Carmela's Cucina Povera

Carmela D'Amore, explores her Sicilian heritage and finds her
true cultural identity through the Italian cooking style
of Cucina Povera.

Readers are taken on her journey of self-discovery and
acceptance, as she remembers and recreates her beloved
family recipes from generations past.

Carmela revisits her teenage years as a Sicilian Australian
growing up in Melbourne's South Eastern suburbs and the
struggles she faced, straddling two very different cultures.
She shares the emotional journey she undertook
to reconnect with her cultural origins and embrace
her Australian identity.


She finds inner joy and peace, revisiting childhood
memories, good and bad, and reigniting the flame of
her Sicilian culture.


In the book, Carmela comes face to face with many of
the struggles she encountered navigating a clash of
cultures and the intergenerational challenges within
her own close-knit family.


In her journey to understand and embrace Australian life,
Carmela illustrates how she became comfortable in her
Sicilian and Australian 'skins', to embrace her new
cultural identity that remembers the past and has a future
rich with possibility and potential.


Bringing over 40 years' expertise with the Sicilian cooking
technique of Cucina Povera to Carmela's Cucina Povera,
she has placed her own, modern twist on Cucina Povera
recipes which she has masterfully recreated -
and she shows a generosity in sharing over
75 soulful recipes with readers.