Beginning, quite rightly, with the diet of the indigenous inhabitants of Port Phillip Bay before white settlement, Charmaine O’Brien guides her readers through the varying history of gastronomy in Melbourne, one of Australia’s  most food-centred cities.

It’s a quirky, interesting trip as O’Brien meets restaurateurs, food writers and culinary professionals and gives insights into early eating establishments and food-loving characters.

Familiar and novel foods make their appearance too – yum cha, Violet Crumble, hot dogs – and recipes and illustrations add interest to what becomes an entertaining and original scrapbook of all things concerning Melbourne and food.

Flavours of Melbourne, A Culinary Biography, Charmaine O’Brien, Wakefield Press, 2008,  rrp $39.95, www.wakefieldpress.com.au Paperback 300+ pages.