Having spent most of his adult life working in London, McCubbin decided to take “a leap of faith” by moving to a remote town in Sicily at the end of 2020.
“I was approached by this TV company in London who were making this program about six people from the UK who come to this town called Mussomeli in Sicily and buy a one-euro house,” he explained.
The show was cancelled mid production due to the pandemic, but McCubbin didn’t let that change his plans.
“I always knew that I wouldn’t end up living in London,” he said.
“I really wanted to move somewhere where it was remote and quiet.”
From the way McCubbin describes Mussomeli, he’s found just that.
“There are no traffic lights, there’s no high street, there’s no chaos,” he remarked.
“It’s almost like time has forgotten the town.
“I absolutely love the pace.”
Within months of arriving, McCubbin began giving back to his new home.
Thanks to the help of an online fundraiser that raised £25,000 (AUD 47,000), The Good Kitchen was born.
Resting in the middle of the town square, the community kitchen now feeds Mussomeli’s vulnerable residents.
“It’s become a very, very beautiful project,” said McCubbin.
“The Sicilians have really adopted it which makes me very happy.”
Christmas celebrations at The Good Kitchen
The Good Kitchen is currently the main food source for ten local families and delivers around 100 meals per week.
“There are a lot of people who are struggling financially,” McCubbin explained.
“There are no homeless people in Mussomeli and there are not a lot of people who are in extreme poverty as you would see in a bigger city like London.
“But what there is, is a lot of social isolation.
“There are elderly people who have no family and there are families that do struggle, particularly in winter, with getting good nutritious food on the table.”
The kitchen and its volunteers provide more than just food, however.
“For some [residents], particularly the elderly, it’s more about the connection,” McCubbin revealed.
“The elderly men, particularly those who have lost their wives, they come and sit and just watch me cook.
“We get our volunteers to go deliver the meals, sit with them for a while and see if they’re okay.”
It’s no surprise that a town with such special people has embraced the initiative.
“If you ask anyone, people in the south are incredibly generous, particularly in a place like Sicily, where it is so poor.
“When I was first in Mussomeli I didn’t have a car and I walked to the supermarket, and every time people would stop and say, ‘hey do you want a lift?’
McCubbin believes the people of Mussomeli resemble those from his upbringing in country Queensland.
“It reminds me of old Australia, country Australia. I remember there you would drive and people would wave.
“There’s a lot of similarities between Italy and Australia.
“Obviously the food, the sense of family, the sea.”
The people of Mussomeli, despite not having much of their own, have now welcomed families from Ukraine fleeing the war.
The Good Kitchen hosts Italian language lessons for them, to help integrate them into the community.
“It’s a very beautiful opportunity for them to come and connect, particularly for the kids.
“The mums come and cook with me and teach me sometimes as well.”
Mussomeli's Ukranian familes outside The Good Kitchen
McCubbin told the story of his now friend, Vera, who packed her children and mother into the car and escaped to Italy as her town was being destroyed.
“I will never, ever, for the rest of my life forget meeting her and I’ll never take for granted how lucky I am and how privileged I am to have the life that I lead,” McCubbin shared.
“So I hold that to my heart when I go to the kitchen.”
The Good Kitchen is thriving and according to McCubbin has become a hub for the town’s youth.
There are around ten young people, aged ten to 15, who volunteer to help cook every Sunday.
“Most of them now want to be chefs, so the kitchen is providing opportunities,” he said, adding that because unemployment in the town is so high, many of the kids could easily think that it’s inevitable.
“These kids could grow up following in the footsteps of their parents and not really look at what it is they could do for a career.
“The kitchen is almost like an intervention because they discover that they’re good at something, they’re meeting people, then they have aspirations for careers.”
Two of the kitchen’s little helpers, identical twins Nicholas and Francois, have not only become an integral part of the project, but have provided McCubbin with a moment of kindness he will cherish forever.
For their birthday last year, McCubbin gifted each of them a 20-euro voucher to spend at a local department store.
They each bought themselves a shirt, and with the rest of the money bought a new phone case for McCubbin after noticing that his was cracked.
“That just summed up the generosity and joy and kindness of these boys who are 15,” McCubbin reflected.
“Five euros for each of them is a lot of money.”
The lack of material temptations in a small rural town could be what creates more generous people, a difference McCubbin experienced even within himself.
“There’s not the hustle and bustle of the capitalist society where you’re looking and seeing ‘Oh he’s got the latest iPhone’,” McCubbin explained.
“I went back to London last year and within a day or two I was like ‘Oh those jeans are cool … I like those shoes’.
“I found myself standing in the middle of a men’s clothing shop thinking; ‘what am I doing here? I don’t need anything’.”
Now in the quiet surrounds of Mussomeli, McCubbin wants for nothing.
He dedicates much of his time to writing a cookbook, the proceeds of which will go to The Good Kitchen.
For people looking to make a change in their own lives, McCubbin’s advice is simple.
“Just be a good person, just look at your neighbours. Is there anyone on your street who is struggling?
“There’s joy in giving back, there’s joy in helping, there’s joy in not being numb to what’s going on in the world and seeing what you can do to make it a better place.
“There is joy in that kitchen.”
