During the celebrations of the 79th Anniversary of the Italian Republic on 2 June 2025, Rosa Matto was awarded the honour of Cavaliere della Repubblica Italiana.
As explained by the Consul during the ceremony, Rosa is recognised for having played, and continuing to play, for over thirty years in South Australia the important role of educator, teacher and writer. Rosa is considered a “figure of the highest standing in the field of eno-gastronomy”, and is unanimously recognised in South Australia as a reference and icon of culinary culture and traditions. She is acknowledged to have played, over the course of more than thirty years, `a decisive role in the preservation and promotion of Italian gastronomic traditions to the general Australian public’.
The Consul also illustrated how Rosa, through her professional and editorial activities, “has contributed to the promotion of the Italian culture not only from a strictly gastronomic point of view, but also in terms of regional diversity, of the richness of geographical indications and Italian products of excellence”.
Rosa‘s work has been and continues to be a very important and valuable contribution for the dissemination of the Italian cultural heritage also from an “immaterial” linguistic and social point of view. In 2023, Rosa received the SA Governor’s Multicultural Award for her personal success and for the determined role she played at high-profile events in uniting people through the universal language of food.
Adelaide, June 2025