Immigrants have always tried to hold onto their traditions to survive the shock of having to leave their lands and search for a better life in a foreign country, and their culinary habits have been regarded as the most persistent trait, one that is transmitted from a generation to the next one.
For the Italian immigrants, staying loyal to their alimentary habits represented the only element of continuity with the motherland, especially for their descendants, who knew (and know) very little about their ancestors’ motherland. The first Italian immigrants were particularly stubborn in maintaining their habits even by asking their relatives to send overseas the Italian products that were not available in the United States, or by growing their vegetables and preserving them in their homes like they were used to do in their country. This attitude was often ridiculed by the American society, and frequently American doctors classified the diet followed by Italian immigrant as unhealthy.
The essay examines the Italian immigrants’ relationship with food in the autobiographical writings of Jerre Mangione and Joe Vergara, and in one of the most famous Italian-American 'cookbooks', "Festa" by Helen Barolini. Finally, Tony Ardizzone and "Bruculinu, America" by Vincent Schiavelli are mentioned.
