotion of the local multi cuisine culture as well as spreading words about
local gastronomy and cultural Confluence in Australia. The quality of service of the shopkeepers
is very good in Victoria market. Among all the positive aspects, the organizers of this
Marketplace should consider aspects like hosting cultural events related to food in order to
exhibit the local food culture and promote the local fruit, vegetable and meat producing farms.
Other than this extraversion, the need to guide tourists coming to this market from various
International locations is also evident. Although the food sectors are very organised, they need to
be guided regarding the specific local cuisines as well as the local food products that they need to
taste or purchase.
Lastly, it is also need to consider the impacts of globalisation on the food industry and
specifically on the evolution of the weight markets like the Victoria market.