Italian-American cuisine
Encyclopedia
Italian American cuisine is the cuisine of Italian American
immigrants and their descendents, who have modified Italian cuisine
under the influence of American culture and immigration
patterns of Italians to the United States. As immigrants from different regions of Italy
settled in different regions of the United States and became “Italian-Americans,” they brought with them diverse traditions of foods and recipes that were particularly identified with their regional origins in Italy and yet infused with the characteristics of their new home locale in America. Many of these foods and recipes developed into new favorites for town peoples and then later for Americans nationwide; as, for example, the muffuletta
sandwich from New Orleans or the "toasted ravioli
" (actually breaded and deep-fried) from St. Louis, Missouri
. A measure of the widespread popularity of Italian-American cuisine in the United States is in the Twin Cities
Metropolitan Area of Minnesota
, demographically dominated by Scandinavia
n and German American
s, the City Pages
newspaper identified Italian-American food as the most widespread culinary style in the region, with examples ranging from the ubiquitous spaghetti dinner to fashionable restaurants.
Prominent American chefs and cooks working in the Italian-American style include: Giada De Laurentiis
, Emeril Lagasse
, Sal Scognamillo, Michael Chiarello
, Frank Pellegrino
, Laurie Thomas, Rocco DiSpirito
, Tom Colicchio
, Lidia Bastianich
and others.
and Sicily
and moved to large American cities, such as New York City
, Chicago
, St. Louis, Boston
and San Francisco. For many Italian-Americans, who identify their food with their locale and the home areas of their ancestors, the food is based on staples such as dry pasta
, tomato sauce
, and olive oil
; whereas, for others, such as those from Northern Italian families in other parts of the United States, may enjoy Northern Italian staples such as risotto, fresh pasta (less tomato based sauces) and polenta.
For many Italian Americans, particularly in traditional cattle ranching or "cowboy
" states like California
, Texas
, Florida
and Hawaii
, Italian-American food tends to use a great deal more meat. Reasons for this are not universally agreed upon; some place it simply on the greater availability and higher quality of American meat (particularly beef), while others believe it to be a product of nutritional theories promulgated by early 20th-century social workers to ease integration of Italian immigrants into American society. Beef consumption has also been symbolic of many Italian-Americans' new found prosperity in these particular states (or regions) and within America at large; that is, as opposed life in pre-World War II
Italy and Europe
), where little beef was afforded or consumed; however, high-quality beef and its production is often seen as symbolically American.
Over time and with the development and appreciation of Italian cuisine in the United States, as well as the increased importation of goods and so on, some trends have seen the cuisine move towards a more “authentic” style that has either greater affinity with techniques and ingredients that are native to Italy, or otherwise a style that interprets the cuisine from the viewpoint of Italian culture as it exists throughout the world. Italian-American food also regularly imports innovations from Italy—if not also try to mimic the production of such goods domestically—and includes relatively recent innovations such as espresso
(now ubiquitous in American life), tiramisu
, Nutella
and so on. All of these introductions have been enthusiastically embraced and every year new products and cultural exchanges are shared between the trade of Italy and the United States, which is growing successful.
is often towards perpetuating these concepts via mass marketing
, just as it would for any other ideal type
or abstraction
, such as “Chinese food
” or “Mexican food
”.
A popular aesthetic associated with Italian-American food is the old fashioned clichéd image of the mom and pop "red sauce joint", a type of restaurant that specializes in such foods as spaghetti with meatballs and has tables decorated with red checked tablecloths and straw-covered Chianti
bottles serving as tabletop candleholders. While the classic image of such a place has in many cases given way to more contemporary, upscale restaurant designs, the concept is common for more traditional Italian-American restaurants, to the point where some chain restaurants such as Papa Gino's
, Maggiano's Little Italy
and Buca di Beppo
have adopted such cliched touches as a red checked pattern in laminate tabletops as a stylistic hallmark.
Italian-American cooking has had considerable influence on the steakhouse
tradition as well; many steakhouses were started by Italian-American entrepreneurs, including New York City
's The Palm
chain (named after a mispronunciation of the family name Parma) and the Massachusetts
-based Hilltop (founded by local restaurateur Frank Giuffrida).
• In 2008, the Distinguished Restaurants of America listed 109 Italian-style restaurants on its website under that category and nationwide.
Other regional ratings by examples include:
• Slow Food
, based originally in Italy, lists several restaurants in regional guides (in printed book form only), such the San Francisco and the Bay Area guide. In that 2005 version of the guide, it lists 22 recommended restaurants that adhere to its standards of "authentic" Italian cuisine.
• Michelin names 4 Italian-style restaurants with a one star rating in its 2007 San Francisco, Bay Area & Wine Country version of its guide (printed book form only).
• Zagat Survey
lists 3 Italian or Italian-American restaurants with "Top Rating" in its "2007 San Francisco Bay Area Restaurants" guide.
Of these regional restaurant ratings, it should be noted that these services are not available for all metropolitan areas of the United States; hence the popular perception of "top rated restaurants" is primarily associated with certain large cities in a few states in America. The DiRoNA award is one of the few programs that is both organized and recognized nationwide and also recognizes many Italian-American culinary personalities in its "Hall of Fame."
, especially with canned foods such as Franco-American's SpaghettiOs
as well as the popularity of Italian-American specialties from take-out counters in supermarkets and restaurants. In particular, the pizza parlor is one of the most ubiquitous of American eateries, with businesses ranging in size from single proprietorships all the way up to large chains such as Domino's Pizza
and Pizza Hut
. In a cross-cultural variation of the theme, refrigerated, ready-to-heat-and-eat spaghetti has become a popular convenience item in Asian convenience stores in the U.S.
Chef Ettore Boiardi
was probably one of the first "Italian" celebrity chefs within the United States, so much so that he is credited with popularizing the cuisine to many non-Italian-Americans and the public at large. Chef Boiardi is more commonly known by his commercialized, eponym
ous brand
name, "Chef Boyardee
."
(known by industry professionals as the NRA). The NRA has stated:
Surveys have also shown that an overall trend towards the inclusion of so-called "alternate-source ingredients," as well as the "incorporation of ethnic cuisines, flavors and ingredients into restaurant menus" is now very commonplace. Rated high on the list of popular or "hot" items in the survey include "[Mediterranean style] flatbread
s, [Italian style] “ciabatta
bread,” Mediterranean cuisine, espresso/ specialty coffee..." and so on. Of course, pizza
and spaghetti
in particular have been almost completely naturalized (the former in particular is a standard part of many American diets, often in forms almost completely unrecognizable to Italian cuisine).
in the United States. Broadly speaking, the tradition among many Italian-Americans is to enjoy their food with the pairing of any wine to make the meal complete and sociable; hence, on most any table could be found a cheap "table wine" and often (especially during Prohibition
) a homemade wine that is sometimes pejoratively known as "dago red." Such wines are still embraced as a symbol of Italian-Americans keeping their culinary traditions alive during Prohibition
, and as well as until the extensive importing of higher-quality Italian wine
s in the 1970s and the appreciation of the new "finer" wines of California. The traditional straw-wrapped Chianti
bottles still remain as emblematic fixtures on many of the habitual style Italian-American restaurant tables, both because of the wine itself and for the use of the empty bottle as a candleholder thereafter; however, this custom is seeming becoming passé, as the fiasco is no longer universal for Chianti packaging.
The influence of Italian-Americans on American wine
and winemaking
has been profound as well, and has been recognized since the founding of the United States as a nation. Indeed, Italian vintners were brought to the state of Florida
as early as the year 1766 by Dr. Andrew Turnbull
, a British Consul at Smyrna
. More significantly, perhaps, was the contributions of Filippo Mazzei (often spelled "Philip Mazzei
"), an Italian physician, a promoter of liberty and friend of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson
. Mazzei led a group of Italians in Virginia with the cultivation of vineyards, olives, and other Mediterranean fruit.
In later years, American viticulture
was more influenced by the diaspora
of Italians during the transatlantic migrations
that began in the 1870s and reaching greater proportions from 1880 to 1920. Most of these Italians entered at the east coast of the United States at Ellis Island
, whereas many of those quickly passed through to the American West Coast, where California still had the lure and aura of its famous “Gold Rush
” and new prosperity. In that state, Italian-Americans were inspired by expanses of rolling hills and fertile fields. Prior to Prohibition
starting in 1919, many wineries had already made their start: Seghesio, Simi
, Sebastiani Vineyards and Foppiano all began in the late 1800s and are still in operation today. Others included Giuseppe Magliavacca’s Napa winery, Secondo Guasti’s Italian Vineyard Company and Andrea Sbarbaro’s Italian-Swiss Colony.
From 1919 to Repeal of Prohibition
in 1933, many Italian-Americans struggled to keep their vines in the ground and their vineyards going; yet they persisted, often providing sacramental wine to the Catholic Church or grape juice to the general market. These few holdouts can be credited with salvaging America’s viticulture heritage, in an industry that values the longevity and tradition of the vine and its produce.
Beyond Prohibition and into today’s wine producing economy, Italian-American wineries maintain a powerful contribution to the domestic and world market. Some of these companies include: Atlas Peak (also known as Antinori), Cosentino, Dalla Valle, Delicato, Ferrari-Carano, E & J Gallo Winery
, Geyser Peak (also known as Trione family), Louis M. Martini, Mazzocco, Robert Mondavi
, Monte Bello Ridge, Corrado Parducci
, Pedroncelli Winery, Robert Pepi, Picchetti Brothers Winery
, Rochioli, Rafanelli, Rubicon Estate Winery
(also known as Francis Ford Coppola Presents
), Sebastiani Vineyards, Signorello, Sattui, Trinchero (most often under the Sutter Home brand), Valley of the Moon
, Viansa, etc.
On the Italian-American table today, there is an appreciation of California wine
, American wine
(other domestic), imported Italian wine
; and, of course, the old standby Chianti
(from Tuscany
, Italy
) or "generic" red or white table wine
(often called vino da tavola) to high end "Super Tuscan" style wines such as Tignanello
. Some of the first Chianti wine to arrive in the United States was standard, cheap wines; however, after a slide in the overall quality of Chianti production during the mid-20th century, improvements in the recipes and techniques used to make the wines have led to the creation of Chiantis ranging from simple table wines up to high-end Chianti Classicos. All of these and more are widely popular with Italian-American cuisine in the United States.
wrappers for convenience cooking
use, since it is very close to fresh pasta in composition.
Biscotti simply means twice baked in regards to this type of cookie.
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
immigrants and their descendents, who have modified Italian cuisine
Italian cuisine
Italian cuisine has developed through centuries of social and political changes, with roots as far back as the 4th century BCE. Italian cuisine in itself takes heavy influences, including Etruscan, ancient Greek, ancient Roman, Byzantine, Jewish and Arab cuisines...
under the influence of American culture and immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
patterns of Italians to the United States. As immigrants from different regions of Italy
Regions of Italy
The regions of Italy are the first-level administrative divisions of the state, constituting its first NUTS administrative level. There are twenty regions, of which five are constitutionally given a broader amount of autonomy granted by special statutes....
settled in different regions of the United States and became “Italian-Americans,” they brought with them diverse traditions of foods and recipes that were particularly identified with their regional origins in Italy and yet infused with the characteristics of their new home locale in America. Many of these foods and recipes developed into new favorites for town peoples and then later for Americans nationwide; as, for example, the muffuletta
Muffuletta
The muffuletta is a type of round Sicilian sesame bread, as well as a submarine sandwich made with that bread that originated from New Orleans, Louisiana.-Bread:...
sandwich from New Orleans or the "toasted ravioli
Toasted ravioli
Toasted ravioli, or breaded deep-fried ravioli, is an appetizer created and popularized, according to common claims, in St. Louis, Missouri. Toasted ravioli can be found on the menus of many St...
" (actually breaded and deep-fried) from St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. A measure of the widespread popularity of Italian-American cuisine in the United States is in the Twin Cities
Twin cities
Twin cities are a special case of two cities or urban centres which are founded in close geographic proximity and then grow into each other over time...
Metropolitan Area of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, demographically dominated by Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n and German American
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
s, the City Pages
City Pages
City Pages is an alternative weekly newspaper serving the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. It features news, film, theatre and restaurant reviews, and music criticism. It is printed in a tabloid format, and is available free every Wednesday...
newspaper identified Italian-American food as the most widespread culinary style in the region, with examples ranging from the ubiquitous spaghetti dinner to fashionable restaurants.
Prominent American chefs and cooks working in the Italian-American style include: Giada De Laurentiis
Giada De Laurentiis
Giada Pamela De Laurentiis is an Italian American chef, writer, television personality, and the host of the current Food Network program Giada at Home. She also appears regularly as a contributor and guest co-host on NBC's Today...
, Emeril Lagasse
Emeril Lagasse
'Emeril John Lagasse is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, and cookbook author. A regional James Beard Award winner, he is perhaps most notable for his Food Network shows Emeril Live and Essence of Emeril as well as catchphrases such as “Kick it up a notch!” and...
, Sal Scognamillo, Michael Chiarello
Michael Chiarello
Michael Chiarello is an American celebrity chef specializing in Italian-influenced California cuisine. He hosts the cooking show, Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello, on the Food Network and hosts NapaStyle on the Fine Living Network...
, Frank Pellegrino
Frank Pellegrino
Frank Pellegrino is an American actor and restaurateur.Born in East Harlem, Pellegrino has often acted in law and gangster-themed film and television productions. He was a member of an early sixties singing group called The Holidaes. There is a rare recording of a song called "Never" that appears...
, Laurie Thomas, Rocco DiSpirito
Rocco DiSpirito
Rocco DiSpirito is an Italian American chef based in New York City.-Life and career:DiSpirito was born in Queens, New York City, New York. He graduated in 1986 from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and in 1990 from Boston University with a bachelor's degree in business...
, Tom Colicchio
Tom Colicchio
Thomas Patrick "Tom" Colicchio is an American celebrity chef. He co-founded the Gramercy Tavern in New York City, and formerly served as a co-owner and as the executive chef. He is also the founder of Craft and Colicchio & Sons restaurants...
, Lidia Bastianich
Lidia Bastianich
Lidia Matticchio Bastianich is an American chef, author, and restaurateur....
and others.
Traditional influences and contemporary trends in Italian-American food
Italian-American food is based heavily (though not exclusively) on the traditional food of southern Italian immigrants, most of whom arrived in the United States from the late 19th and early 20th century. During this great wave of immigration into the United States, many of the peoples came particularly from the areas of NaplesNaples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
and Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
and moved to large American cities, such as New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, St. Louis, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and San Francisco. For many Italian-Americans, who identify their food with their locale and the home areas of their ancestors, the food is based on staples such as dry pasta
Pasta
Pasta is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine, now of worldwide renown. It takes the form of unleavened dough, made in Italy, mostly of durum wheat , water and sometimes eggs. Pasta comes in a variety of different shapes that serve for both decoration and to act as a carrier for the...
, tomato sauce
Tomato sauce
A tomato sauce is any of a very large number of sauces made primarily from tomatoes, usually to be served as part of a dish...
, and olive oil
Olive oil
Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
; whereas, for others, such as those from Northern Italian families in other parts of the United States, may enjoy Northern Italian staples such as risotto, fresh pasta (less tomato based sauces) and polenta.
For many Italian Americans, particularly in traditional cattle ranching or "cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
" states like California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, Italian-American food tends to use a great deal more meat. Reasons for this are not universally agreed upon; some place it simply on the greater availability and higher quality of American meat (particularly beef), while others believe it to be a product of nutritional theories promulgated by early 20th-century social workers to ease integration of Italian immigrants into American society. Beef consumption has also been symbolic of many Italian-Americans' new found prosperity in these particular states (or regions) and within America at large; that is, as opposed life in pre-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Italy and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
), where little beef was afforded or consumed; however, high-quality beef and its production is often seen as symbolically American.
Over time and with the development and appreciation of Italian cuisine in the United States, as well as the increased importation of goods and so on, some trends have seen the cuisine move towards a more “authentic” style that has either greater affinity with techniques and ingredients that are native to Italy, or otherwise a style that interprets the cuisine from the viewpoint of Italian culture as it exists throughout the world. Italian-American food also regularly imports innovations from Italy—if not also try to mimic the production of such goods domestically—and includes relatively recent innovations such as espresso
Espresso
Espresso is a concentrated beverage brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee. Espresso is widely known throughout the world....
(now ubiquitous in American life), tiramisu
Tiramisu
Tiramisu, , , literally "pick me up", is an Italian cake and dessert.It is made of ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks and mascarpone, and flavored with liquor and cocoa...
, Nutella
Nutella
Nutella is the brand name of a chocolate spread. Nutella, manufactured by the Italian company Ferrero, was introduced on the market in 1963. The recipe was developed from an earlier Ferrero spread released in 1944. Nutella is now sold in over 75 countries....
and so on. All of these introductions have been enthusiastically embraced and every year new products and cultural exchanges are shared between the trade of Italy and the United States, which is growing successful.
Italian-American restaurants and the "Red Sauce" stereotype
Italian American food is sometimes pejoratively called "red sauce" food, because of the significant amounts of tomato sauce that are often characteristic of Italian-American restaurant food for much of the 20th century. Some of this broader perception may be attributed and reinforced by the universal appeal of Italian-style foods in the United States; for example, the common trend in much of American style foodserviceFoodservice
Food Service or catering industry defines those businesses, institutions, and companies responsible for any meal prepared outside the home...
is often towards perpetuating these concepts via mass marketing
Mass marketing
Mass marketing is a market coverage strategy in which a firm decides to ignore market segment differences and go after the whole market with one offer. It is type of marketing of a product to a wide audience. The idea is to broadcast a message that will reach the largest number of people possible...
, just as it would for any other ideal type
Ideal type
Ideal type , also known as pure type, is a typological term most closely associated with antipositivist sociologist Max Weber . For Weber, the conduct of social science depends upon the construction of hypothetical concepts in the abstract...
or abstraction
Abstraction
Abstraction is a process by which higher concepts are derived from the usage and classification of literal concepts, first principles, or other methods....
, such as “Chinese food
American Chinese cuisine
American Chinese cuisine refers to the style of food served by many Chinese restaurants in the United States. This type of cooking typically caters to Western tastes, and differs significantly from the original Chinese cuisine.-History:...
” or “Mexican food
Tex-Mex
Tex-Mex is a regional American cuisine that blends food products available in the United States and the culinary creations of Mexican-Americans influenced by the cuisines of Mexico.Tex Mex may also refer to:...
”.
A popular aesthetic associated with Italian-American food is the old fashioned clichéd image of the mom and pop "red sauce joint", a type of restaurant that specializes in such foods as spaghetti with meatballs and has tables decorated with red checked tablecloths and straw-covered Chianti
Chianti
Chianti is a red Italian wine produced in Tuscany. It was historically associated with a squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called a fiasco ; however, the fiasco is only used by a few makers of the wine now; most Chianti is now bottled in more standard shaped wine bottles...
bottles serving as tabletop candleholders. While the classic image of such a place has in many cases given way to more contemporary, upscale restaurant designs, the concept is common for more traditional Italian-American restaurants, to the point where some chain restaurants such as Papa Gino's
Papa Gino's
Papa Gino's is a restaurant chain based in Dedham, Massachusetts specializing in American-style pizza along with pasta, subs, salads, and a variety of appetizers...
, Maggiano's Little Italy
Maggiano's Little Italy
Maggiano's Little Italy is an Italian-style chain of casual dining restaurants with locations throughout the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Northern Ireland founded in Chicago's River North neighborhood in 1991 by Richard Melman's Lettuce Entertain You and named for Melman's late partner,...
and Buca di Beppo
Buca di Beppo
Buca di Beppo is a restaurant specializing in immigrant Southern Italian food. The name roughly translates as "Joe's Basement"...
have adopted such cliched touches as a red checked pattern in laminate tabletops as a stylistic hallmark.
Italian-American cooking has had considerable influence on the steakhouse
Steakhouse
A steakhouse is a restaurant that specializes in beef steaks. The same type of restaurant is also known as a chophouse.The steakhouse started in the USA in the late 19th century as a development of traditional inns and bars....
tradition as well; many steakhouses were started by Italian-American entrepreneurs, including New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's The Palm
The Palm (restaurant)
The Palm is an American fine-dining steakhouse that opened in 1926. It is located in New York City at 837 Second Avenue.Since its beginnings, management has opened additional restaurants throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico...
chain (named after a mispronunciation of the family name Parma) and the Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
-based Hilltop (founded by local restaurateur Frank Giuffrida).
Top Rated Restaurants
Within the United States there is a long standing heritage of institutions with top restaurant ratings that serve Italian or Italian-American food. Many of these restaurants contribute to the ideals and standards of contemporary, fine-dining Italian or Italian American cuisine. Some of the more significant rating services that have made an impact include: the Distinguished Restaurants of North America (DiRoNA Award), Michelin series of guides, Slow Food guide, Zagat Survey, and others.• In 2008, the Distinguished Restaurants of America listed 109 Italian-style restaurants on its website under that category and nationwide.
Other regional ratings by examples include:
• Slow Food
Slow Food
Slow Food is an international movement founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986. Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encourages farming of plants, seeds and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem. It was the first established part of...
, based originally in Italy, lists several restaurants in regional guides (in printed book form only), such the San Francisco and the Bay Area guide. In that 2005 version of the guide, it lists 22 recommended restaurants that adhere to its standards of "authentic" Italian cuisine.
• Michelin names 4 Italian-style restaurants with a one star rating in its 2007 San Francisco, Bay Area & Wine Country version of its guide (printed book form only).
• Zagat Survey
Zagat Survey
Zagat Survey was established by Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979 as a way to collect and correlate the ratings of restaurants by diners. For their first guide, covering New York City, the Zagats surveyed their friends. As of 2005, the Zagat Survey included 70 cities, with reviews based on the input of...
lists 3 Italian or Italian-American restaurants with "Top Rating" in its "2007 San Francisco Bay Area Restaurants" guide.
Of these regional restaurant ratings, it should be noted that these services are not available for all metropolitan areas of the United States; hence the popular perception of "top rated restaurants" is primarily associated with certain large cities in a few states in America. The DiRoNA award is one of the few programs that is both organized and recognized nationwide and also recognizes many Italian-American culinary personalities in its "Hall of Fame."
Italian-American food and convenience food
Italian-derived food has become remarkably common in convenience cookingConvenience cooking
Convenience cooking is the practice of streamlining recipes for simplicity and speed of preparation. It is a common practice in Western cultures, where both men and women work outside the home and elaborate meals are difficult if not impossible to pull off given the usual time constraints...
, especially with canned foods such as Franco-American's SpaghettiOs
SpaghettiOs
SpaghettiOs is an American brand of canned, sweetened spaghetti featuring circular pasta shapes in a cheese and tomato sauce — and marketed to parents as 'less messy' than regular spaghetti...
as well as the popularity of Italian-American specialties from take-out counters in supermarkets and restaurants. In particular, the pizza parlor is one of the most ubiquitous of American eateries, with businesses ranging in size from single proprietorships all the way up to large chains such as Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza, Inc. is an international pizza delivery corporation headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America. Founded in 1960, Domino's is the second-largest pizza chain in the United States and has over 9,000 corporate and franchised stores in 60 countries and all 50 U.S....
and Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise that offers different styles of pizza along with side dishes including pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread....
. In a cross-cultural variation of the theme, refrigerated, ready-to-heat-and-eat spaghetti has become a popular convenience item in Asian convenience stores in the U.S.
Chef Ettore Boiardi
Ettore Boiardi
Ettore "Hector" Boiardi was the Italian-born chef famous for his eponymous brand of food products, named Chef Boyardee.-Early life:Boiardi was born in Piacenza, Italy, to Giuseppe and Maria Maffi Boiardi...
was probably one of the first "Italian" celebrity chefs within the United States, so much so that he is credited with popularizing the cuisine to many non-Italian-Americans and the public at large. Chef Boiardi is more commonly known by his commercialized, eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous brand
Brand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
name, "Chef Boyardee
Chef Boyardee
Chef Boyardee is a brand of canned pasta products sold internationally by ConAgra Foods. Named after its founder, Italian-American immigrant Ettore Boiardi, the company began production in the United States in the 1920s...
."
Popularity of "Italian-American" and "Italian" cuisine
Italian-American food (and Mediterranean cuisine influence in general) has been highly influential in the American diet. It is one of the top three ethnic cuisines in the United States, according to the National Restaurant AssociationNational Restaurant Association
thumb|National Restaurant Association logoThe National Restaurant Association is a restaurant industry business association in the United States, representing more than 380,000 restaurant locations. It also operates the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation...
(known by industry professionals as the NRA). The NRA has stated:
Prof. Donna Gabaccia in "Italian Americana" Winter and Summer 1998 volumes, no. 1 & 2 notes that "Food and cooking are powerful expressions of our ties to the past and to our current identity." In these two issues of "Italian Americana" Donna Gabaccia reflects on various aspects of Italian-American cooking, recipes, and Italian-American life.
"Italian, Mexican and Chinese (Cantonese) cuisines have indeed joined the mainstream. These three cuisines have become so ingrained in the American culture that they are no longer foreign to the American palate. According to the study, more than nine out of 10 consumers are familiar with and have tried these foods, and about half report eating them frequently. The research also indicates that Italian, Mexican and Chinese (Cantonese) have become so adapted to such an extent that "authenticity" is no longer a concern to customers."
Surveys have also shown that an overall trend towards the inclusion of so-called "alternate-source ingredients," as well as the "incorporation of ethnic cuisines, flavors and ingredients into restaurant menus" is now very commonplace. Rated high on the list of popular or "hot" items in the survey include "[Mediterranean style] flatbread
Flatbread
A flatbread is a simple bread made with flour, water, and salt and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened: made without yeast or sourdough culture: although some flatbread is made with yeast, such as pita bread....
s, [Italian style] “ciabatta
Ciabatta
Ciabatta is an Italian white bread made with wheat flour and yeast. The loaf is somewhat elongated, broad and flattish. There are many variations of ciabatta.Ciabatta in its modern form was developed in 1982...
bread,” Mediterranean cuisine, espresso/ specialty coffee..." and so on. Of course, pizza
Pizza
Pizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
and spaghetti
Spaghetti
Spaghetti is a long, thin, cylindrical pasta of Italian origin. Spaghetti is made of semolina or flour and water. Italian dried spaghetti is made from durum wheat semolina, but outside of Italy it may be made with other kinds of flour...
in particular have been almost completely naturalized (the former in particular is a standard part of many American diets, often in forms almost completely unrecognizable to Italian cuisine).
Italian-American cuisine and wine
There is a strong association of Italian-American cuisine with the history of winemakingWinemaking
Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...
in the United States. Broadly speaking, the tradition among many Italian-Americans is to enjoy their food with the pairing of any wine to make the meal complete and sociable; hence, on most any table could be found a cheap "table wine" and often (especially during Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
) a homemade wine that is sometimes pejoratively known as "dago red." Such wines are still embraced as a symbol of Italian-Americans keeping their culinary traditions alive during Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, and as well as until the extensive importing of higher-quality Italian wine
Italian wine
Italian wine is wine produced in Italy, a country which is home to some of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world. Italy is the world's largest wine producer, responsible for approximately one-fifth of world wine production in 2005. Italian wine is exported largely around the world and has...
s in the 1970s and the appreciation of the new "finer" wines of California. The traditional straw-wrapped Chianti
Chianti
Chianti is a red Italian wine produced in Tuscany. It was historically associated with a squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called a fiasco ; however, the fiasco is only used by a few makers of the wine now; most Chianti is now bottled in more standard shaped wine bottles...
bottles still remain as emblematic fixtures on many of the habitual style Italian-American restaurant tables, both because of the wine itself and for the use of the empty bottle as a candleholder thereafter; however, this custom is seeming becoming passé, as the fiasco is no longer universal for Chianti packaging.
The influence of Italian-Americans on American wine
American wine
American wine has been produced for over 300 years. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 89 percent of all US wine...
and winemaking
Winemaking
Winemaking, or vinification, is the production of wine, starting with selection of the grapes or other produce and ending with bottling the finished wine. Although most wine is made from grapes, it may also be made from other fruit or non-toxic plant material...
has been profound as well, and has been recognized since the founding of the United States as a nation. Indeed, Italian vintners were brought to the state of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
as early as the year 1766 by Dr. Andrew Turnbull
Dr. Andrew Turnbull
Andrew Turnbull was a Scottish doctor and later a British Consul at Smyrna. He organized the largest attempt at British colonization in the New World by founding New Smyrna, Florida, named in honor of his wife's birthplace...
, a British Consul at Smyrna
Smyrna
Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
. More significantly, perhaps, was the contributions of Filippo Mazzei (often spelled "Philip Mazzei
Philip Mazzei
Philip Mazzei was an Italian physician and a promoter of liberty. He was a close friend of Thomas Jefferson and acted as an agent to purchase arms for Virginia during the American Revolutionary War.-Biography :...
"), an Italian physician, a promoter of liberty and friend of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
. Mazzei led a group of Italians in Virginia with the cultivation of vineyards, olives, and other Mediterranean fruit.
In later years, American viticulture
Viticulture
Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...
was more influenced by the diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
of Italians during the transatlantic migrations
Transatlantic migrations
Transatlantic migration refers to the movement of people across the Atlantic Ocean in order to settle on the continents of North and South America. It usually refers to migrations after Christopher Columbus' voyage to the Americas in 1492...
that began in the 1870s and reaching greater proportions from 1880 to 1920. Most of these Italians entered at the east coast of the United States at Ellis Island
Ellis Island
Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...
, whereas many of those quickly passed through to the American West Coast, where California still had the lure and aura of its famous “Gold Rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
” and new prosperity. In that state, Italian-Americans were inspired by expanses of rolling hills and fertile fields. Prior to Prohibition
Prohibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
starting in 1919, many wineries had already made their start: Seghesio, Simi
Simi Winery
Simi Winery is one of the oldest and largest superpremium-class boutique wineries in California.-History:The winery was founded in San Francisco, California in 1876 by two Italian brothers, Giuseppe and Pietro Simi, who had immigrated to the United States during the California Gold Rush...
, Sebastiani Vineyards and Foppiano all began in the late 1800s and are still in operation today. Others included Giuseppe Magliavacca’s Napa winery, Secondo Guasti’s Italian Vineyard Company and Andrea Sbarbaro’s Italian-Swiss Colony.
From 1919 to Repeal of Prohibition
Repeal of Prohibition
The Repeal of Prohibition in the United States was accomplished with the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution on December 5, 1933.-Background:...
in 1933, many Italian-Americans struggled to keep their vines in the ground and their vineyards going; yet they persisted, often providing sacramental wine to the Catholic Church or grape juice to the general market. These few holdouts can be credited with salvaging America’s viticulture heritage, in an industry that values the longevity and tradition of the vine and its produce.
Beyond Prohibition and into today’s wine producing economy, Italian-American wineries maintain a powerful contribution to the domestic and world market. Some of these companies include: Atlas Peak (also known as Antinori), Cosentino, Dalla Valle, Delicato, Ferrari-Carano, E & J Gallo Winery
E & J Gallo Winery
E & J Gallo Winery was founded in 1933 by Ernest Gallo and Julio Gallo in Modesto, California. E & J Gallo Winery is the largest exporter of California wines and is a large promoter of wines from Sonoma County.-History:...
, Geyser Peak (also known as Trione family), Louis M. Martini, Mazzocco, Robert Mondavi
Robert Mondavi
Robert Gerald Mondavi was a leading California vineyard operator whose technical improvements and marketing strategies brought worldwide recognition for the wines of the Napa Valley in California. From an early period, Mondavi aggressively promoted labeling wines varietally rather than...
, Monte Bello Ridge, Corrado Parducci
Corrado Parducci
Corrado Giuseppe Parducci was an Italian-American architectural sculptor who was a celebrated artist for his numerous early 20th Century works.-Early life and education:...
, Pedroncelli Winery, Robert Pepi, Picchetti Brothers Winery
Picchetti Brothers Winery
The Picchetti Brothers Winery, also known as the Picchetti Ranch, is a winery located at 13100 Montebello Rd., Cupertino, California in the Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve...
, Rochioli, Rafanelli, Rubicon Estate Winery
Rubicon Estate Winery
The Rubicon Estate Winery is located in Rutherford, California, USA. The winery sits on a portion of the historic Napa Valley property first acquired in 1879 by a Finnish Sea Captain Gustave Niebaum, founder of the Inglenook Winery.-History:In 1975, Francis Ford Coppola and his wife Eleanor,...
(also known as Francis Ford Coppola Presents
Francis Ford Coppola Presents
Francis Ford Coppola Presents is a lifestyle brand created by Francis Ford Coppola, under which he markets goods from companies he owns or controls...
), Sebastiani Vineyards, Signorello, Sattui, Trinchero (most often under the Sutter Home brand), Valley of the Moon
Sonoma Valley AVA
The Sonoma Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Sonoma County, California, USA which centers on the Sonoma Valley in the southern portion of the county...
, Viansa, etc.
On the Italian-American table today, there is an appreciation of California wine
California wine
California wine has a long and continuing history, and in the late twentieth century became recognized as producing some of the world's finest wine. While wine is made in all fifty U.S. states, up to 90% of American wine is produced in the state...
, American wine
American wine
American wine has been produced for over 300 years. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 89 percent of all US wine...
(other domestic), imported Italian wine
Italian wine
Italian wine is wine produced in Italy, a country which is home to some of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world. Italy is the world's largest wine producer, responsible for approximately one-fifth of world wine production in 2005. Italian wine is exported largely around the world and has...
; and, of course, the old standby Chianti
Chianti
Chianti is a red Italian wine produced in Tuscany. It was historically associated with a squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called a fiasco ; however, the fiasco is only used by a few makers of the wine now; most Chianti is now bottled in more standard shaped wine bottles...
(from Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) or "generic" red or white table wine
Table wine
Table wine is a wine term with two different meanings: a wine style; and a quality level within wine classification.In the United States, table wine primarily designates a wine style - ordinary wine which is neither fortified nor sparkling....
(often called vino da tavola) to high end "Super Tuscan" style wines such as Tignanello
Tignanello
Marchesi Antinori Srl is an Italian wine company that can trace its history back to 1385. They are one of the biggest wine companies in Italy, and their innovations played a large part in the "Super-Tuscan" revolution of the 1970s....
. Some of the first Chianti wine to arrive in the United States was standard, cheap wines; however, after a slide in the overall quality of Chianti production during the mid-20th century, improvements in the recipes and techniques used to make the wines have led to the creation of Chiantis ranging from simple table wines up to high-end Chianti Classicos. All of these and more are widely popular with Italian-American cuisine in the United States.
Specialties
Specialties of Italian-American cuisine consist of both Americanizations of Italian classics and dishes specifically invented in the United States. Some of the names given below are derived from Italian dialects (particularly southern dialects such as Neapolitan and Sicilian) and are spelled as they are sounded out among English speakers.Pastas and grains
Italian pasta is eaten widely in the United States, and reviewers have found American-made brands such as Ronzoni to be equivalent to or better than Italian-made pasta in quality. In addition, some Italian-American cooks have adopted Chinese egg rollEgg roll
An egg roll is an appetizer and dinner, a variant of spring roll that has spread throughout the world as a staple of Asian cuisine. Egg rolls with fillings are commonly served in Vietnamese cuisine.-Description:...
wrappers for convenience cooking
Convenience cooking
Convenience cooking is the practice of streamlining recipes for simplicity and speed of preparation. It is a common practice in Western cultures, where both men and women work outside the home and elaborate meals are difficult if not impossible to pull off given the usual time constraints...
use, since it is very close to fresh pasta in composition.
- American chop sueyAmerican Chop SueyAmerican Chop Suey is an American pasta dish. The preferred name and recipe varies by region: for example, the name American chop suey is most prevalent in New England...
- a relative of Ragù bologneseBolognese sauceBolognese sauce is a meat-based sauce for pasta originating in Bologna, Italy. It is traditionally used to dress tagliatelle and is one of the two sauces used to prepare "lasagne alla Bolognese"...
made primarily with hamburger meat - Baked ziti - Ziti pasta, originally from Sicily, tube shaped pasta similar to penne but much longer, mixed with a tomato sauce and covered in cheese then baked in the oven
- LasagnaLasagnaLasagna is a wide and flat type of pasta and possibly one of the oldest shapes. As with most other pasta shapes, the word is generally used in its plural form lasagne in Italy and the U.K. Traditionally, the dough was prepared in Southern Italy with semolina and water and in the northern regions,...
, particularly using ricottaRicottaRicotta is an Italian dairy product made from sheep milk whey left over from the production of cheese. Although typically referred to as ricotta cheese, ricotta is not properly a cheese because it is not produced by coagulation of casein...
, called "lasagne alla napoletana" in Italy. The ricotta distinguishes it from the original and better known (in Italy) North Italian style that uses béchamel sauceBéchamel sauceBéchamel sauce , also known as white sauce, is one of the mother sauces of French cuisine and is used in many recipes of Italian cuisine, for example lasagne. It is used as the base for other sauces . It is traditionally made by whisking scalded milk gradually into a white roux...
, called "lasagne alla bolognese" or just "lasagne" - PolentaPolentaPolenta is a dish made from boiled cornmeal. The word "polenta" is borrowed from Italian.-Description:Polenta is made with ground yellow or white cornmeal , which can be ground coarsely or finely depending on the region and the texture desired.As it is known today, polenta derives from earlier...
- Cornmeal mash, made in a varying degree of thicknesses depending on the intended use of the final product and often flavored with cheese or butter. Sometimes served with a meat sauce, or with deli meats. - Spaghetti with meatballs - a combination that was present in 19th century southern Italy and extinct in early 21st century Italy, but is iconic in the USA. Often the meatballs are cooked in the sauce along with Italian sausageItalian sausageIn the United States, Italian sausage most often refers to a style of pork sausage noted for being seasoned with fennel and/or anise as the primary seasoning...
(salsiccia) and bracioleBracioleBraciola is the name of an Italian dish. Braciole are simply thin slices of beef pan-fried in their own juice, or in a small amount of light olive oil...
(stuffed beef rolls).
Vegetable dishes
- Eggplant parmesan or melanzane alla parmigiana is a common Italian dish. It typically includes sliced eggplant, marinara sauceMarinara SauceMarinara sauce is a southern Italian tomato sauce usually made with tomatoes, garlic, herbs , and onion. However, there are many variations. Some of these include the addition of capers, olives, anchovies, and/or spices....
, and Parmesan cheese, layered repeatedly. It is never served on or with spaghetti in Italy and there are no meat "parmigianas" though zucchini and artichoke based versions do exist. - Peas and Eggs - originally a meal eaten by poor Italian immigrants has since become a favorite lenten meal. It consists of simply eggs and peas, fried in a pan with olive oil and some garlic, onion and pepper.
Meats and eggs
- FrittataFrittataFrittata is an egg-based dish similar to an omelette or quiche, enriched with additional ingredients such as meats, cheeses, vegetables or pasta...
- An open-faced omelette. There can be potatoes and eggs, peas and eggs, asparagus and eggs, peppers and eggs, cucuzza (i.e. squash/zucchini) and eggs, onions and eggs, etc. These can be eaten by themselves or on sandwiches. - SausageSausageA sausage is a food usually made from ground meat , mixed with salt, herbs, and other spices, although vegetarian sausages are available. The word sausage is derived from Old French saussiche, from the Latin word salsus, meaning salted.Typically, a sausage is formed in a casing traditionally made...
and PeppersCapsicumCapsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas where they have been cultivated for thousands of years, but they are now also cultivated worldwide, used as spices, vegetables, and medicines - and have become are a key element in...
- Salsiccia, peppers and onions cooked together, sometimes with a very light red sauce. - Porketta - PorchettaPorchettaPorchetta is a savory, fatty, and moist boneless pork roast of Italian culinary tradition. The body of the pig is gutted, deboned, arranged carefully with layers of stuffing, meat, fat, and skin, then rolled, spitted, and roasted, traditionally over wood...
, Roast pork butt or shoulder; often a full suckling pig. Usually a holiday or celebration dish. Brought to America from the regions of Marche and Tuscany, and the Alban Hills. - Chicken (or Veal) Parmesan - fried breaded chicken or veal cutlets covered in sauce and cheese, served with pasta. A very popular dish in casual dining restaurants, as well as a sandwich filling. The name of this dish is often clipped to "chicken parm".
Sauces
- Alfredo sauce - derived from the Fettuccine Alfredo made popular by Roman restaurateur Alfredo di Lelio starting in 1914, Alfredo sauce consists largely of cream, butter, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese with nutmeg and black pepper seasonings, and is served over vegetables and some meats (particularly chicken and shellfish) as well as the signature pasta ribbons. The primary difference between authentic fettuccine Alfredo and Alfredo sauce is that while the pasta dish is prepared by adding ingredients to the cooked pasta, Alfredo sauce is prepared in bulk and poured over pasta or other ingredients (vegetables such as broccoliBroccoliBroccoli is a plant in the cabbage family, whose large flower head is used as a vegetable.-General:The word broccoli, from the Italian plural of , refers to "the flowering top of a cabbage"....
and meats such as shrimp or grilled chicken are common additions). - Marinara sauce - a quick-cooking, sometimes spicy tomato sauce without meat served on pasta. "Salsa al Pomodoro" is the usual Italian name
- Bolognese sauce - tomato based sauce mixed with ground meat.
- Sunday sauceSauceIn cooking, a sauce is liquid, creaming or semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish. Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsus, meaning salted...
- a meat-infused tomato sauceTomato sauceA tomato sauce is any of a very large number of sauces made primarily from tomatoes, usually to be served as part of a dish...
commonly made on Sundays and special occasions; derived from the Italian ragù napoletanoNeapolitan ragùNeapolitan ragù is one of the two most famous varieties of meat sauces called ragù...
. There is some heated debate among Italian-Americans over whether it should be called "sauce" or "gravy".
Seafood dishes
- Lobster Fra DiavoloFra diavolo (sauce)Fra Diavolo is the name given to a spicy sauce for pasta or seafood. Most versions are tomato-based and use chili peppers for spice, but the term is also used for sauces that include no tomato, or that use cayenne or other forms of pepper. According to chef Mario Batali, the spicy sauce is an...
- A pasta dish made with Lobster, and sometimes other seafood, that contains crushed red pepper to make it spicy. - BaccalàDried and salted codDried and salted cod, often called salt cod or clipfish , is cod which has been preserved by drying after salting. Cod which has been dried without the addition of salt is called stockfish....
- salt cod fish, traditionally served during LentLentIn the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
or for Christmas EveChristmas EveChristmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
. Can have it fried, baccala salad, etc. - Alici or Acciughe - another integral dish served during Christmas Eve's "Feast of the Seven Fishes." This dish's full name is Spaghetti con aglio, olio e acciughe (spaghetti with garlic, oil, and anchovies; alici is another word for anchovy). The anchovies and garlic are sliced very thin and dissolve in the oil. When served, the dish appears to be just pasta covered in hot oil. (Many variants exist in Italy: some don't have anchovies, some add caperCaperCapparis spinosa, the caper bush, is a perennial winter-deciduous species that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers. A caper is also the pickled bud of this plant...
s or chili pepperChili pepperChili pepper is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The term in British English and in Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia and other Asian countries is just chilli without pepper.Chili peppers originated in the Americas...
)
Soups and stews
- CioppinoCioppinoCioppino is a fish stew originating in San Francisco. Despite being considered an Italian dish, it is unknown in Italy, and it is only slightly comparable with various regional fish soups and stews of Italian cuisine...
- a fish stew characteristic of West Coast Italian American cookery, particularly San Francisco. - Wedding soupWedding soupWedding soup or Italian wedding soup is an Italian-American soup consisting of green vegetables and meat. It is popular in the United States, where it is a staple in many Italian restaurants.-Ingredients:...
- A soup with meatballs or sausage and pasta in a chicken broth. - Pasta fagioliPasta fagioliPasta e fagioli or pasta fagioli, meaning "pasta and beans", is a traditional meatless Italian dish. Like many other Italian favorites including pizza and polenta, the dish started as a peasant dish, due to cheaply available beans and pasta. Today it can be widely found, even in restaurants that...
(or "pasta fazool" in Italoamerican slang for it is , from southern Italian fasule instead of standard Italian fagioli) - Pasta with beans, often cannellini beans, that has the consistency of a stew.
Breads, sandwiches, and savory baked goods
- CalzoneCalzoneA calzone Italian: , "stocking" or "trouser") is a turnover that originates from Italy. It is shaped like a semicircle, made of dough folded over and filled with ingredients common to pizza....
and stromboliStromboli (food)Stromboli is a type of turnover filled with various cheeses, typically mozzarella, Italian meats such as salami, capicola and bresaola or vegetables...
-- While the half-moon shaped Italian calzone is well-known in the United States, the very similar tube-shaped stromboli as well as large, loaf-like calzones served in slices are also fairly common. - Italian breadBreadBread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
-- Perhaps a bit closer to French bread in composition and appearance, American "Italian bread" is a lean white bread, often braided and covered in sesame seeds, with a thin but usually crisp crust and a soft crumb. American "Italian bread" does not particularly resemble many traditional Italian bread forms, but is very popular in both loaf form and roll form, where it is often closely associated with sandwich making. - PizzaPizzaPizza is an oven-baked, flat, disc-shaped bread typically topped with a tomato sauce, cheese and various toppings.Originating in Italy, from the Neapolitan cuisine, the dish has become popular in many parts of the world. An establishment that makes and sells pizzas is called a "pizzeria"...
-- The most common form of American pizza is based on (and called) the Neapolitan style, the earliest and essentially standard version of which is commonly called "New York-styleNew York-style pizzaNew York-style pizza originated in New York City in the early 1900s. It is known for its large, wide, thin and foldable shape. The traditional toppings were tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese, with any additional toppings placed with the cheese. It is traditionally hand-tossed and light on sauce...
." Also popular in America is a version of the Sicilian pizzaSicilian pizzaSicilian pizza refers to the different ways to prepare pizza in Sicily .In the USA, among the Italian American community, the locution sicilian pizza it refers to a particular way to cook the pizza originated from the city of Palermo.-Local pizza in Sicily:In Sicily there are many local ways to...
, a larger square pie in which the dough is risen an inch or more, and which is topped (contrary to native Sicilian tradition) in much the same way as the thin-crusted round Neapolitan form, including the use of mozzarellaMozzarellaMozzarella is an Italian Traditional Speciality Guaranteed food product. The term is used for several kinds of Italian cheeses that are made using spinning and then cutting :...
. Even more Americanized forms such as Greek pizzaGreek pizzaGreek pizza can refer to either of two styles of pizza.One usage refers to a pizza with typically Greek ingredients as toppings. These include authentic toppings such as feta cheese, onion, Kalamata olives, fresh tomato, green bell pepper, gyros meat and spinach.The other usage refers to a...
, Apizza (i.e. New Haven-style pizza) and Chicago-styleChicago-style pizzaChicago-style pizza is a deep-dish pizza style developed in Chicago. Chicago-style pizza has a buttery crust up to three inches tall at the edge, slightly higher than the large amounts of cheese and chunky tomato sauce, acting as a large bowl. The term also refers to "stuffed" pizza, another...
have become common. - MuffulettaMuffulettaThe muffuletta is a type of round Sicilian sesame bread, as well as a submarine sandwich made with that bread that originated from New Orleans, Louisiana.-Bread:...
- a large sandwich with cold cutCold cutCold cuts are cheeses or precooked or cured meat, often sausages or meat loaves, that are sliced and usually served cold on sandwiches or on party trays. They can be bought pre-sliced in vacuum packs at a supermarket or grocery store, or they can be purchased at a delicatessen or deli counter,...
s and olive salad, made on a round loaf; originated in New Orleans - Italian beefItalian beefAn Italian beef is a sandwich of thin slices of seasoned roast beef, dripping with meat juices, on a dense, long Italian-style roll, believed to have originated in Chicago, where its history dates back at least to the 1930s...
sandwich—a type of roast beef sandwich native to ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, similar to a French dip sandwichFrench dip sandwichA French dip sandwich, also known as a beef dip, is a hot sandwich consisting of thinly sliced roast beef on a "French roll" or baguette. It is usually served au jus , that is, with beef juice from the cooking process...
. - Pizzagiena or pizza ghen or "Pizza Rustica"- Easter Pie, made with various cheeses, eggs, and salted meats. Compare torta pasqualina, from Liguria, or the Italian-Argentine version, torta pascualina.Pizzagiena may also be called pasteed or pastiere, although it is more of a quiche than pie unlike pizzagiena.
Sweets
- TiramisuTiramisuTiramisu, , , literally "pick me up", is an Italian cake and dessert.It is made of ladyfingers dipped in coffee, layered with a whipped mixture of egg yolks and mascarpone, and flavored with liquor and cocoa...
- A sweet multi-layered cake with a light fluffy cream, often served with a coffee or other hot caffeinated beverage. Tiramisu is one of the more recent Italian imports, having been invented after World War II (probably in the Veneto region), but adopted readily by American diners. - CannoliCannoliCannoli are Sicilian pastry desserts. The singular is cannolo , meaning "little tube", with the etymology stemming from the Latin "canna", or reed. Cannoli originated in Sicily and are an essential part of Sicilian cuisine...
- a sweet ricottaRicottaRicotta is an Italian dairy product made from sheep milk whey left over from the production of cheese. Although typically referred to as ricotta cheese, ricotta is not properly a cheese because it is not produced by coagulation of casein...
filling in a fried pastry shell - StruffoliStruffoliStruffoli is a Neapolitan dish made of deep fried balls of dough about the size of marbles. Struffoli are crunchy on the outside and light inside. They are mixed with honey and other sweet things...
(or Struf') - Fried dough for dessert. It's a Christmas cake typical of Naples. - Evushgadil or biscotti d'annodare - knot cookies
- SfogliatelleSfogliatelleSfogliatelle , are shell shaped filled pastries native to Italian cuisine. "Sfogliatelle" means "many leaves/layers," the pastry's texture resembling leaves stacked on each other.-Origin:...
- a sort of custard turnover made with leaved ("foglie") pastry; a similar pastry, larger and filled with a type of pastry cream, is sometimes called a "lobsterLobsterClawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...
tail" - BiscottiBiscottiBiscotti more correctly known as biscotti di Prato , also known as cantuccini , are twice-baked biscuits originating in the Italian city of Prato...
-- generally anise flavoured, often nut studded, hard cookie that may alternatively contain dried fruit or chocolate are common as well; often dipped in coffee rather than sweet dessert wines as in Italy. American biscotti are almost always loaf-type cookies that are sliced and rebaked to crispness, while the term refers to almost all forms of cookieCookieIn the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small, flat, baked treat, usually containing fat, flour, eggs and sugar. In most English-speaking countries outside North America, the most common word for this is biscuit; in many regions both terms are used, while in others the two words have...
in Italy.
Biscotti simply means twice baked in regards to this type of cookie.
See also
- Italian cuisineItalian cuisineItalian cuisine has developed through centuries of social and political changes, with roots as far back as the 4th century BCE. Italian cuisine in itself takes heavy influences, including Etruscan, ancient Greek, ancient Roman, Byzantine, Jewish and Arab cuisines...
- Immigrant cuisineImmigrant cuisineImmigrant cuisine refers to food that originates as a foreign cuisine that has been altered, sometimes dramatically, to use tastes, techniques, and ingredients common or unique to the new culture...
- Cuisine of the United StatesCuisine of the United StatesAmerican cuisine is a style of food preparation originating from the United States of America. European colonization of the Americas yielded the introduction of a number of ingredients and cooking styles to the latter...
- North American cuisineNorth American cuisineNorth American cuisine is a term used for foods native to or popular in countries of North America, such as Canadian cuisine, American cuisine, Mexican cuisine and Central American cuisine...
- Culinary revolutionCulinary revolutionThe Culinary Revolution was a movement during the late 1960s and 1970s, growing out of the Free Speech Movement, when sociopolitical issues began to profoundly affect the way Americans eat...
- New American cuisineNew American cuisineNew American cuisine is a term for upscale, contemporary cooking served primarily in restaurants in the United States. Combining flavors from America's melting pot with traditional techniques, New American cuisine includes ethnic twists on old standbys, Old World peasant dishes made from luxury...
- Mediterranean cuisine FOODS OF AFFECTION ISSUE SPRING 2008 Italian Americana: The voice of leading cultural, intellectual and literary Italian Americans