“La Rocca” Calabrian Recipes Orders to: Mondo di Carne Pty Ltd 824 Beaufort Street Inglewood Western Australia 6052 Email: mail@mondo.net.au Web: www.mondo.net.au $49	Family traditions, food, stories and recipes by Natalina Cherubino
La Rocca Calabria, Italy Only six families lived in La Rocca in Calabria, Italy. Their rustic houses were built close to an outcrop of rocks (la rocca) on the edge of the river. They grew their own food and handed down their traditional skills, just as their ancestors had for the previous hundred years. Family, and love of the family, were pivotal. Natalina Cherubino was lucky to have spent part of her childhood in that rich culture. With her sisters and cousins, she walked the five kilometers to school; they ate juicy, sun-ripened fruit straight from the trees, tended their animals, and collected wood and mushrooms in the forest. Their grandmother’s kitchen was always welcoming, filled with the sweet aromas of food cooking, and people eating. Swan Valley, Western Australia The men from La Rocca began their wave of migration to Australia in the late 1920s, mostly leaving their families behind. World War Two divided Natalina’s family; they were reunited with their father after the war. They began their new pioneering life in the bush, clearing the land with a team of horses, planting crops, and coping with the heat, the flies, the language barriers and the isolation. By the early 1950’s, most of the people from La Rocca had immigrated, with many settling on plots of land in the Swan Valley. The Book In this book you have the opportunity to share the simple yet rich stories, traditions, foods and recipes of those who migrated to Australia.		“Che fortuna… to have been brought up in a family where food and the love of food was, and still is such an important aspect of life. My mother was forever cooking; there was always a pot on the stove or something in the oven. She could make the most delicious meal out of the most basic ingredients. No sooner had we finished eating than she would say, “E mo sta sirra chi mangiamo?” (And now what shall we have for tea tonight?) My mother still does a lot of cooking and baking, especially for her grandchildren, who think Nanna’s food is the best.” Calabrian traditions, food, stories and recipes