Cooking with Mirka & Georges

In the kitchen

Article

No. 27 • September 2022

Legendary parties and extraordinary food: with the arrival of the French Mirka & Georges, Melbourne became a worldly and bohemian haven.

Fig 1. © foto: Robyn Lea

text: Sarah Knigge

They met over a game of ping-pong and married not long afterwards in Paris. It is the beginning of the story of a revolutionary couple: Mirka Mora (1928-2018) and Georges Mora (1913- 1992). Far from the tragic memories of the Holocaust, they wanted to build a new life. But where? Heads or tails: Melbourne or Casablanca. Mirka won.

Each city has a secret history, and Mirka was especially drawn to Melbourne’s. ‘The romance of the city is amazing,’ she told me in an interview. ‘I had read a lot about Melbourne, which is why I came here. Because of Antoine Fauchery.’ This French photographer and adventurer came to Australia in the mid-nineteenth century, attracted by the Victorian gold rush. After two years with no prospect of any fortune, he went to Melbourne and opened a café with his last sixty pounds.

Mirka and Georges followed in his footsteps, opening several restaurants in the city beginning in the 1950s. They transformed Melbourne into a cosmopolitan, culinary and bohemian haven for anyone ready for traditional French cuisine and joie de vivre. Their bistro hosted celebrities including Bob Dylan, Marlene Dietrich and Jean Shrimpton.
Meanwhile, Mirka continued to work on her paintings, mosaics and dolls. For her and Georges, who was also a gallerist, food, life, and art went hand in hand. Mirka: “To be an artist, you have to be a complete human being, right? You have to be fulfilled in every possible way…. Otherwise, your brain is empty as a pancake.’

Fig 2. Mirka en Georges in hun bistro met kunstenaar Murray Walker, ca. 1967

MIRKA’S ONION SOUP

2 litres beef broth – 2 tbsp olive oil
120 gr butter
6 onions, in rings
3 tbsp flour
1/2 baguette, sliced, toasted – Gruyère, grated
pepper and salt

Heat the beef broth. Meanwhile, put a pan over low heat, add the olive oil and onion rings and saute the onions until golden brown. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and fry the mixture for a few minutes until the flour has turned light brown. Add the hot broth to the onion mixture and simmer the soup for 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Preheat the oven. Divide the soup among ovenproof bowls, floating a piece of toasted bread in the centre. Sprinkle grated Gruyère on top.
Turn the oven to grill setting and place the bowls in the oven until the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

Read more recipes in Lesley Harding and Kendrah Morgan’s Mirka & Georges. A Culinary Affair, 2018.