ABOUT DR TANIA CAMMARANO

I founded Timbro Tondo Tours because I spent many years researching the history of Italian food in Australia, and the stories I found were not the stories I had been told. I wanted the true history of Italian food in this country to be known, and the people who made this history to be acknowledged and celebrated.

I didn’t start with that mission. I grew up the proud daughter of Italian migrants in suburban Melbourne who believed that life could be good only if the food was good. So when my career as a journalist began, I gravitated towards food writing pretty quickly. I became the founding editor of Taste.com.au, which was an amazing job, but I started to question how Australia’s food culture had developed and what role Italians had in this development.

I began with a Master of Arts in Gastronomy at the University of Adelaide, which was like a gateway drug into a whole new way of understanding the world through food. It led to a PhD in history where I got to dig through archives, libraries and so very many cookbooks in a bid to understand the relationship between Italian migrants and Italian food. What I found upended many of the things I thought were true, and I feel privileged to have uncovered the stories of men and women who not only had a hand in changing the way we eat, but also how we live.

These days I run Timbro Tondo Tours as well as write stories, teach at William Angliss Institute, speak in the media, do public lectures at places like the Co.As.It Museo Italiano and host private events for organisations like the RACV Club. I continue to research Italian food in Australia because there is still so much to learn and share!

Speaking of learning and sharing, the thing I love most about my walks is that I get to learn from the lovely people who come along. So often, they share their migration stories, their family histories, and their connection to place. These stories are often fragments in the bigger picture and always inspire me.

If you’d like to talk to me about my research, hosting an event or any media opportunities, please get in touch - I’d love to hear from you.

I appeared on ABC News Breakfast in late 2025 to discuss Italian cuisine’s inclusion on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. It was a real “pinch me” moment.

MEDIA APPEARANCES & PUBLICATIONS

I’ve written for a wide range of academic and popular publications, have been a guest on various radio and TV shows, and have been interviewed about my research. Here is a sample of my work:

MEDIA APPEARANCES & COLLABORATIONS

ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS

  • Cammarano, Tania. (2013). “Food, fascism and forward thinking: Australia’s first Italo-Australian cookbook.” In Eat History: Food and Drink in Australia and Beyond, edited by Sofia Eriksson, Madeleine Hastie, and Tom Roberts, 42–75. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

  • Ankeny, Rachel A., & Tania Cammarano. (2017). “Leggo’s not-so-autentico: invention and representation in Twentieth century Italo-Australian foodways.” In Representing Italy Through Food, edited by Peter Naccarato, Zachary Nowak, and Elgin K. Eckert, 219–238. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.

POPULAR PRESS

CONFERENCE PAPERS & PUBLIC LECTURES

  • Eat like the ancients: A journey through history & taste (with Jessica Loyer). National Archaeology Week, Co.As.It Museo Italiano, Hellenic Museum and the University of Melbourne, Melbourne (2025)

  • Italian migrant journey: Dinner and Masterclass. RACV Club, Melbourne (2022)

  • The transformation of Natale Italiano and Perfect Cheese. CO.AS.IT. Italian Australian Culture Series, Online (2020) 

  • From suspect migrant to model Australian: Natale Italiano and the transformation of Perfect Cheese. 22nd Symposium of Australian Gastronomy, Parramatta (2018)

  • Natale Italiano and the transformation of Perfect Cheese. Food and Place, Food and Displace Conference, Adelaide (2018)

  • The power of ideas: Glamorous Italy and its impact on Italian food in Australia (with Rachel Ankeny). Diaspore Italiane, Italy in Movement: Living Transcultural Conference, Melbourne (2018)

  • Eat like a ‘fascist’: How Australia’s first Italian cookbook imagined culinary utopia. 21st Symposium of Australian Gastronomy, Melbourne (2016)

  • Sapori della memoria / Of food and memories. Mariella Totaro-Genevois and Nicoletta Zanardi in conversation with food writer Tania Cammarano at Museo Italiano. Co.As.It. Museo Italiano, Melbourne (2015)

  • Sauce of belonging: The importance of home production in strengthening Italian-Australian identity (with Rachel Ankeny). Of Places and Tastes: Terroir, Locality, and the Negotiation of Gastro-cultural Boundaries, Perugia, Italy (2014)

  • The evolution of ‘Spag Bol’ in Australia. Food Studies: A Multidisciplinary Menu, Adelaide (2014)

  • Food and fascism: The story of Australia’s first Italian cookbook. Co.As.It. Museo Italiano, Melbourne (2013)

  • Food and fascism: Australia's first Italian cookbook. Australian Historical Association 31st Annual Conference, Adelaide (2013)

  • Leggo’s not-so-autentico: Toward an alternative account of 20th century Italo-Australian foodways (with Rachel Ankeny). Italian Food Conference, Perugia, Italy (2012)

  • Coffee: From first fleet to espresso bars. Historic Houses Trust, Sydney (2009)

  • The ltalo-Australian sauce-making tradition: Preserving tomatoes or something else? 14th Symposium of Australian Gastronomy, Beechworth (2005)