Welcome to The Salted Sicilian blog, where we explore the world of food, beauty, and wanderlust!
My name is Kristi Caruana and I am a chef turned lifestyle blogger.
This blog has been a long time in the making and I am beyond excited to start on this journey with you all! The Salted Sicilian started as a daydream when I was only 16 years old and turned into a real life career dream at 25. Growing up in a large Sicilian-Italian family, I knew by the age of six that I wanted to follow in my mother's footsteps and go to culinary school. After graduating, I was privileged to work alongside chefs that poured into me with such passion and intention, although I quickly realized that the typical "kitchen life" just didn't fan that flame in my heart. In fact, I was realizing that I was beginning to lose my passion for cooking.
The 60 hour work weeks while working the job description of 2-3 people while being paid the salary of half a person made me quickly realize that there is so much more to cooking than simply cooking to eat. Cooking and eating in Italian culture is always communal event.
The table is the heart of the home, where family and loved ones gather and where belly laughs are born. In America, sadly we have lost the art of food, culture, and cooking. Certainly, this was the eye-opening realization that I had while working in both fine dining and corporate-based restaurants. At the end of the day, we just refuse to adopt the culture of respect, intention, and patience when it comes to our food in America.
Restaurants are less about enjoying a meal and more about simply eating to get full. Meals have become less about socializing and more about figuring out the fastest possible way to get food to us, whether driven by someone else or ourselves. Kitchens have been replaced with TV rooms as the heart of the home, and American culture is desperately reeking of it. We have become so disconnected from what it means to nourish our bodies, and that's exactly how The Salted Sicilian was born. Here we explore all things lifestyle-related to help us get back to our humble roots and nurture a culture of wholesome, fresh, and sustainable choices. Here at The Salted Sicilian we explore what this looks like not just with food, but with all things beauty and lifestyle.
The adventure is only beginning!
X,
Kristi