“Food gives us a lot of comfort during these times,” Carmel Ruggeri says in the kitchen of her quaint Wareemba home, with fragrant bolognese sauce bubbling on her stovetop.
“This brings me back to Italy and the connection with culture that we’re obviously missing right now.”
Supplying Sydney’s Italian community around the suburb of Five Dock with traditional, cheesy lasagne kept Carmel busy during the city’s long lockdown.
As a daughter of Sicilian migrants and a former restaurateur, Carmel has become central to the lives of many locals, bringing an authentic taste of Italy to their doorstep.
“Really everything with us [Italians] is about food. Every event, every time we meet, it’s always: ‘what are we going to eat?" she says.
Carmel's signature lasagne. Source: SBS
“It is all about coming together and making a lot of noise while we do something that our mothers, grandmothers and aunties taught us.”
Carmel’s popular lasagne is based around a recipe passed down through generations of the Ruggeri family.
She first learned the steps as a 12-year-old cooking with her mother, while growing up in Sydney’s inner west.
“Mum and dad are both from a little fishing village called Scoglitti on Sicily’s south-eastern coastline.
“My mum is still making sugo on a Sunday, although she is 83 now, and can barely stand up”.
Carmel's parents migrated from Sicily. Source: Supplied Carmel Ruggeri
Sugo is a traditional tomato sauce, made from ripe tomatoes cooked with extra virgin olive oil and seasoned. It features heavily as a base for many southern Italian dishes.
“Growing up, traditions like making passata (uncooked tomato purée that has been strained of seeds and skins) were huge long days.
“We started at five in the morning and finished when the pot of sauce was ready,” Carmel says.
“There were no measurements as such, I just had to watch and learn.”
Carmel is among a growing number of home cooks offering meal delivery services during the pandemic.
And she says the secret to her popular lasagne is a generous serving of Italian cheese.
“We have the trilogy: parmesan, mozzarella and pecorino. And this dish is becoming quite famous around the area.”
Carmel is no stranger to culinary adventures.
When international borders closed last year, it grounded her Italian ‘Sicilian Food Tours’ business forcing her to adapt.
“Before COVID I was running culinary tours through Sicily where I’d take guests to visit places like wineries, a tomato farm, a cheese factory, restaurants and people’s homes for traditional meals," she says.
Carmel's tour business will restart in 2022. Source: Supplied
“It was an amazing journey and a dream job.
“Then the pandemic hit, and it was a very hard time, and I was wondering what to do. And so I thought 'what if I deliver hot meals to homes'?
The result is a range of home cooked meals, delivered directly to her customers door through her 'Sicilian Food Table' business. And she has helped many families get through lockdown.
Her new venture has gone from strength to strength over the past 18 months, with Carmel’s customers becoming like an extended family.
“Deliveries are more than just convenience, they’re a way of keeping connected,” she says.
Carmel speaks fluent Italian to many of her 50 regular customers, and fills approximately 30 orders for her lasagne dish each week.
Word-of-mouth recommendations account for the ‘majority’ of her orders, and she also promotes the business on social media forums.
Carmel hopes to gradually grow the business. Source: SBS Mikele Syron
And she is keen to share her good fortune with other local businesses including Raineri’s delicatessen, where she sources many of the authentic Italian ingredients.
Looking back, she says her Italian family heritage is central to her success.
“Five Dock is a bit like an Italian village. The locals have known me for a long time, some since I was just little.
“But growing up, I didn’t appreciate it as much as I do now. I didn't realize how lucky I was.”
Carmel plans to expand, growing a broader footprint across Sydney’s inner west, and remains humbled by the growing popularity of her home-made meals.
“In the beginning, when I first started delivering, I was actually a bit ashamed. I remember thinking: ‘I can't believe I'm doing this’.
“But now I’m really proud. I’m glad I’ve taken this journey and it’s been successful.”
Carmel hopes to re-start her Sicilian tours in October 2022. www.sicilianfoodtours.com
