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Post by That Falls Guy on Mar 8, 2018 17:51:55 GMT -5
I do. I learned a lot from my grandparents who came from the Cosenza and Catanzaro Regions of Italy. What sparked my interest was sparks (no pun intended) comment about gravy vs. sauce! Always sauce to us. He said that he made a killer sauce. As many times as as I watched my grandmother making it, I can't even come close! There are so many avenues to approach here, like Pizza, Seafood, Anchovies, Sausages, Meats, breads, and the like. Any traditions that you may want to share? |
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Post by Legend Lover on Mar 8, 2018 19:04:37 GMT -5
I'm afraid I'm not of Italian heritage... But I AM half Brazilian.
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Post by zambini on Mar 8, 2018 20:06:59 GMT -5
I'm afraid I'm not of Italian heritage... But I AM half Brazilian. How'd your family end up in NI? |
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Post by papipeguy on Mar 8, 2018 20:39:49 GMT -5
Mostly Austrian on my side but my wife is Brooklyn Italian; so I am by injection.
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Post by Scott W on Mar 8, 2018 22:36:47 GMT -5
Half Italian here. My mother is both Sicilian and Napoletana
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Post by Ronv69 on Mar 9, 2018 0:17:46 GMT -5
No, but I like Italian shoes, motorcycles, suits, art, cars, wine, and food.
Does that make me a racist?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2018 0:57:31 GMT -5
I stayed at a Holiday Inn one night so here goes:
The stuff that goes on top of pasta, Italian Sources to be named later tell me, is gravy. Whether that's Sicilian or Neapolitan or both, ya got me.
When I was in the meat/cheese business we delivered and bought from The Hill here in Saint Louis. Home of Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola. If I had five stops there in one day I might eat five sandwiches. Cousin of mine is married into a big Italian Bakery here, Fazio's.
Anyway, I could spend all day there or all day thinking about being there.
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Post by Legend Lover on Mar 9, 2018 3:11:57 GMT -5
I'm afraid I'm not of Italian heritage... But I AM half Brazilian. How'd your family end up in NI? Mum is from NI. She was a missionary in Brazil, met my dad, they got married, came to NI, and the rest is history... I DO love Italian food. I worked on perfecting a pizza last year and i've got a technique that comes damn-near close to the best pizza that I've ever had. |
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Post by toshtego on Mar 9, 2018 4:33:59 GMT -5
No, but I like Italian shoes, motorcycles, suits, art, cars, wine, and food. Does that make me a racist? Ditto the above, plus Italian women- young and older. Italians have added so much to world culture. |
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Post by briarpipenyc on Mar 9, 2018 11:10:20 GMT -5
For us New Yawk, Italians.....it's GRAVY. "Tomato Sauce", is usually meatless. For us, "gravy" was the brown sauce served over roast beef and mashed potatoes. But, mom also made marinara "sauce" too. It's complicated  Back in the day, on every Sunday... Italians made "Sunday gravy", that included meatballs, Italian sausage -both hot and mild- braciole (a kind of seasoned, beef roll) etc. Mom got up early to start the sauce, and fry meatballs. For breakfast we ate freshly fried meatballs, or buttered rolls, or ate fresh buns from the local bakery, and drank coffee, while we read the Sunday papers. Then we got dressed up, and the family went to church, to go to Sunday mass. We had to. Later, the table was set, and mom and dad would then bring out the feast. The gravy was ladled over a big bowl of steaming-hot "macaroni" (not "pasta", and it was usually ziti or rigatoni), the gravy meats were served in another bowl and we ate family-style. You better be home in time for Sunday dinner, or you got that "look"! If there was special company over for dinner, you better be on time! A big bottle of homemade wine rested on the floor, near my dad's feet. It was too heavy for us kids to lift and pour without spilling. Spilling things also got you that "look". If you tried to pour and spilled wine, especially after being warned...you got the back of the hand across the face. Not hard...but the lesson was learned. Everything, all the food, stayed on the table just in case someone wanted more. If you were the unlucky one who got the "look", or spilled something, you just asked for seconds. That got you back into the plus column. After the macaroni/gravy meat course, the chicken(s), ham, or other roasts came out, and were served along with a tossed salad, artichokes, homemade garlic bread, eggplant parm, roasted potatoes, other veggies. Just when you were about to explode, the fruit platter (grapes, oranges, tangerines, figs, apples, pears, etc.) nuts, black coffee (not "espresso") a bottle of anisette, various cakes, pastries, regular (American) coffee, chocolates (cheapo Whitman Sampler), candies.... were all shoved onto the table. This was the Sunday ritual for millions of NY and East-Coast Italians. Everyone in my family did the same thing. Other families did the same thing. No kids were out playing between 3:00 -5:00 PM. We ate for a few hours, everybody laughed, we told jokes, (sometimes "naughty" jokes.... and mom, shocked, would say..."I never want to hear that out of your mouth again") we talked about the our family, talked about daily events, new movies at the local theater..... and we all thought it would last forever. See...I told you 'gravy" was complicated. Frank NYC |
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Post by PhantomWolf on Mar 9, 2018 12:22:13 GMT -5
My mother is Polish and Scottish, but her step father was as close to Italian as an American can get- So I grew up eating homemade pizza and lots of seafood on Christmas eve. I could go for a big pile of crispy, fried smelts right now... He is also the reason I cannot pass an olive bar up at the market. While I'm at it, he is also the reason I knew I was going to join the Army since I was five or six.
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Post by puffy on Mar 9, 2018 12:45:11 GMT -5
I grew up in an Italian neighborhood in Michigan.I learned much of their culture.They told me that I wasn't blood though.That meant that since I wasn't born Italian I could never truly be one.They treated me like I was one though.Later on they taught my wife how to cook Italian food. They were wonderful people. Those old Italian ladies made some of the best cookies I've ever eaten .. I love fried Smelt.I Had some in my freezer just about all the time when I lived up north.
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Post by briarpipenyc on Mar 9, 2018 13:11:53 GMT -5
redwinekline and  .... Just read the remembrances of your things past....and when I got to the pile of "crispy fried smelts", tears filled my eyes. I had forgotten all about that simple fare, usually eaten in my house on Friday evenings....no meat, just fish on Fridays back then. We couldn't eat meat on Fridays. My dad would stop at the local fish store on the way home from the firehouse, and buy either small sardines, or small smelts, clean them, dust them with flour and fry them in hot oil. Dinner took 10 minutes to cook. I forgot all about these quick, childhood dinners until I read your postings. Thanks for the memories. Frank NYC |
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Post by Dramatwist on Mar 9, 2018 14:34:12 GMT -5
...I think most of us of European descent have some Italian roots...
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Post by briarpipenyc on Mar 9, 2018 14:44:38 GMT -5
At least the food is tasty. : )))
Frank
NYC
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Post by crapgame on Mar 9, 2018 17:32:55 GMT -5
Eastern European here.. Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia here... just did a DNA thing so results will show very detailed info.. can't wait!
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Post by toshtego on Mar 10, 2018 10:15:19 GMT -5
...I think most of us of European descent have some Italian roots... Sadly not here. English and German Swiss on my mother's side. Belgian on my father's. Had friends of Italian heritage as a youth. Enjoyed the culture. |
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Post by Matthew on Mar 11, 2018 21:50:03 GMT -5
Simple English/Norwegian,which if you know your
English history means mostly Norse.
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Post by trailboss on Mar 11, 2018 22:56:51 GMT -5
I used to work for a Sicilian once in da days of my Yute'...one minute he wanted to send me to the bottom of the sea, five minutes later we were best buddies...It was a good experience on not taking things too personal.
Italian customers in the foodservice industry were generally the best, generous with food and generous with culinary advice, you get "in" with them and they call you Paisano...that is a good place to be!
I have to watch the tomato sauces though...they can overpower pantoprazole, and I can wake up with a throat full of acid...I tread lightly with the marinara sauces that I love to eat.
British/ Irish /Native American here...
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Post by Scott W on Mar 12, 2018 10:35:47 GMT -5
For us New Yawk, Italians.....it's GRAVY. "Tomato Sauce", is usually meatless. For us, "gravy" was the brown sauce served over roast beef and mashed potatoes. But, mom also made marinara "sauce" too. It's complicated Back in the day, on every Sunday... Italians made "Sunday gravy", that included meatballs, Italian sausage -both hot and mild- braciole (a kind of seasoned, beef roll) etc. Mom got up early to start the sauce, and fry meatballs. For breakfast we ate freshly fried meatballs, or buttered rolls, or ate fresh buns from the local bakery, and drank coffee, while we read the Sunday papers. Then we got dressed up, and the family went to church, to go to Sunday mass. We had to. Later, the table was set, and mom and dad would then bring out the feast. The gravy was ladled over a big bowl of steaming-hot "macaroni" (not "pasta", and it was usually ziti or rigatoni), the gravy meats were served in another bowl and we ate family-style. You better be home in time for Sunday dinner, or you got that "look"! If there was special company over for dinner, you better be on time! A big bottle of homemade wine rested on the floor, near my dad's feet. It was too heavy for us kids to lift and pour without spilling. Spilling things also got you that "look". If you tried to pour and spilled wine, especially after being warned...you got the back of the hand across the face. Not hard...but the lesson was learned. Everything, all the food, stayed on the table just in case someone wanted more. If you were the unlucky one who got the "look", or spilled something, you just asked for seconds. That got you back into the plus column. After the macaroni/gravy meat course, the chicken(s), ham, or other roasts came out, and were served along with a tossed salad, artichokes, homemade garlic bread, eggplant parm, roasted potatoes, other veggies. Just when you were about to explode, the fruit platter (grapes, oranges, tangerines, figs, apples, pears, etc.) nuts, black coffee (not "espresso") a bottle of anisette, various cakes, pastries, regular (American) coffee, chocolates (cheapo Whitman Sampler), candies.... were all shoved onto the table. This was the Sunday ritual for millions of NY and East-Coast Italians. Everyone in my family did the same thing. Other families did the same thing. No kids were out playing between 3:00 -5:00 PM. We ate for a few hours, everybody laughed, we told jokes, (sometimes "naughty" jokes.... and mom, shocked, would say..."I never want to hear that out of your mouth again") we talked about the our family, talked about daily events, new movies at the local theater..... and we all thought it would last forever. See...I told you 'gravy" was complicated. Frank NYC Perfect description of my childhood home on Sundays. We didn’t do church though |
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Post by sparks on Mar 12, 2018 11:51:35 GMT -5
My family hails from Roccapiemonte in the province of Salerno, Campania region. My Great Grandfather met my Great Grandmother while working as a stonemasons apprentice for her Father. I am 4th generation American.
Frank's description of Sunday dinner is similar to what I grew up with, though by the time I was born, it was a little less extensive as many of the old timers were gone. Though not every Sunday, my Mother still does "Sunday Sauce" as we call it. It's a meat loaded sauce as Frank described it, though we never called it Gravy. Pork ribs make up the base, with homemade meatballs added and sometimes Italian Sausage. The meat is removed and always served separate. The macaroni varied, sometimes spaghetti, often ziti or rigatoni as Frank mentioned.
I now live 6 hours away from home, so I try and do "Sunday Sauce" once in awhile and usually drag my friends into the ritual. I make it an event though, just like the old days. Always several courses, Antipasti, Primo, Secondo and Insalata, though not always in that order. I have a few friends of Italian decent, so they get it... the others just enjoy the never ending food.
We still carry on a few other traditions such as Christmas Eve (Festa dei sette pesci) and St. Josephs Day. I would say that we are unique compared to most Italian families I know now. For most, these traditions have been lost to time.
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Post by Matthew on Mar 12, 2018 16:07:51 GMT -5
Years ago,at Ft Campbell.I had just made E-4,not corporal but same pay grade.
In order to fill/kill time our CO decided we need to have some Drill practice.
Since my Squad Leader and Fire Team Leader as well as the Platoon Sargent were
all at a class,I got to take charge and march my squad around in circles.Now
I've had 4 years Army ROTC,and am quite proficient calling commands and cadence.
We were in the parking lot in front of the Battalion HQ.After about 20 to 25 minutes,
I was towards the back of the squad and I noticed "Dino" (our 60 gunner) had his hand
stuck out.So the next 5-10 minutes,I'm calling commands while skipping along with
"Dino".The squad is about to pi** themselves.My CO comes roaring out of the Battalion HQ
with fire in his eyes.Our Battalion Commander came out,called us over and proceeded to
tear us up.And finished the A** chewing with "Thanks for making Monday bearable".
And for reference "Dino" Donatelli (Sp) was just about 5ft 4in.Meanest little sh**
you ever saw,but if you were his friend he ALWAYS had your back.
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