Frankies Pantry & Cellar

Food and wine sit at the heart of Italian culture.

Sure, you could add music and art to the list, but whereas not all Italians are musical or artistic, it’s hard to find an Italian who doesn’t care about what they are eating and drinking - where it comes from, how it’s made and whether it is as good as their mother’s.

Anyone who knows Italy well will know that there is no such thing as ‘Italian food’.

The states of the Italian Peninsula didn't become unified into a single country until 1861. That’s the year the first Melbourne Cup ran.

It is far more accurate to talk about regional food - la Cucina Piemontese, Toscana or Calabrese - or narrow it down further to individual cities and towns since there can be distinct variations even within the regions.

For example, the famous Sicilian street food of crumbed and fried balls of rice that we know as arancini are made round like an orange in Palermo, but in Catania are cone-shaped like Mount Etna.

To grow up in an Italian family is to acquire a lifelong connection to the way your kinfolk have cultivated, prepared, preserved, and enjoyed the food and wine of the land, sea and mountains of that little part of Italy they call home.

My family has been steeped in these traditions for generations.