The US was once known as the world's largest melting pot and while some traditions have been left in the past, there are others that families will swear came over on the Mayflower. Or, for some, through Ellis Island. Now, the country is filled with a wide array of traditions that vary from household to household but one common thread holds certain families together: The customs of an Italian-Amerian family.
For those who have ancestors who stepped off the boat from Italy, every one of these rings true.
The Word 'Dinner' Implied An All-Day Event
Food was a big deal (and still is) in Italy which means that family dinners are an equally big deal. When it comes to dinner - usually a Sunday dinner - no half-measures are taken. Usually, this will involve a quick bakery breakfast in the morning consisting of pastries, donuts, or even bagels for New York and New Jersey, and from noon on, it's nothing but dinner prep.
The entire family is expected to be there and if they're not, then they'll certainly be missing out on the week's updates, old family stories, and, of course, some delicious Italian food. Ziti, stuffed shells, and lasagna may have well as been coined for Sunday night dinners.
Silence Is A Foreign Concept And So Are 'Small' Gatherings
Italian families are often large families, with immediate family, extended family, and friends who are basically family. This means that when it comes time to gather for holidays or meals, there's usually not a quiet moment in sight.
Immediate family can often get pretty big as well, with a person having multiple siblings, expecting visits from grandparents, and the occasional aunt, uncle, or cousins who spend more time at someone else's house than their own.
Pasta Is Basically A Food Group, Especially During Holidays
Thanksgiving? Pasta. Christmas? Arancini plus the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Easter? Stuff shells. It's rare that there's ever a holiday that doesn't include some kind of pasta even if it's not the main dish.
For Thanksgiving, especially, there will often be a (garlic-rubbed) turkey as the centerpiece with various pasta dishes surrounding, and sometimes a random meatball platter thrown in there for good measure. It sure is delicious to have options, though!
Making Sauce Is A 12-Hour Process, If Not 48
Jarred sauce simply does not exist and, in full disclosure, never really did. If it's jarred, then it's not 'sauce.' It's not uncommon for Italian grandparents to refer to it as 'gravy' but it's more accepted now to call it what it is.
From tomato cooking to tomato blanching, and from to tomato mashing to tomato straining, the entire process is done from scratch and by hand, right up until the canning. Furthermore, a traditional sauce recipe calls for enough pounds of tomatoes to keep families in sauce for weeks if not months.
Desserts Don't Look Like Ice Cream Sundaes And Brownies
Rather, dessert looked like cannolis and struffoli and was delightful nonetheless. Each cheese-filled cannoli is perfection even if it came from the Italian bakery down the street.
And each stuffoli is delicious and sweet, and don't try to deny how many were snuck away before dinnertime. In a show of pride and devotion, desserts are often displayed on the kitchen counter or side table as something to look forward to, and it works.
Everyone Mistakes Cousins For Siblings, But Everyone Is Family
In an Italian-American family, cousins practically are as close as siblings, and siblings are practically best friends (eventually, anyway). Not a secret is kept and not a word goes unspoken as is traditional in an Italian family, and the cycle continues through the generation.
It helps that cousins are practically bonded at birth and any friends who are fearless in the face of so much food and noise are bound to become family, too.
Bread, Butter, Garlic, And Olive Oil And Vinegar Decanters Never Left The Table
To accompany a big meal, there's always a basic salad. Whether it's mixed greens with tomatoes, carrots, and black olives, antipasto, or a fresh tomato and mozzarella Caprese, it's always there (because something needs to cut through all of that pasta).
To go with that - for balance, of course - is a basket of bread and butter which seemingly just appears at every meal.
For the salad, the only dressing option is usually a combination of red wine vinegar and olive oil, both in their respective decanters. As a kid, the perfect blend of both is learned at a young age - it's an art form, really.