Death by Dildo, Impersonations of the King, the Foundation of Lawn Bowls and the French Plan to Invade Sydney Cove: Welcome to the Woolpack Hotel at Parramatta.
The Woolpack at Parramatta So, a while back there was a stream of comments about ‘traditional pub grub’ and just what ‘traditional pub grub’ is and it got me thinking and, well, I’ve done little ever since but burrow down an astonishingly interesting rabbit hole of research on the history of Australian pub food. This isn’t the resulting story – more a despatch from the front line - but it reveals once again why researching our unique pubs is so engrossing and rewarding. It seemed to make sense to begin by finding out where and when the first pub meals were served in the Colony and it turned out they were probably served up by James Larra at his Freemason’s Arms on the intersection of George and Marsden streets at Parramatta, just down the road from where I grew up in Dundas. Almost my local. The first mention of food at the pub was by an Irishman in 1800, but it was a Frenchman, François Péron two years later who really put Larra’s hotel and its viands on the