Cheese maker La Casa Del Formaggio has launched a recipe book that documents historic recipes that came to Australia with a migrating Italian family in the late 1960s.
The book was designed as a memorial to the late Rosa Cicchiello, one of the founders of La Casa Del Formaggio and mother of current MD Claude Cicchiello.
Recipes in the book draw on Rosa’s recipe and basic Italian cooking principles that underpinned them. It will be available from certain independent grocers throughout Australia as a gift with purchase when two or more La Casa cheeses are bought.
“We have shared some of these recipes in the past on social media and the response was unexpectedly personal from a number of our fans,” said Cicchiello. “People contacted us to thank us, saying that a relative had cooked something like this but they had passed away before handing down the recipe. Part of our objective with this book was to preserve some of those traditional recipes for the generations of Australians to come.”
One of the complicating factors with Italian cuisine is that many recipes are handed down in an oral tradition with significant variances from one region to the other. As Italian recipes are often taught through doing, they are rarely written down. This initiative by La Casa Del Formaggio has captured a version of these recipes for generations to come.
“There is a growing interest in Italian food around the world and particularly here in Australia,” said Cicchiello. “So I guess the book is also a way for people not coming from an Italian heritage to explore some aspects of traditional Italian food culture.”
Famous for its fresh bocconcini, mozzarella and ricotta, La Casa Del Formaggio shares its Italian family’s cheese tradition with Australia.
Famiglia contains several fan favourite Italian recipes such as lasagna, arancini balls, tiramisu and mozzarella sticks, as well as some recipes that are less commonly known, such as Rosa’s famous Ricotta Donuts and fried napoletana Eggplant Stacks.
