Italian-American food qualifies as a certified authentic cuisine in its own right, a hybrid of what Italian immigrants brought with them to the United States and modified along the way to American citizenship and assimilation. But it’s not what you’re going to find in Italy—not in Rome or Palermo or Verona.
Those early 20th century immigrants, predominantly from southern Italy and Sicily, couldn’t get away from Ellis Island fast enough to set up their kitchens and start feeding their families, as well as the rest of the surrounding area. Because of a lack of some products and the availability of others, a necessary shift in methods and a change in recipes occurred, subtle at first, but becoming more noticeable as the first generation born in this country began setting up their own kitchens.
This gradual process of culinary evolution then came into contact with the prepared food/TV dinner era of the 1950s. No self-respecting Italian-American mother ever would have served her family green bean casserole topped with canned French fried onion rings, but picking vine ripened tomatoes from home gardens was replaced (or at least augmented) by the pureed version from the can, and cheese was often shaken rather than freshly grated.
The post-World War II decade was also when the children of immigrants found themselves higher up on the economic ladder, and what better way to flaunt this success than at the table? Portions became larger, sauces became thicker and richer, and entire dishes never known in the old country became part of our daily menus—spaghetti and meatballs, manicotti, chicken parmigiana, etc. Even Tony Soprano wouldn’t be able to find the ubiquitous chicken parm in Italy. You can have it here, but you won’t find it there.
You will, however, find luscious eggplant parmigiana (melanzane parmigiana), owing its name to the town of Parma where it originated and not to the king of Italian cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano. And you’ll find meatballs (polpette), not plopped on top of spaghetti, but standing on their own as a second course (after the pasta course) with or without tomato sauce. You’ll encounter such an infinite variety of fabulous dishes you’ll never miss that chicken parm.
