The celebrity chef advises me to try pasta in a pan and I immediately have a thousand questions.
She speaks of a simple pasta dish with tomato sauce that’s cooked directly in the pan with all the ingredients.
Unlike risotto, to which water or stock is added a little at a time, everything is placed in the pan at once and cooked together.
I ask hesitantly: “Are you sure? So I don’t have to boil the pasta in water?”
“Try it and let me know,” Colloca replies, already aware that, as any good Italian, I’d have my doubts.
I was quick to give it a go and I must say that the result was excellent: not only is it a time and energy saver with only one pot to clean, but the dish is really tasty.
Born and raised in Milan, Colloca spends every summer with her family in Abruzzo, visiting relatives on her mother’s side.
“I spent most of my life halfway between two mentalities: the Milanese one, which is very efficient and hardworking, and the Abruzzo one, which is simpler and more genuine and in touch with nature,” she says.
“The latter suits me much more today.
“Growing up in Milan allowed me the opportunity to study in prestigious schools but the Abruzzese lifestyle gave me many ideas and inspired me to pursue a career in which I talk about Italy, its culture and la cucina povera.”
While in Milan, Colloca studied theatre at the CTA for seven years.
In addition to her acting studies, she attended the Scuola Musicale di Milano for four years, studying opera and developing a mezzo-soprano voice.
Her passion for the arts goes back to her childhood and she later pursued it as a career.
But when Colloca moved to Australia 10 years ago, a string of fortunate events led her to embark on a career in food.
“I missed Italy and my mother suggested that I start a blog where I could share our family’s recipes, which before then had been passed on orally, so as to preserve them in a safer place,” she explains.
The blog was a hit and Colloca then had the opportunity to write her first book, Silvia’s Cucina, and star in her first television program, Made in Italy with Silvia Colloca.
“At the time I thought it was an isolated episode but instead it became my main career,” she says.
Between writing a book and filming a new program, Colloca has continued to find time to devote herself to singing.
Her last performance was for Opera in the Alps, which took place in Beechworth in March 2020 before a crowd of 3000.
The concert was one among the last to unfold before the coronavirus pandemic hit Australia.
“I’m lucky because I was able to continue writing full-time and creating recipes, but in the case of my husband [Australian actor Richard Roxburgh], all shooting was suspended overnight,” Colloca says.
“In September he went back to work on the set of Baz Luhrmann’s film on the life of Elvis Presley, to be released in 2022, and he’s still in Queensland filming today.”
Colloca and Roxburgh met on the set of the action movie Van Helsing, in which Richard played the role of Dracula.
They married in September 2004 in a castle in Rapolano Terme, in the Tuscan province of Siena.
The couple have three children: Raphael, Miro and little Luna, who was born in 2017.
“I moved to Australia for love, but I’d never imagined living here,” Colloca says.
“As a young girl I watched the Japanese cartoon Lucy May, which told the story of an English girl who moved to Australia with her parents and siblings in the early 19th century.
“Lucy May helped my generation to dream, but I never imagined that I’d ever live here, building a career and raising three children in Sydney.
“Today, I feel Italian when I spend my time in the kitchen.
“I still call my mother when I have doubts about a recipe and she always gives me excellent advice.”
After a stint in London, Colloca permanently settled in Sydney in 2009, experiencing some difficulties during the early days.
“Even though I’d established a career in the United States, I had to start from scratch because nobody knew me here,” she says.
“When I started writing my blog, I immediately received feedback from the public and I admit that I was hesitant to publish my first book.
“I’m not a professional chef, but a cooking enthusiast who loves sharing simple recipes that everyone can replicate.”
Colloca’s family recipes ultimately led to her success.
Her first television show, Made in Italy with Silvia Colloca, was shot in Marche, Abruzzo and Molise.
Colloca’s fifth book, Simple Italian: The Essentials of Italian Home Cooking, has just been published.
In the book, Colloca reveals all of her family’s culinary tricks.
“It’s the book I always wanted to write but I needed experience,” she says.
“This is a guide with all the classic recipes and secrets that aren’t found in a cookbook, but that you learn in the kitchen from your grandmother.
“Many people wonder why a simple tomato sauce tastes better in Italy, questioning what the secret ingredient is.
“In reality, it’s a question of using fewer but quality ingredients, and following simple tips that can totally change the flavour of a dish.”
Colloca learned traditional recipes from her mother, who cooked meals for the family every day such as fresh pasta with sauce, meatballs, eggs with peperonata, pizza in a pan on Saturday evenings and risotto, all strictly homemade.
“She had the Pastamatic and on Sundays she made trays and trays of tagliatelle that we ate during the week,” Colloca says.
When her mother went back to work, Colloca was 12 years old and her routine changed immediately.
“As teenagers when we’d return from school we had to cook lunch for ourselves,” she says.
“We often used frozen food; it was a colossal change.”
Colloca has handed down some of the family traditions to her children and every Saturday in the Roxburgh-Colloca house, pizza is served, while on Sundays they make ciambellone and Abruzzese pizzelle.
“My children speak Italian and I want them to be surrounded by the culture of my country,” Colloca says.
Colloca’s latest television show, Cook like an Italian with Silvia Colloca, is broadcast on SBS Food and filmed in her kitchen in Sydney.
“We’ve finished filming and the second season will air in April,” she says.
“But there’s still a lot to do and my intention is always to explore our culture through cooking.
“The truth is that we Italians grow accustomed to seeing our mothers and grandmothers in the kitchen and we absorb the mechanisms of what happens in that sacred room by osmosis, without even realising it; then when we’re in our kitchens as adults we replicate the same actions, almost never needing a book to guide us.
“The principle of this television program is like a philosophy of life, in which I try to inspire the audience to always have the necessary ingredients in the pantry, so as to quickly prepare a dish.
“I try to be honest; I show the Australian public what I cook every day, what ingredients to fill the pantry with and what to do with leftovers, trying to use the ingredients in the simplest way possible to achieve the best results.
“These principles can then be applied to any other cuisine, not necessarily just Italian dishes.”
Colloca’s last point proves her admiration for all cuisines and her respect for traditions and authenticity... which are perhaps her secret to success.
