The North-East Link freeway is being built on its doorstep, the government having acquired some of the club’s Bulleen Road frontage.
Morello, who when growing up would spend a weekend each winter with family and friends making salami in his uncle’s Mildura garage, will submit to the Veneto Club festa competition a salami made from his own secret recipe.
Hot stuff: Morello’s Calabrian-style salami.Credit: Joe Armao
This winter, at the club, Morello taught salami-making to workmates, including Monos.
Monos, from a Greek family, quips he’s more inclined to make souvlaki than salami, but says that when growing up in Preston, his Italian friends would make salami. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” he said.
In a twist, the salami that Morello taught his Veneto Club workmates to make, which will also be entered in the Festa contest, derives from the south of Italy, reflecting Morello’s family being from Calabria.
However, the Veneto Club’s more than 600 founding members were from the Veneto region, in the country’s north.
Veneto Club members hold a tasting of their own homemade salamis on August 7.Credit: Veneto Club
Morello said Calabrian salami tended to include hotter ingredients like chilli flakes and capsicum sauce, whereas the Veneto version was often milder, with salt, garlic and a bit of cracked pepper.
The festa will be open to the public, with a $15 entry fee and children under 12 free. Stalls will sell everything from pizza to salami, cheeses, cannoli, spritz drinks and coffee.
Live entertainment includes the Veneto Club choir, a band that plays regional Italian music, a jazz band and a roving accordion player.
Entries to the homemade salami competition cost $10 per salami. The salamis need to be dropped off at either the Veneto Club or Artisan’s Bottega in Epping by close of business on August 29.
They will be judged from noon on August 31, based on factors including appearance, texture, aroma and taste.
Judges include 3AW journalist Tony Tardio and City of Manningham Mayor Deirdre Diamante. Winners will be announced at 3pm on August 31.
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Dining and Cooking