The Food Table: A Heartfelt Tradition in Italian American Cuisine

Growing up in an Italian American household, food isn’t just sustenance; it’s the very fabric of life. From the first light of dawn to the peaceful close of night, food marks every moment, transition, and celebration. It’s more than just eating; it’s a ritual, a sacrament in the grand ceremony of life. Food accompanies every milestone, from the joyous cries of birth to the wisdom of old age. At the heart of this culinary devotion lies The Food Table, the home’s cherished altar where tradition and flavor meet.

The Italian American kitchen, and particularly its food table, is a vibrant tapestry woven with illustrated recipes, rich history, and deeply personal memories. My mission is to preserve this precious heritage. Some recipes are etched in my mind with crystal clarity, vivid snapshots of past meals. Others are like echoes, dishes I vaguely remember, prompting me to reconstruct them, breathing life back into forgotten flavors. Beyond my own recollections, I’ve delved into countless cookbooks and online resources, including Italian sites and international culinary corners, to trace the history of traditional Italian American foods and bring them to your table.

While the soul of this collection is rooted in the Italian American kitchen, you’ll also discover recipes from diverse culinary backgrounds. This eclectic approach truly reflects the spirit of the food table I grew up with. Our kitchen was a place of culinary exploration, embracing flavors from around the globe, not just those with Italian roots. Television played a surprising role in this culinary expansion. Julia Child, with her French Chef program, became a weekly guest in our kitchen through the small, rounded screen TV. Many of her delightful French suggestions found a warm welcome on our food table. Greek recipes, like Moussaka, also mysteriously appeared, perhaps gleaned from newspapers or magazines, adding another layer to our ever-evolving food repertoire.

Innovation was always on the menu at our food table. My father, the family shopper, was always excited to bring home something new and intriguing. Though, not all experiments were successful. The soybean steaks of the 60s remain a stark reminder of culinary misadventures! Yet, this openness to new foods, alongside the cherished traditions of the Italian American kitchen, is what makes our food table unique, a place where recipes from all sources are welcomed and celebrated.

The legacy of the Italian American kitchen and its food table stretches back to Colonial times. Even Thomas Jefferson, deeply inspired by Italian culture, introduced America to the delights of macaroni. Lorenzo da Ponte, Mozart’s librettist, even ran a grocery store in Pennsylvania, further weaving Italian threads into the American food scene. However, the most profound influence began with the great wave of Italian immigration.

In Italian American families of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, preparing and serving food was a ritual as sacred as church rites. While a small number of Italians had arrived earlier, over four million Italians, predominantly from Southern Italy (Mezzogiorno) and Sicily, made their way to America between 1880 and 1920. Recreating their exact Italian diets in America was a challenge. Ingredients were different; Italian vegetables were scarce until immigrants started growing them. Meat choices also differed, with beef becoming more prominent in America compared to Italy’s preference for chicken, lamb, and veal. For 19th-century Italian immigrants, familiar food sources were transformed in their new American home. How could a quarry worker or coal miner replicate the peasant ovens of Cilento or Abruzzo? How could canned or processed ingredients replace the fresh vitality of Sicilian or Neapolitan cuisine?

Yet, these resilient “greenhorns,” as my family affectionately called Italian immigrants, adapted their traditional foods to the available American ingredients. A defining characteristic of the Italian American kitchen emerged: a rich, thick tomato sauce, generously used in countless dishes, a sauce virtually unknown in Italy itself.

In the Italian American kitchen, this sauce, often meat-based, became known as “gravy,” perhaps due to a translation quirk or its rich consistency. This “red sauce” became the heart of countless dishes, smothering everything from spaghetti to vegetables and braised meats. This red sauce tradition became so deeply ingrained in Italian American cuisine and the food table that it transcended generations, becoming a culinary standard, even among those with no Italian heritage. However, this widespread popularity also led to a less desirable outcome: a flood of commercial “Italian” sauces, often mere tomato stews loaded with starch, sugar, and salt, a far cry from the authentic flavors of the Italian American kitchen.

My own connection to this culinary heritage runs deep. Growing up in the 1950s, I was a fourth-generation Italian American. My great-grandfather arrived in America in 1885. While Italian as a spoken language faded within the family, the culinary traditions and Italian American recipes remained vibrant. Interestingly, the men in my family, even generations removed from Italy, took charge of shopping for the food table, selecting the ingredients, while the women orchestrated the cooking. Another significant shift occurred just before World War II: the move from the city to the suburbs. While some family members remained in South Philadelphia, others, including my immediate family, embraced suburban life. Despite diverging paths – one uncle a pharmacist, another a shoemaker, one attending operas, another Phillies games – they were united by the language of the Italian American kitchen and the traditions of the food table.

My cherished childhood memories are intertwined with visits to my city cousins, especially Aunt Annie (Aunt Nannie). Stepping into her South Philadelphia home was an olfactory embrace of sweet tomatoes, garlic, and savory meats. Sometimes, Uncle Henry (Hendry), the shoemaker, would take me shopping on 9th Street. Back then, the street was a bustling Italian market, overflowing with wooden crates of live chickens, bleating lambs, hanging meats, and pushcarts laden with vibrant fruits and vegetables.

Aunt Annie was the quintessential cook, a true Italian “mamma,” her generous apron-clad figure always in motion in the kitchen. From our seats at her food table, we were captivated by her culinary ballet. She was a force of nature, and the food was equally grand. Sitting at her food table was to be enveloped in security, comfort, and warmth. Then, in a sudden turn, she would approach, pot in hand, its contents hidden beneath a towel. As she placed the pot on the table, her apron filled my view, followed by an arm and hand wielding a spoon or fork, offering a taste of pure delight, sweet or savory, seducing the senses into joyful submission.

Now, as time marches on, the older generations are gone. It’s been nearly 150 years since my Italian ancestors first arrived from Cilento. The traditional Italian foods and recipes they brought to their new American tables are slowly fading. Even the Italian American kitchen of my aunts and uncles is gradually disappearing. This realization spurred me to delve into my personal memories, to recall and compile the traditional Italian American foods of my childhood. I wanted to rescue them from oblivion, to keep them alive not just in my memory but to pass them on to future generations. This is the heart and soul of The Food Table: Preserving the Italian American Kitchen, a collection of illustrated recipes and stories, born from personal memories and a desire to keep this culinary heritage thriving.

Below, you’ll find an index of illustrated recipes, a guide to exploring the flavors of the traditional Italian American food table. This index covers a wide range, from vibrant salads and vegetable dishes to comforting soups, hearty pasta, chicken, fish, meat dishes, and even meatless options, alongside pizza, breads, cookies, and pies. Beyond Italian American recipes, the Food Table welcomes dishes from other cultures, reflecting the inclusive spirit of Italian American hospitality and the universal love for good food. Everyone is invited to The Food Table.

Buon Appetito!

Index of Illustrated Recipes, Traditional Italian American Foods and Personal Memories by Tony Devaney Morinelli

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