Although a whole ocean and a continent away, Giovanna’s Cucina in Home Hill brings you right to Italy’s doorstep with its traditional Sicilian flavour—no passport required.
What started as a modest entrepreneurial venture out of Giovanna Castorina’s own home in 2022, the business has evolved to offer a whole range of authentic Italian meals—including her famous lasagne—and now with it’s own storefront on the main road.
“I started the business at home myself—initially, it was just pasta sauces and lasagnas and I would put it up on Facebook,” says Giovanna. “People would place orders in the comments and it would sell out every week.”
“Now I’ve got a whole range of oven-ready meals—sauces, soups, pizza’s… the lot,” she added.
Being a mother herself, Giovanna says the inspiration behind the idea was to make life easier for those mothers and families with busy schedules.
“I had my daughter, and I had her in daycare one day a week, then two days a week, three days a week—and then I was like… 'I can’t do this,’” she said.
“People just want a good, nutritious homemade meal that they don’t have to cook themselves.”
And that’s exactly what Giovanna’s offers—homemade meals straight out of Nonna’s authentic Sicilian cookbook.
“Ive always been a cook at home. Everything here is either a recipe that’s been handed down from Nonna or something I’ve taught myself,” says Giovanna.
For the Burdekin local, it’s always been a dream to share her authentic Italian recipes with the community, and one that she realised through hard work, perseverance, and—of course—good quality food.
“Having old Italian and Sicilian women who come in here and buy my food—that’s the best compliment,” she says.
“I’ve even found a lot of people travelling through who come back, year after year, and they’re like, ‘we came here last year and we just had to stop in again.’”
Now a staple in the Burdekin community, Giovanna’s Cucina continues to satiate the bellies of families all across the Burdekin, one serving of Sicily at a time.
Being a mother herself, Giovanna says the inspiration behind the idea was to make life easier for those mothers and families with busy schedules. Photo supplied
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