Migration Through Food: Exploring Sydney’s Inner West

Our Year 9 Global Connections students recently explored Sydney’s Inner West to investigate how migration has shaped local food, businesses, streetscapes and community identity.

Travelling through Ashfield, Burwood, Strathfield, Marrickville, Petersham, Leichhardt and Haberfield, students observed the influence of Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Greek, Portuguese and Italian communities. Bilingual signs, restaurants, bakeries, supermarkets and family-owned businesses provided visible evidence of the ways migrant communities have created distinctive cultural landscapes.

A highlight was our visit to La Patisserie in Petersham, where students enjoyed traditional Portuguese custard tarts and spoke with the café owner, Ferniando,  about his migration experience and the role of food in creating a culture of place. He explained that he was the first person to make Portuguese tarts in Australia and gave students a fascinating look at the specialised ovens used to bake them.

This memorable experience brought the students’ fieldwork to life, demonstrating how recipes, skills and traditions can travel across the world and become part of Australia’s multicultural identity.

Throughout the excursion, students acted as cultural detectives—recording observations, interviewing a local business owner and considering how successive waves of migration have transformed Sydney. The day provided an engaging opportunity to connect classroom learning about migration, identity, cultural diffusion and globalisation with the landscapes and communities of our local area.

Greg Sciortino, Global Connections Teacher