Guide to the Papers of Elizabeth Chong, 1981-2022

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 10746
Creator:
Elizabeth Chong
Extent:
(7 ms boxes + 1 medium Folio-box + 50 audiovisual carriers + 29 digital carriers)
Language:
English and English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Elizabeth Chong, National Library of Australia, MS 10746, [class/series/file/item number(s)]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:
Collection comprises the personal papers of Elizabeth Chong including correspondence, biographical information, articles and interviews; teaching material for cooking classes; research, speeches, menus and photographs relating to various cooking demonstrations, Chong's Gastronomic Tours in China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam, Chinatown walks in Melbourne, and the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival; copies of speeches, menus, and certificates for events relating to her Australia Day Ambassador role, conferences attended, and Women in Business Lunch; awards including the 40 Year Celebratory Dinner, and the Legends of Melbourne Food and Wine dinner; papers relating to The Golden Legend Dinner held at the Sofitel in 2011 to honour Elizabeth Chong's 80th birthday and her 50 years in the food industry; records covering over 30 years involvement with the Elizabeth Chong Gourmet Club, the quarterly dinner, copies of speeches, and menus; a first draft of unpublished biography; notes relating to the Lonely Planet publication Hong Kong : world of food, and manuscript and published versions of The Heritage of Chinese Cooking; correspondence, fan mail, colour photographs, and scrapbooks containing press cuttings, articles, in particular Chong's visit to France for the Prix La Mazille Award; an annotated script of a play produced by Contemporary Asian Australian Performance featuring food related cultural narratives of Asian-Australians by storytellers including Chong; audiovisual tapes of episodes from Good Morning Australia with Bert Newton; episodes on DVD from Elizabeth Chong's Tiny Delights; and audiovisual tapes of other television appearances including the Elizabeth Chong 40th Anniversary Presentation, The Cook and the Chef, Jaguar Awards for Excellence, and What's Cooking?.
Biographical / Historical:

Elizabeth Chong AM was born in Guangdong Province, China in 1931. Elizabeth's Cantonese name was 陳月意 (Chen Yut Yi) and in Australia she was also known as Elizabeth (Bessie) Wing Young. She is an Australian celebrity chef, cooking teacher, author and media and television host and multi award media personality. Her family's history in Australia dates back to the 1850s when her grandfather emigrated to the country and worked on the Victorian goldfields at Wahgunyah. In the 1920s her mother was expelled from Victoria under the White Australia Policy, therefore the whole family returned to China. Elizabeth came back to Australia when she was three years old with her mother, father, grandmother and three other children and settled in a residence near the Queen Victoria Markets. She is the author of 8 best selling books on Chinese Cooking including "The first Happiness" and "Tiny Delights." In 1994, her book "The Heritage of Chinese Cooking" was the Winner of the prestigious "Prix La Mazille" as International Cookbook of the Year and the "Jaguar Award for Excellence " in the category of Gastronomic Travel by Australian Gourmet traveller. She is also known for her TV series Elizabeth Chong's Tiny Delights and television appearances on Good Morning Australia alongside Bert Newton. Elizabeth's cooking school was founded in 1961 with the school celebrating its 50-year anniversary in 2011. As an ambassador for Chinese culture, in association with her cooking, Elizabeth has been conducting guided tours of the Chinatown precinct in Melbourne for many years and lead Gastronomic Tours into China and Vietnam for more than 25 years. In 2019 Elizabeth was made a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the hospitality sector, and to the promotion of Chinese cuisine. She is also a Lifetime Australia Day Ambassador.

Arrangement:

Numbering of some files may appear out of order within the finding aid. These files have been listed in appropriate series to maintain intellectual grouping. The original arrangement of the collection has been preserved by the Library.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Access conditions may apply to this collection, please refer to the collection's catalogue record for further information (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn10001353).
Conditions Governing Use:
Conditions for copying and publishing of this collection may apply, please refer to the collection's catalogue record for further information (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn10001353).
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Elizabeth Chong, National Library of Australia, MS 10746, [class/series/file/item number(s)]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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