Essay On Italian Food

This paper looks to define and explore three books which are a crux to various food histories which in the last decade has become a scholarly journey as food history is becoming increasingly studied as a scholarly endeavor by historians where previously it was not seen in such a scholarly light. The three texts which are going to be examined are: Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food by Jeffery M. Pilcher, The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture by Rebecca L. Spang, and lastly To Live and Dine in Dixie: The Evolution of Urban Food Culture in the Jim Crow South by Angela Jill Cooley. Each of these books seek to redefine how people see their perspective topics whether it be Mexican identity rooted in cuisine, the evolution of southern food in a racially divided south, or even the concept of the restaurant emerging from a revolutionary culture. These texts bring awareness to various topics which have both social, cultural, and economic stigmas associated with them.

The Italians have transformed the Australian food culture extremely greatly. Before Italians came, Australia had very little food supply. When the immigrants arrived they introduced many different staple foods such as olive oil, spaghetti, pizza, pasta, salads, and wine.

As an Italian-American, I was and am still told by my mother, grandparents, and great-grandparents how proud I should be of my heritage. I was taught to respect my great-grandmother who, after arriving in America along side her husband, fully committed herself to raising her four sons and eight nieces and nephews in a two-bedroom house in Pennsylvania. She was motivated by the drive of a better life in a new, strong country for the young-ones she loved. I was taught to treasure both food and family, praying each night through the Blessed Mother. I was handed Pizzelles and Almond cookies as snacks throughout the day, and listened to Dean Martin through the stereo almost every night. My grandmother’s family came from Mezzogiorno, while my grandfather’s family hailed from the North Country. Though I had never been to Italy, as a child, I still knew the significance of being Italian and was thankful. It was not until I entered public school that I began to understand the teasing that my own ethnic group was subject to on a near daily basis.

For me, being an Italian American means that I have come from a long line of hardworking immigrants who came to the United States to make a better life for their children while still maintaining their Italian cultural pride and heritage. From the time that I was a small child, I was taught to be proud of my Italian heritage. From the young age of four or five, I can remember sitting in the kitchen while my grandmother and great-grandmother would be cooking and they would tell me how my great-great grandparents immigrated to the United States from Calabria. They told me how my great-great -grandfather came with little money and could not speak English. He worked in the mines and sold wood on the side in order to make a living. A few

There are quite a lot of widespread stereotypes of Italian Americans in “The Godfather” movies which involve characters, Italian foods, family, and violence. Food plays a huge role in The Godfather movies. Characters in the movies are always seen eating Italian food such as pasta. If the directors were not referring to any specific ethnic group than why were all the movies showing characters with Italian names eating foods that were known to be “Italian” foods. Also, violence is a major key in the movie which is also stereotyped to Italian Americans by them being associated with crime and the mafia. “ Thus, rather than helping to overcome the negative image of Italian-Americans fostered by entertainment programming, the media reinforces

Paula J. Johnson, a curator at the National Museum of American History, says that foods such as wasabi, Sriracha, and hummus would have been considered “foreign foods” 50 years ago, but today they are common, everyday staples for many people across America. Ramanathan briefly states before this that the only constant in American foods is global influence and then goes on to say that it’s not uncommon in modern times for people to eat, for example, Thai food for lunch and then Italian for dinner. She writes that America has people from all backgrounds, cultures, and countries and their influences are present everywhere, especially the food. In America today, there are so many influences on our foods that using the term ethnic to describe them makes it sound foreign when the food is something people eat every

The Italian culture has been developed into a staple of American life, especially with a preexisting history ingrained into communities across the United States.

In The Culinary Seasons of my Childhood, Jessica B. Harris- the author- attempts to help readers understand the relationship between food and identity. Harris gave a detailed, but relevant, description of how how food portrayed different cultures in her life and how it taught her many lessons about her family history and who she is; she also described how food brings people together as one and creates a connection that nothing else can. The author helps readers initially understand her ideas by showing examples of how food, even in the same culture, can reflect different social classes.“ Even though chitterlings might be on the menu, they could equally likely be accompanied by a mason jar of corn liquor or a crystal goblet of champagne”( Harris

Many foods like Pastas, Pizza, Fish, Tacos; and more are from different countries. Foods came to this area because the immigrants and people that move to say Italy then bring the food over to our country.

The food that helps to identify the Italian culture was not drastically changed by American food. One way that their food was changed by American culture, according to Robert Woods, was that Italians consumed “a better quality and variety of food than in Italy” (Diner 51). Many Italians that immigrated to the US were able to incorporate more foods into their daily diet. For example, in Italy they would only consume meat a few times a year, but in America they had meat a multiple times a week. Also, olive oil became a main staple in many Italian-Americans’ homes. The white bread that they consumed in the States was also much better in comparison to the black bread they once ate in Italy. Also, Italians in America developed a “fondness for beer” (Diner 600) and would commonly consume it with their meals. On the other hand, the Italians had a large impact on the food culture of America. The American food culture began to replicate Italian food by using “Italian” herbs and labeling things “Italian style.” For example, Americans would eat “Italian sausage,” but sausage was a rare dish that was specific to certain towns in Italy (Diner 61). They would also incorporate “Italian” seasonings into dishes like meatloaf. In addition, pizza was replicated and transformed into the pizza we know now. The pizza that was a result of it

The padrone system faded out as family networks grew. The relationships of their family were essentially the only connection they had. They did not rely on politics or get involved in public office. They tended to only associate with family or fellow Italians in the area. For this reason, mafias emerged in America because of the strong devotion to family and eventually family business. The Italians were mostly Catholic with the belief that “priests were agents of the pope and bishops” (Daniels, p. 197). As more Italians arrived, they began to form distinct enclaves in neighborhoods first settled by earlier immigrants. Interestingly the issue of diet among immigrant workers received attention during this time. Italian Laborers, Padrones, and Pernicious Pasta reads, “In the process, Italian foods were redefined as a "problem" for the fitness, health, and future prosperity of the Italian worker and therefore a threat to workplace efficiency and productivity” (Slideshow 7: Additional Links). The padrone system became concerned with the foods their workers ate because it could affect the way they worked and essentially the way the padroni was paid. In 1890, Jacob Riis, a Danish immigrant and police reporter published How the Other Half Lives where he wrote about a mixed impression from the Italian immigrants in New York City. In the excerpt regarding Italians, Riis judged them on their unsanitary living conditions and

This paper will discuss the multifaceted relationships among food, and culture. I will be looking at the relationships people have with food, and explore how this relationship reveals information about them. Their food choices of individuals and groups, can reveal their ideals, likes and dislikes. Food choices tell the stories of where people have travelled and who they have met along the way.

Food is very much a part of pop culture, and the beliefs, practices, and trends in a culture affect its eating practices. Pop culture includes the ideas and objects generated by a society, including foods, and other systems, as well as the impact of these ideas and objects on society. For example, Mcdonald's is another of the thousands of fast food chains that populate our cities though they often use the term “popular culture” only to refer to media forms. Their popularity has also increased internationally. Although all humans need food to survive, people's food habits and how they obtain, prepare, and consume food, are the result of learned behaviors. Mcdonald’s, like other food chains, has made an effort to ‘localize’ its products so that they will be more successful in each different cultural context. These collective behaviors, as well as the values and attitudes they reflect, come to represent a group’s pop culture.

It was a beautiful day in Rome, Italy. The sky was a clear, baby blue and the weather was warm, just hot enough to need a fan in the August day. People were walking on the streets, hand gestures everywhere as if they are so passionate about what they are talking about. I hear ‘Ciao Bella’ and ‘buongiorno’ from the friendly Italians I come across. I know what they are saying and find myself laughing, the mere sound of the language amuses me. Walking down the street, I took note of the siesta time, also known as riposo time in Italy. The stores and restaurants close down from noon until about 3:00 pm, giving people the time to go home and rest or take care of other things. From my room in my hotel, I noticed the acoustics in the city are