Long before cultural diversity gifted Sydney its vibrant and accessible foodscape, colonial settlers were reliant on stews, native spinach and even imported ice to keep their meals exciting.

Jacqui Newling, the resident colonial gastronomer at Sydney Living Museums, has long been researching the types of food served in the city's historic houses, like the terrace houses at The Rocks built in 1844.

The collaboration between Ms Newling and a major excavation project across the street has helped to piece together chapters of the city's early urban food story.

"If you look at the population of Sydney in the 19th century, it's very Anglo-Celtic so you tend to find that the dishes that people are cooking [were] very much of that style of cooking.

"I think you'd have had a lot of one-pot wonders, but also it was seasonal."

An archaeology project in the cove precinct has helped reveal what the early settlers ate and what utensils they used. ( ABC Radio Sydney: Harriet Tatham )

19th-century Aussie fare Slippery Bob: Take kangaroo brains and mix with flour and water and make into batter; season with salt and pepper then pour a tablespoonful at a time into an iron pot containing emu fat. Take them out when well done. — "Bush fare requiring a good appetite and excellent digestion."

Take kangaroo brains and mix with flour and water and make into batter; season with salt and pepper then pour a tablespoonful at a time into an iron pot containing emu fat. Take them out when well done. — "Bush fare requiring a good appetite and excellent digestion." Pan jam: Roast kangaroo tails in the ashes with the skin on; when nearly done, scrape them well and divide at the joints. Put them in a pan with a few slices of fat bacon, to which add a few mushrooms, pepper, etc. Fry gently and serve. — "First-rate tack."

Roast kangaroo tails in the ashes with the skin on; when nearly done, scrape them well and divide at the joints. Put them in a pan with a few slices of fat bacon, to which add a few mushrooms, pepper, etc. Fry gently and serve. — "First-rate tack." Roast wombat: This animal feeds on grass and roots and its flesh is eaten roasted; some persons like its flavour, others again decry it. It is also cooked in steaks. Native porcupines are cooked in a like way. Source: The English And Australian Cookery Book - Cookery For The Many, As Well As For The Upper Ten Thousand

Ms Newling said while stews and casseroles were favourites, the colonists quickly learnt to use fresh native ingredients; not only because they could be grown in Sydney's sandy soil, but also because of protection they offered from scurvy.

"In the wintertime it was really practical to have a stew, because you'd have the oven on to keep the house warm and so those slow-cooked dishes were very common," she said.

"In the summertime, even though they're not written about much, people did eat salads.

"That's where you probably were more likely to have a grilled chop with your three veg, rather than something that had to take a long time on the stove.

"They also definitely used local resources and fished from the harbour, they gathered oysters and mussels, they hunted kangaroos.

"They were probably eating lilly pillies, the native currant, the native cherry, and as far as vegetation goes they were eating native spinach — warrigal greens."

Jacqui Newling says there were no Australian cookbooks until the 1860s. ( ABC Radio Sydney: Harriet Tatham )

The lack of refrigeration had a major impact on the way people both shopped and prepared their food, Ms Newling said.

"If you butchered an animal, you'd have to sell up very quickly or you have to salt it down, so on the butchers' catalogues and receipts you'll see a lot of corned beef, pickled pork or ham."

The Rocks in 1901 had two grocers just metres apart. ( Supplied: NSW State Archives )

One cup of flour, please

The same principle was applied to dry goods, many of which Ms Newling said were bought on the day they'd be used.

"Almost on every corner there was a pub, a butcher or a baker or all three," she said.

"People shopped often on a daily basis [and] for people who didn't have a lot of money, instead of filling up the supermarket trolley and having enough food to last a whole week or a whole month, sometimes they'd literally say, 'Can I please buy a cup of flour', because they would be living day to day."

While ice production didn't begin in Sydney until the 1860s, it had made its way to Sydney Harbour before.

"Believe it or not, some entrepreneurs imported blocks of ice that were dug out of the Boston lakes in America and shipped here.

"Quite a bit melted on the crossing, but you can imagine the excitement when ice arrived in Sydney Harbour."

Anna Cossu says shopping was done daily to accommodate the lack of refrigeration. ( ABC Radio Sydney: Harriet Tatham )

Museum curator Anna Cossu said aside from cookbooks and diaries, a bankruptcy notice from the 1880s had helped the researchers piece together the story.

"We know what was sold here in the 1880s because the grocer at the time, George Hill, he went bankrupt, and when you go bankrupt you have to declare all of your assets, so we have this fantastic inventory," she said.

"It sold black pepper, a few odd things like canary seeds. Some of it is really surprising, like curry spices which you may not think was here in the 1880s but it was."

And it's not only the above-ground discoveries that have helped fill in the gaps.

Goat, pig, lamb, fish and cow bones have helped archaeologists understand what the colonists were eating. ( ABC Radio Sydney: Harriet Tatham )

Alison Frappell from the Big Dig Archaeology Education Centre said bones and cooking utensils had been found.

"On a site like ours, we can look at what people were dining off — plates, forks, bone-handled knives, beautiful Chinese bowls and cooking utensils.

"There's also the by-product of food, and it tells you what exactly people were eating," which Ms Frappell said included goats, pigs, lamb, fish and beef.

Sydney Living Museums is holding a colonial cooking class on August 5.