Cross-Cultural Food Exchanges? That’s Amore.

Italian+American+cuisine+is+a+wonderful+representation+of+blending+cultures.+%28Courtesy+of+Instagram%29

Italian American cuisine is a wonderful representation of blending cultures. (Courtesy of Instagram)

It’s hard not to get wrapped up in the magic of Italian cuisine when you’re living in this part of the city, as we are a mere few blocks from Arthur Ave, home to some of the best Italian American restaurants and delis in the country. With my Italian American roots and general enthusiasm for food, I have to admit it is a significant reason why I chose to attend Fordham.  

But Alberto Grandi, a food history professor, will tell you that Enzo’s, Casa Della Mozzarella and every other beloved Arthur Ave institution are a detriment to Italian cuisine rather than a purveyor of it. 

In a recent interview, Grandi said that “Italian cuisine really is more American than it is Italian,” and that the uniqueness of Italian cuisine has been corrupted by American influence. I don’t think that his general claim that American tastes have completely killed the country’s distinct and beloved cuisine is fair, as he is neglecting to recognize the nuance between Italian food and Italian American food. Sure, some Italian American staples like fettuccine alfredo and garlic bread might have seeped back into the Old World, but that does not mean that authentic food no longer exists in Italy. It is also an oversimplification on Grandi’s part to assume that all of Italy is even serving the same food, anyway, as the different regions have different takes on the same dishes. 

Since Italians first started immigrating to the United States en masse in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, there is no doubt that the culture, traditions and techniques they brought with them have undergone some changes. That is inevitable. Nothing stays the same, especially not something as fickle as cuisine with its reliance on unvaried repetition, availability and affordability of grocery products and stagnant tastes. In their hopes to assimilate, Italians must have amalgamated some of their practices with those of their fellow immigrants and incorporated new North American products into their culinary world, thus creating a whole new subculture of Italian American food. 

The best example of this is chicken parmigiana. This dish of a breaded and fried chicken cutlet smothered with mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce is a staple of Italian American cuisine, and it is a representation of traditional practices meshing with the different products available in American markets. Food writers argue that “newly minted Italian-American homecooks not only devised unique dishes based on what was available, but also adhered existing recipes to the new world’s meat-centric menu — altering many classics into newfound creations.” The beloved chicken parm was adopted from a nearly identical southern Italian meal, except with eggplant standing in for the protein because chicken was far more expensive and less available in Italy than it was in the U.S.

It was not only just the availability of meat that caused the recipe to change, but also perhaps the melding of cultures. The integral fried chicken cutlet of the parmigiana is identical to that of schnitzel, which was popular among German immigrants. Chicken parm, and immigrant cuisine as a whole, is not just about what was newly available in foreign markets, but also about the blending and borrowing of cultures.

I don’t think anybody should believe that the Italian restaurants we go to on Arthur Avenue are making the same dishes in the same exact way as one would find if they stumbled into a hole-in-the-wall somewhere along the Amalfi coast. However, just because the cuisine is not authentic does not make it any less valuable, as it still tells the story of a community trying to reconcile the culture of their home country with that of their new one. 

To prevent further corruption of their cuisine across the ocean, Italians are taking tremendous steps to ensure its sanctity. Italian ministers of Culture and Agriculture nominated Italian cuisine for UNESCO World Heritage Site status, which I think is a bit of a lofty goal — their application for the 2023 UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity seems more likely. Newly-elected right-wing prime minister Giorgia Meloni and her Health Minister Orazio Schillaci also want to take federal steps to “safeguard our nation’s heritage and our agriculture based on the Mediterranean diet.” At the moment, their main adversary seems to be synthetic meat. Considering Meloni’s disdain for immigrants and “Italy first” platform, I wouldn’t be surprised if their legislation took a more exclusionary turn on other cultures. 

Food nourishes both body and spirit, and the transformation and sharing of cuisine across physical and temporal borders is a beautiful thing. Cuisine changes over time, and while there should always be appreciation for authenticity, people should not diminish the wonderful creations that come out of circumstance and cultural interactions.

I recommend that Grandi find the nearest Italian American restaurant, order the chicken parm and enjoy it.

Nicole Braun, FCRH ’24, is an English major from Saddle River, N.J.