I Sang for My Supper: Memories of a Food Writer

Margaret Fulton's autobiography chronicles her journey from a working-class Scottish immigrant family in rural Australia to becoming one of the nation's most influential food writers. Her career spanned decades during which she shaped Australian cooking through her newspaper columns, cookbooks, and television appearances. The narrative follows Fulton's early life during the Depression, her wartime work experiences, and her eventual entry into food writing and recipe development in post-war Sydney. She details her interactions with major food companies, publishers, and media outlets as she built her career in Australia's evolving culinary landscape. Her personal story runs parallel to the transformation of Australian food culture from the 1950s through the 1980s. This memoir documents the introduction of new ingredients, cooking methods, and international cuisines to Australian homes. The book serves as both a personal history and a record of Australia's culinary awakening, exploring themes of female entrepreneurship and the role of food media in shaping national identity.

There are not enough internet reviews to create a summary of this book. Instead, here is a summary of reviews of Margaret Fulton's overall work: Readers view Margaret Fulton as a trusted voice in Australian home cooking who made complex recipes accessible. Her cookbooks helped introduce international cuisine to Australian families in the 1960s and 70s. Readers appreciated: - Clear, reliable instructions that work consistently - Personal anecdotes and cooking tips - Basic techniques explained for beginners - Photos that showed exactly what dishes should look like Common criticisms: - Some recipes now feel dated - Measurements sometimes inconsistent between metric/imperial - Later books contained product placement - Some editions had printing/binding quality issues Ratings across platforms: Goodreads: The Margaret Fulton Cookbook (4.5/5 from 89 ratings) Amazon Australia: Margaret Fulton's Encyclopedia of Food (4.7/5 from 43 ratings) "Her recipes never fail" appears frequently in reader reviews. One reader noted "She taught my mother to cook, then she taught me." Several reviewers mention keeping their copies for decades and passing them down through generations.

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🍳 Margaret Fulton revolutionized Australian cooking, introducing international cuisines to homes across the nation during the 1960s and 70s through her cookbooks and magazine columns. 📚 The memoir shares her journey from a modest Scottish immigrant family in rural New South Wales to becoming Australia's first and most influential celebrity cook. 🌏 During her career spanning over 50 years, Fulton wrote more than 25 cookbooks which sold over 4.5 million copies collectively. 👑 In 1983, Margaret Fulton was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for her contributions to cookery and journalism. 🎯 The book's title "I Sang for My Supper" reflects her early career when she would sometimes literally sing for her meals while struggling to make ends meet as a young woman in Sydney.