Pickles, baking and knitting are attracting a new generation of Country Women’s Association members and bringing the spirit of the bush to the city, reports STEPHANIE GARDINER.

As Rebecca Lim supported her father through years of cancer treatment, she found comfort in teaching friends how to make preserved lemons and kimchi.

When her dad Jung Mook died in mid-2026, she was inundated with care packages, text messages, phone calls and hugs from those same women.

This is the kind of small-town spirit found in the heart of the city, among the members of the Sydney City Country Women’s Association (CWA) branch.

“Scones, fruit cakes and advocacy work aside, this is one of the reasons the CWA exists,” Ms Lim told AAP.

“We are a support network for each other.”

Though the CWA is known for its century of influence across rural Australia, some of its biggest fundraisers are school bake sales, farmers’ market stalls and Bunnings sausage sizzles run by its city-based members.

“We have regulars who turn up not just to buy our produce, but for a chit-chat and company,” Ms Lim said.

“There’s a grandfather who turns up and we know he loves his scones, so we always put about 20 aside for him to share with his children and grandchildren.”

CWAs from around Australia will feature in the ABC show Recipe Of The Year, which premieres on Sunday and follows home cooks as they prepare and share family recipes.

Just as Ms Lim taught her CWA branch members how to make kimchi from her father’s birthplace, the show explores the value of keeping traditional recipes alive.

The aroma of Ms Lim’s dad’s Korean cooking or her Vietnamese mum’s pho, soups or caramelised fish was always the first thing that welcomed her home at the end of a school day.

“‘It’s comforting knowing you’re home and your mum or dad’s got dinner ready for you,” said Ms Lim, who features as a judge in the series.

“So when people come over and smell something familiar in the oven or see it sitting on the kitchen bench, it just lights up the room.”

Ellice Schrader, the NSW CWA’s former chair of land cookery, also appears alongside television cook Adam Liaw and actor Pia Miranda to find the nation’s best family recipe.

Though Ms Schrader is an official CWA baking competition judge – which involves looking out for cake crimes like uneven sponges, rack marks or sugar spots – she acknowledges love matters most in home cooking.

Her family continues a birthday tradition from her 91-year-old father, who makes apple pies with his children’s first initial baked into the pastry.

“Now his great-grandchild is enjoying the apple pie,” said Ms Schrader, from the Cessnock branch.

“He still cooks every birthday and when he goes, we will continue doing that.”

The CWA has about 20,000 members in 1200 branches across Australia and is attracting a new generation.

Many younger members joined specifically to learn about preserves and pickles, likely a sign of the rising cost of living, while others wanted to take up handicrafts, NSW president Tanya Jolly said.

But it is the power of gathering, cooking and advocating for women and children that keeps the organisation humming.

“We’re letting people know we’re still out there,” Ms Jolly said.

“The CWA is still just as relevant today as we were 100 years ago.”

News all day, every day at CityNews.com.au.