A GIPPSLAND family is producing fresh, hand-made Italian cuisine to take home, writes SARAH WARNE
They were born in Italian towns only an hour apart, but Raffaele Giuliani and his wife, Lena, met in Bairnsdale, Victoria, sparking a romance that would ultimately bless Gippsland with home-cooked Italian dishes.
"We make the meals everyone would cook if they had the time and the know-how," Lena says.
At 19, Raffaele "Ralph" Giuliani arrived in Bairnsdale from Puglia, in southern Italy, and brought with him the century-old technique of flipping pizza.
"Kids are always pumped to see him throw pizza bases high above his head," the couple's daughter Felicity, 32, says.
After working as a pizza chef for 10 years in Traralgon, Ralph met Lena, an Italian girl from Naples, and also an accomplished cook.
After running successful restaurants in Traralgon and Morwell, the Giulianis have focused on their flourishing business, "Take Me Home", hand-making authentic Italian meals for those who don't have the time, or the
Italian-touch, to do it themselves.
"People were always coming into our restaurants and asking us to make them something they could heat up at home," Lena says. "We got tired of them asking."
So the family set up a commercial kitchen and the "Take Me Home" concept was born."
Together, Ralph and Lena have more than 80 years experience in the food industry.
"My dad learnt to make pizza from his mother as a child," Felicity says. "And my mother's pasta recipe has been handed down the female line for generations."
Lena makes gnocchi using the traditional and highly-skilled "roll-and-flick" technique.
"She's like a machine. It's amazing to watch," Felicity says.
It's this traditional technique that gives the gnocchi a light texture and helps it absorb the sauce.
Equally important are fresh, local ingredients.
"Mum and Dad grow all their own herbs, tomatoes, pumpkin and garlic on their property in Morwell," Felicity says. "And all of their other ingredients are sourced from the best local growers."
Their Italian specialties include hand-made pasta, pizza bases, lasagne, cannelloni and sauces. They are sold at farmers' markets in Gippsland and Melbourne.
"We have recently expanded the range to include a gluten-free beef lasagne and pasta," Felicity says.
Felicity and her husband, Trent, are carrying on the family tradition and expanding the business.
"Our pie-in-the-sky idea is to buy a "Take Me Home" farm where we can grow all our own ingredients, and set up a second kitchen in Melbourne," Felicity says.
For details visit www.tmhpastas.com.au
