CULTURA BY BEDDA VITA

Chiara’s Story

Ciao! My name is Chiara, I’m a second-generation Italo-Australian born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, but my family are originally from Sicily and Rome. I have been raised on the stories, rituals and traditions that my Nonni have passed down to me, and these stories are often shared through food.

Some of my earliest memories are of being in my great grandparents’ garden and eating the fresh produce they worked so hard to maintain, or being sick and staying home from school with my Nonna where she fed me bowls and bowls of pastina while watching the Italian channel on TV, or eating a huge meal surrounded by my big, loud family all squished into the tiny dining room where everyone is laughing and talking and we’d sit around and listen to my Nonna and Nonno talk about their lives back home.

Food has always been at the centre of my connection to my culture; it's so intertwined with my identity.

Growing up, I spent a lot of time in the kitchen. So many members of my family have been involved with food one way or another, so it has always been something that has come naturally to me, but my love for cooking really developed after I lost both my great-grandmothers.

Their cooking was such an important part of my life; I saw the power of food and how it brings everyone together. It was really important to me to learn and preserve the traditions of their cooking to keep my connection to my culture alive, and the foundation of everything I cook is all learned from them. I even cook with their old utensils and eat from their plates.

Culture to me is keeping our traditions active, sharing stories and recreating recipes that would otherwise be lost to time.

It is continuing to connect with people through the food that I make, just as my family have done before me. I cant wait for where these traditions and rituals take me.

Grazie Mille,

Chiara