Lecture 31: Immigrant Cuisines and Ethnic Restaurants
Despite these culinary fossils, cuisines must change, or they
become museum relics. Without the original ingredients, same
cooking utensils and fuel source, or even the same social context,
it’s impossible and futile to even try to make authentic dishes. Another truly fascinating phenomenon is when an item becomes
mainstream and is then reexported back to the home country in its
new form. Sometimes, of course, it is the mass-manufactured or
canned version that is exported—sometimes back home, but more
often elsewhere.Italian Food
There is probably no single cuisine that has become more
thoroughly adopted by Americans than Italian food. Many of the
basic ingredients grown or raised in Italy are for the most part also
grown in the United States and were introduced by Italian farmers.
That’s why Americans use the Italian name for these ingredients,
including broccoli, zucchini, radicchio, and arugula. Other foods, that were not originally familiar to Americans, were
soon introduced—including foods like olive oil and even wine.
In addition, a whole slew of vegetables (artichokes, eggplant,
tomatoes, peppers, and garlic) entered into the American diet after
Italians settled in the United States. In fact, it’s ironic that tomatoes
had to be reintroduced to the Americas by Italians. Pizza changes in the United States because it’s cooked in a
commercial pizza oven—with more affl uence—and people want to
eat more ingredients, and they want meat on it. Pizzas are larger
and cut in slices because America is a faster-paced society. The
pizzeria selling by the slice is an American invention; Italy has it
now, because Italians are now more like Americans. Italian food is very interesting because it really only catches on
outside immigrant groups when it’s marketed widely. Tomato sauce
in a can, for example, is only made in the United States on a large
scale once Americans get in a war with Italy and the supply of