CHAT SESSION 55 with Carmela Amato D’Amore
Topic-. Family, friends and sharing our table extending it into our communities.
Catch up and listen to our chat session https://megaphone.link/LCRUI3037405727
Monday 13th May 2024 1pm https://rppfm.com.au
Carmela Amore is the daughter and granddaughter of Sicilian migrants, Australian born; an Award-Winning International Sicilian chef, with 50 years’ experience in the hospitality community.
Carmela and her family were the owners of an Italian/Sicilian restaurant called, Sorrento Trattoria, the longest family run restaurant in Sorrento. They retired in 2021.
Carmela’s Sicilian heritage has given her an amazing gift for life. Her passion for culture and family was stemmed from a root of love for cooking that has created the way for her own Sicilian cooking experience - Carmela’s Cucina Class, and a culinary and cultural annual tour to Sicily with her clients. Together they become an extension into her community.
Her business is more than just cooking it’s about connecting you with the experience of what food is about. The essence of who we truly are is found in the foundations of our heritage.
Whether you’re 18 or 80, an experienced chef or a novice, you will learn something in Carmela’s kitchen – most likely it will be about yourself, not just food!
With each of her clients Carmela gets to encourage and inspire them to create memories through food. Embracing her own heritage, Carmela guides her clients into their creative side as they progress and unlock the potential to reveal just how memories are created through food.
Sicilian food is rich with a love for life, and with every recipe comes an amazing story of passion, strength, courage, and family; many people have never experienced or fully been awakened to the kind of joy for life, through food.
Carmela saw a need in this area, wanting to make a difference in people’s lives adjusting mindsets on what food is about. It is a privilege for Carmela to share her knowledge. She is a teacher on Sicilian food and in her classes, you get to learn how to cook Sicilian cuisine. Its history has over 13 denominations that have ruled the island and the influence is through the ingredients. Her clients learn about recipes, where they come from, how old they are and the story that is behind each recipe. The intent of creating the experience that cooking gives injects a passion for a love of life, through food.
Carmela’s parents who have since passed away were one of the 200,000 families that migrated in the 50’s that came to Australia with the hope of building a brighter future. Through hard work and commitment, they built a life for themselves shaping this country through food and creating a future for their own families and for the generations to come.
They brought with them trades and their passion for family and culture, to help shape this new country Australia. Those foundations of family values where strong, but times have changed. Carmela’s belief is to keep her values and grow with the times.
In Carmela’s words “There are three dominant problems that we face in this area; we are in a virtual age, where food is no longer the communicator with some families, and we have lost the communication and bond that comes with being passionate about food. Food is supposed to generate and forge strength in families; we are becoming so disconnected to the truth about food, and what we lack in many families today is human connection. We have forgotten that life is full of experiences. Life is to be experienced and food is the fuel for families to connect at the table and share their life together”.
Changing how we look at food and what its true value means, is an opportunity for Carmela to share in her cooking classes. `La tavola’ the table is an opportunity to stop for a while, and enjoy the communication from food, with each other, sharing a meal, love, and to enhance and strengthen our relationships.
Most of Carmela’s classes are about connection and community. When we thrive, our families and community also benefit.
In her classes Carmela teaches about Cucina Povera which is an ancient Sicilian cooking technique: it is wholesome soul food that came from humble beginnings in the time of the war where you only cooked with what you had and made do with it. Her family only used what they had in season to cook. Each recipe has centuries of life and culture using seasonal produce to create healthy meals. Her vision is to inspire families to educate themselves and to continue to do so in their own lives through food and cooking, thus creating a trail into the next generation of children.
Carmela found her own identity in Cucina Povera, implementing cooking techniques that have strong family values. The culture and the recipes have been updated for today’s modern technology, but Carmela still traditionally works with her recipes as a benchmark to help others understand how her recipes come together. Carmela plants the seeds to educate you, accepting change without letting go of her own values. She wants to define and inspire us all to be the best version of who we can be for ourselves and our families.
Her Sicilian cooking experience is based on a 5-step methodology that will guide you step by step creating an imprint into your own creative ways that will remain with you even when you leave. A simple step process and shared experience makes a difference. Forging connections and celebrating love for life through Sicilian food cannot be underestimated when in one of Carmela’s cooking classes.
All the products are Sicilian and a cooking experience with Carmela will leave you ultimately experiencing the Sicily she knows and loves. You will connect with a love for life through food and culture and the travelling will take you into a place where you can regain a sense of self. You will enjoy the culinary journey becoming your own connoisseur of life through this experience.
Every May and October, (redirecting her tours at the moment) Carmela has the honour to take a small private boutique group of people to her homeland, Sicily. She is thrilled to offer clients a culinary, cultural experience where she can continue to inject her passion and love for life and food, to everyone that comes her way.
You will no doubt bring an imprint back with you to continue to enjoy what life is truly about. Family, friends and sharing our table extending it into our communities.
Carmela is the Ambassador to Splendid Sicily, and has just been made Town Ambassador to Milazzo, her mother’s hometown.
The ultimate result is that together we can strengthen each other and celebrate our culture and the values we must create, a pathway for the next generation, launching a new generation of strong children.
Carmela’s Sicilian cooking experience is an opportunity for her to leave an imprint of inspiration. It is about sharing her knowledge, heritage and recipes for you and your family to embrace in your life and overall wellbeing.
Carmela is an Amazon author of 5 books.
Follow Carmela’s Cucina
Or my website: www.carmelascucinaclass.com.au
Phone: 0412 086 111
My hope is that when you’re looking at yourself in the
‘The Daily Mirror’
YOU SMILE
EMBRACE BEING YOU
AND FIND 10 MINUTES IN YOUR DAY TO NOURISH YOUR SOUL!
To get in touch with Cathy email smileinthedailymirror@gmail.com
'The Daily Mirror' acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Custodians of the land and acknowledges and pays respect to their Elders, past and present.
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