From the outside, it just looks like any other home; within its four walls is where all the magic happens.

Adelina Pulford’s kitchen is more often than not bustling with visitors who have travelled far and wide to participate in one of her acclaimed cooking classes.

Whether it’s pasta or cannoli, everything that comes out of Adelina’s kitchen will transport your tastebuds to Italy.

Born in the small town of Cervicati in Calabria, Adelina began cooking at the age of seven.

“I learnt from my mum; I’d stand on a chair when I was a young girl and roll the gnocchi,” she recalls.

Adelina moved to Australia when she was 15 years old, and her passion for cooking only grew stronger as she settled into her new homeland.

Eventually, the Calabrese decided to turn her hobby into a career, enrolling at the William Angliss Institute as a mature-age student in the early ‘90s.

“I couldn’t really do an apprenticeship because I was too old, so I had to do 4000 hours in the industry, and that meant working anywhere that wanted me,” she explains.

It was only after slugging it out for 4000 hours that Adelina was accepted into William Angliss’ commercial cookery course.

Fortunately, all of the hard work and persistence paid off; after graduating in 1996, Adelina went on to become head chef at one of Melbourne’s first Italian restaurants, Campari Bistro on Hardware Lane.

A few years later, Adelina moved onto Scusami Restaurant in Southbank, where she specialised in traditional Italian pasta and dolci, and then to Enoteca Sileno in Carlton, where she conducted cooking classes and prepared Italian biscotti and pastries.

In 2009 Adelina’s husband retired and the couple made a sea change from the bustling CBD to the peaceful peninsula.

Nostalgic for her cooking career, Adelina decided to launch a Facebook page and post recipes from her own private kitchen by the sea.

Adelina soon attracted a large international audience, and around 15,000 people from 46 countries follow her on Facebook to date.

As her online presence continued to skyrocket, Adelina began running cooking classes from her own kitchen, teaching anything from pasta and gnocchi to her favourite Italian desserts and pastries.

“People have a ball and they really interact with each other even though they may not have all met before,” she explains.

“It’s a really great social thing.”

There was just one problem: Adelina’s interstate and overseas followers felt that they were missing out, unable to travel the distance to enjoy one of her classes.

All of a sudden, people began asking whether Adelina had ever considered publishing her own cookbook.

“I had all of the recipes so I thought: ‘Why not?’,” she laughs.

Adelina’s first book Learn Cook Enjoy was published in 2014, and over 3000 copies have been sold since.

Having received such an overwhelming response with the release of her first book, it was only natural that Adelina went on to publish two more: one dedicated to traditional Italian savoury dishes, and the other focusing on desserts and sweets.

All three of her self-published books consist of trialled and tested simple recipes that even those who have the tendency to burn toast can easily follow.

“I’ve really tried to simplify everything, because I’ve got hundreds of cookbooks that I occasionally consult, but I hate any recipe that goes for two pages,” Adelina explains.

“I lose interest and I think most people do.”

Each book features both the English and Italian versions of Adelina’s favourite recipes, for both older generations of Italian migrants who never learnt English, and for Italian followers living in the Belpaese who want to join in on the fun from across the world.

“There are a lot of cookbooks on the market and that makes it a little bit more unique,” Adelina says.

“It was a lot of work putting them together, but it was a real labour of love for me.”

Adelina’s fans expand beyond Australia and Italy to the US and Canada, and with increasing demand from overseas, her books were published on Amazon a few weeks ago.

Who knew that one passionate Italian cook could have such an extensive influence from the comfort of her very own kitchen?!

And Adelina doesn’t intend on slowing down any time soon; the Calabrian cook plans on sharing her culture and cuisine with others from her beachside home until the day she stops enjoying it.

That’s if she ever does...