thank you for visiting my site
I am Paola (though I generally get called Paula) and my family is Italian – mamma was from the Veneto region and my father was from the Istrian peninsula (these days divided between Italy, Slovenia and Croatia). I live in Melbourne, Australia.
My love of Italy and its food is part of the journey I am taking to embrace the growing, making and sharing of food through the culture that my parents gave me. Eating and sharing food go hand in hand. Our memories of food are often linked to places, people, events and feelings. I share stories about the food I cook at home and its memories.
I trained as a dentist and still work in the sector. But much of of my time is spent cooking, taking photos and writing recipes.
I return to Italy each year to explore the food and culture, visiting friends and family, sharing meals, talking and hearing stories of days long gone.
I love sharing these visits through the photos that you will see on my Instagram feed, on my Facebook page “Italy on my mind”, here on my website and in my cookbooks. I visit markets and restaurants, researching traditional recipes and customs.
I have run food tours in Italy in previous years around Trieste, Istria and Puglia and workshops at the Anna Tasca Lanza Cooking School in Sicily. My mother was from a tiny town on the outskirts of Treviso in Veneto and she is my greatest food inspiration.
I started this community in late 2011 and was (briefly) on Masterchef series 4 in 2012. I have written and photographed four cookbooks: Italian Street Food (2016; 2nd edition 2021), Adriatico (2018), Istria (2021) and At Nonna’s Table (2024) all published by Smith Street Books.
I photograph, style and write all my cookbooks. It really is a passion. You can find more information about them here; all my cookbooks have international distribution and if you are in Australia, you can buy them (signed) directly from me.
