The History Behind The Food Of The Ekka

August 14, 2018

Have you ever thought of how your Ekka favourites came to the show? SheSociety rounds up the history of some of the show’s classics.

The now symbolic Strawberry Sundae and dagwood dogs were both introduced in the 1950’s and almost 70 years later are still the biggest crowd pleasers at the show.

Strawberry Sundae – Famous at the Ekka, the Strawberry Sundae is made fresh in front of you. Ice cream company, Peters, had long been associated with the show but around 1950 decided to combine strawberries, ice cream and fresh cream in the form of a sundae. It was a crowd favourite and today the ice creams, made with LICK icecream, are now sold as a fundraising venture for  The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation to raise vital research funds, with over 153,000 sold in 2017.

Ekka Strawberry Sundae volunteer, Corrine, has been volunteering after her son went into the The Prince Charles Hospital for his heart problems, and she wanted to give back to the hospital for all they had done for her son.

Image: ABC News

Dagwood Dog – A cheeky fan favourite, the Dagwood Dog is found all around the Ekka, also known as a Pluto Pup, the Dog is a batter-soaked and fried sausage, dipped in sauce.

Even more popular is the lead up to the Ekka’s very first Dagwood Dog eating competition which takes place on Sunday the 19th of August this year in the XXXX Stockmen’s Bar and Grill at 12:30pm

$3 Cheese Toasties – Replacing the iconic Butter Board sandwiches, the classic Cheese Toastie is still made with fresh Australian butter and cheese with over 40,000 being sold each year which equates to two tonnes of butter and four tonnes of cheese.

The Bertie Beetle–  The Bertie Beetle was first produced in 1963 by Hoadley’s Chocolates and was sold in shops until 1970, when manufacturer Nestlé entered an exclusive agreement with ‘Showbag Marketing’ to only sell the chocolate at shows and exhibitions in showbags. It consists of a chocolate coated bar containing small pieces of honeycomb. It was created as a way to use up pieces of coconut, and honeycomb left over from the production of Violet Crumble bars.

In 2016 The Bertie Beetle bag cemented its status as a favourite showbag at the Ekka, with more than 100,000 bags sold by the Brisbane Show Day, and in 2017 over 250,000 Bertie Beetle Bags were sold at the Ekka.

Image: The Urban List Brisbane

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.