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San Francisco’s Italian Community

August 9, 2013

The images above on the Italian Heritage Mural are part of the life work of Italian immigrant Gino Sbrana, who started his American life in San Francisco as a vegetable peddler. By 1911, he had launched a large photographic studio, Pisa Foto, at Columbus and Broadway in San Francisco. Later Gino founded a studio in Oakland and, in 1919, settled in San Jose. Not content to confine his artistry to the formally posed studio portrait, he traveled over the Bay Area countryside with his large wooden field camera, using soft light on the shady side of barns or under large oaks to capture his fellow countrymen. Gino posed them in the coastal mist with machetes poised to harvest cauliflower, perched atop their brand new motorcycles, assembled by trucks loaded with produce from the fields, sleeves rolled up and holding their “vino”.

Children in Columbus Day Parade, 1925

The first Italian wave, to arrive in California (1850 –1924) came from five parts of Italy: Genoa in Liguria, Lucca in Tuscany and a few provinces of Piedmont, Sicily and Calabria. Driven mostly by poverty in their homeland, many had no formal education and spoke little English. What they did bring were the skills gained as peasants and fishermen in Italy and, then, used those skills creatively in America. An advantage they had over their countrymen who had settled on the eastern seaboard was that California was not as developed as the eastern states and needed people with their work ethic and vision to help it grow. The first wave found California a diverse economy. When they proved unsuccessful in their search for gold many became wine growers, vegetable farmers, boarding house operators, merchants, loggers or fishermen. One well-known “failed” goldminer, Domenico Ghirardelli set up a tent in Stockton selling supplies and confections to miners. His sweets were so popular that in 1852 he opened the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company in San Francisco. By 1880 the fishermen from Genoa and later from Sicily could be found throughout the state and by 1910 Italians were said to control 80% of the fishing industry in California. 

Buon Gusto Sausage Factory, Columbus Avenue, 1926

Many chose to settle in small towns, gravitating to work in agriculture, initially as market gardeners, fruit growers and nurserymen. They raised crops that were sold in nearby cities and mining camps. It was during this time the wine industry started to develop. It was California’s suitability for grape growing that drew many of the Italians to this area. The Italian Swiss Agricultural society was a cooperative formed by Andrea Sbarboro in 1881 to aid Italian and Swiss immigrants with settling into their new land. Hiring peasants who had worked in the vineyards in Italy, the society gave them a fair wage, free wine and stock shares. Although the wine industry has changed over the years, Italian Americans still play a very significant role, owning or managing 15 percent of California wineries, including three of the largest and ten of the oldest. 

After the Civil war in the 1860’s, more Italian immigrants began to settle in North Beach and parts of Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. Many put down roots, established businesses and raised families. The Genoese came to dominate banking, truck gardening and grocery wholesaling.The Lucchesi from Lucca in Tuscany were merchants, produce vendors and peddlers, who opened small retail outlets, restaurants and produce stores at the base of Telegraph Hill. In the 1880’s the Sicilians followed and took over the fishing industry, settling around Fisherman’s Wharf at the northern end of North Beach.

San Francisco, a city born in the excitement of the Gold Rush of 1849 and a city noted for its gourmet restaurants, was also the city of Italian provincial restaurants that served their clientele dishes in a congenial atmosphere reflecting the universal belief among all Italians that food and the pleasure of eating meals shared with relatives or friends remains essential to maintaining kinship ties. For Italians, the quality and quantity of food eaten by a family has always symbolized the economic earning power of the menfolk and the family’s social position guarded by the women. Equating food with family life was the formula recreated in San Francisco’s osterias and trattorias, where patrons felt the reverence Italians demonstrated towards their food. San Francisco’s first Italian restaurateurs introduced the city to the cuisine of northern Italy. Although the city’s Italian community was small from the 1850’s through the 1880’s, it was the largest in the United States and characteristic of the pattern in Italian immigration.

Catering to the specific appetites of this varied patronage, there was a blend of hearty foods which aimed to satisfy all the provincial palates. Ravioli and cioppino for the Genoese; beans for the Florentines along with rigatoni and grilled meats; veal ragu, for the Tuscan palate; saltimbocca for the Romans; risi e bisi (rice and peas) and scampi for the Venetians; bollito misto for the Piedmontese and zabaglione for the Sicilians–these delicacies not only pleased the various provincial tastes, but, in a far corner of the American West, Italian proprietors laid the groundwork for a restaurant industry which would contribute to San Francisco’s recognition as a gourmet city. At the same time, these restaurateurs set the stage for social interaction within a society represented by the cosmopolitan tastes of a transient frontier community. Notable among these pioneers were six provincial Italian restaurateurs: Frank Bazzurro, Giuseppe Campi, Stefano Sanguinetti, Frank Luchetti, Giuseppe Coppa and Angelo Del Monte. Each paved the way for successive generations of Italian restaurateurs who would continue to promote respect for the Italians through the medium of food.

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Local Italians led the founding of the Farmers’ Market at Market and Duboce

Genoese Frank Bazzurro came to San Francisco in 1852, where he purchased for fifty dollars, the schooner “Tam O’Shanter,” one of hundreds of ships abandoned in San Francisco Bay and opened his restaurant. Utilizing crabs, which were plentiful and one of the cheapest foods in the city, Bazzurro introduced San Franciscans to the Genoese delicacy, Cioppino – the Italian version of bouillabaisse. Bazzurro moved his restaurant from this waterfront location twice, once because the area was reclaimed by the city and the land filled in and the second time because of the destruction caused by the 1906 earthquake and fire. Bazzurro relied upon bountiful resources from the bay and the city’s outlying truck farms to prepare his provincial specialties.

San Francisco Bay provided as much fish and shellfish (most of which was caught by Genoese and Sicilian fishermen) as was found in the Mediterranean Sea. Dungeness crabs, oysters, clams, squid–which became calamari in the saute pans of Italian cooks–were in abundance, as was cod for baccala and salmon and striped bass were perfect for fish meatballs. From the fertile soil of the city’s truck farms and the ranches along the Peninsula where the Tuscan and Genoese farmers settled, grew the vegetables essential to the provincial Italian diet, such as artichokes, broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, fava beans, Swiss chard, cardone and the aromatic herbs: garlic, anise, sage, fennel, oregano and sweet basil. As the city spread out from the waterfront towards Montgomery Street and along Broadway bordering “Little Italy,” Italian restaurants opened their doors. Offering menus of inexpensive and informal home cooked food, they captured the gastronomical hearts of San Franciscans.

Equally patronized by working people and gourmets was Campi’s Italian and Swiss/French Restaurant located on Merchant and Sansome Streets. The restaurant, opened in 1859, bordered the city’s pungent fish and fowl markets. Managed by Natale Giamboni after Giuseppe Campi’s death, Giamboni was known as the “King of Hosts,” charming the ladies and remembering the likes and dislikes of his clientele. Italian-born financier, Andrea Sbarboro recalled in his 1911 memoirs, the early restaurant days of the 1870’s when all the Italian businessmen of Washington and Sansome Streets lunched at Campi’s. “At the time, I had for ten years been a steady patron and, for thirty years more, I have continued to eat at this restaurant.”

Campi’s rival was Sanguinetti’s Restaurant, which was in full operation by 1888. Once located on Vallejo Street and then on Davis Street, Sanguinetti’s chief clientele were the fishermen from the nearby Union Street wharf. One could get a bowl of thick minestrone, an entrée and a bottle of wine for twenty-five cents. For a nickel’s worth of beer, however, one also got a generous free lunch of spaghetti, Italian bread and fried fish. Two bartenders patrolled a line of ten beer barrels, drawing the brew slowly, first from one, then another and finally a third to fill a single glass from very small spigots. If drawn too quickly, the barrels’ pressure would turn the unique steam beer into froth.

Sanguinetti’s, owned by Stefano Sanguinetti, who later Americanized his name to “Steve,” was an attractive eatery with a low-beamed ceiling and dark walls. To give the restaurant an air of unconventionality, sawdust was spread on the floor. Writing for the Overland Monthly, Roland Whittle found the spontaneity of Sanguinetti’s to his liking and typical of Italian restaurants, he also liked their familial ambience. “One can drop into the little place almost any evening and hear the Italian folk song sung in the sweet, languorous music and tongue of South Italy,” he wrote.

Next door to Sanguinetti’s on Sansome Street was Lucchetti’s which opened in 1874 was a major competitor. Whittle put down the equally popular Lucchetti’s as “a large, straggling barn, uncomfortable in its fittings and devoid of artistic setting. The walls are devoid of ornament, except for gaudy advertisements of cigarettes and liquor,” he wrote. On Sunday nights, Lucchetti’s was in its glory, since that was when the Italian local fishermen who frequented the restaurant left the place to younger Americans eager for a night on the town. Their rowdy behavior indicated to Whittle that they were not interested in the fifty-cent meals of soup, fish, chicken, ravioli and spaghetti, but in a “mad, wild frolic” and “rough flirtations” with the ladies.

Coppa’s restaurant in the old Montgomery Block, 1910

Coppa’s, located in the Montgomery Block Building, was the most famous of all the city’s favorite Italian eateries before the 1906 earthquake and fire. Located close to the stock exchange, Coppa’s attracted brokers and financiers during the day, but once the sun set, it was the mecca for “Bohemians”. The food was rated above average, thanks to the culinary expertise of Giuseppe Coppa, the Turinese chef, who had trained in some of the city’s top restaurants. Although Coppa’s survived the earthquake and fire, the landlord raised the rent, forcing Coppa to relocate and, thereafter, open a series of mediocre restaurants.

The fanciest of Italian meals came from the Fior d’Italia, which opened at 504 Broadway on May 1, 1886, under the proprietorship of Angelo Del Monte. Specialties of the house that first year included risotto with clams (ten cents); tortellini (five cents); veal saute (five cents) and a squab casserole (forty cents). Double porterhouse steak-an American dish-was sixty cents.”

Del Monte took in a partner in 1896, a young immigrant known to his customers as Papa Marianetti, from Maggiano, a town between Lucca and Pisa. Like other Italian restaurants, the Fior d’Italia was a family operation that included Marianetti’s, two sons, George and Frank, who shelled peas, bused tables and washed dishes after school. The “Fior,” as the restaurant was known among San Francisco’s Italians, became the Italian community’s “in” spot, where important family events–weddings, baptisms, anniversaries, birthdays and first communions–were celebrated. The Fior d’Italia, presently located near Washington Square in front of St. Peter and Paul Church, was the city’s oldest surviving pioneer Italian restaurant. In 2012, after 126 years of business, Fior D’Italia served its last meal in San Francisco. Citing financial strain, the restaurant closed.

Certainly Bazzurro’s, Campi’s, Coppa’s, Sanguinetti’s, Lucchetti’s and the Fior d’Italia were not the only prominent Italian restaurants in San Francisco before the turn of the century, but they were the most popular among discriminating Italians and locals.These six restaurants laid the groundwork for a gastronomical industry that has profitably contributed to the economic structure of San Francisco. By 1900, when the influx of Italians increased, North Beach had become an eating paradise–at workers’ prices. Italian restaurants stretched along Columbus Avenue from Montgomery Street to Francisco Street, along upper Grant Avenue and along almost every side street between Chinatown and Fisherman’s Wharf.

Source: The Argonaut, Volume 1, No. 1, Spring 1990

San Francisco’s Italian neighborhood, North Beach, is where you will find Italian cafes, restaurants, and shops. You’ll still hear lots of Italian spoken in North Beach and find:

  • Museo Italo Americano at Fort Mason: The museum has a small permanent Italian art collection that includes a beautiful Sicilian cart, changing exhibits, special events and lectures, books, DVDs, a gift shop, Italian language classes and children’s classes. The museum is open to the public daily, noon to 4:00, except Mondays, free.
  • Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco: 425 Washington Street – The cultural institute holds special events, weekly films on Tuesday evenings and lectures. They have exhibits and a large library and video library, Italian language classes. The Cultural Institute is open Monday-Friday, 9-5. They have a Saturday radio program at 8:00 am, Italian Culture around the Bay, on KUSF 90.3
  • A. Cavalli Italian Bookstore: 1441 Stockton Street off Columbus in North Beach – The store has been in business since 1880. They sell Italian books, magazines, greeting cards, videos and gifts. They now have a cafe, too. The store is closed on Sundays.
  • Molinari’s Deli: 373 Columbus Avenue in North Beach – Molinari’s has been in San Francisco for more than 100 years. It has lots of Italian imports including wines, meats, cheeses, pasta and dry goods. You’ll still see many Italians shopping there, ordering in Italian. It’s a good place for a sandwich. The deli is closed on Sundays.
  • Liguria Bakery: 1700 Stockton Street, in North Beach,

Italian Specialties From San Francisco

Cioppino

Serves 4–6

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
  • 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 3 cups fish stock
  • 1 ½ cups whole peeled tomatoes in juice, crushed
  • 10 leaves basil
  • 1 lb. cod, cut into 2″ chunks
  • 1 lb. cleaned calamari, bodies cut into ½″-wide rings
  • 12 oz. medium shrimp, deveined
  • 12 oz. bay scallops
  • 16 clams, cleaned
  • 16 mussels, cleaned
  • 2 2-lb. Dungeness crabs or snow crab legs, halved
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Heat oil in an 8-qt. Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chile flakes and garlic; cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add stock, tomatoes and basil; boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Add cod, calamari, shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels and crabs, cover with lid and cook until seafood is cooked through, about 8 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Serve with crusty Italian bread.

Pizza with Wild Nettles

Pizzas with wild nettles are very popular in the Bay area. Nettles grow wild all year in northern California, and chefs use them in as many ways as possible. Because raw nettles can make you itch, it’s best to handle them with gloves or tongs. Once cooked, the nettles lose their sting and have a deep, earthy flavor.

Ingredients:

  • 1 head of garlic
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 cups wild nettle leaves, baby spinach or kale
  • Semolina flour

Pizza Dough

  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoon grated Pecorino Romano cheese
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded provolone cheese
  • 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded fontina cheese
  • Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

Peel outer skins from garlic bulb, leaving cloves attached. Cut off top quarter of the bulb. Place bulb, cut-side up, on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil and seal foil tightly over garlic.

Bake at 425 degrees F for 45 minutes or until soft. Remove from oven; cool. Scoop out garlic pulp, mash and stir until smooth.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F with a pizza stone on the bottom rack.

Blanch nettle leaves in salted boiling water 1 minute, drain and plunge into ice water. Remove nettle leaves from water, wringing out excess, and set aside. If using spinach, place in a microwave-safe bowl and heat at high 3 minutes. Set aside.

Sprinkle surface with semolina flour and roll pizza dough into a 12-inch circle.

Spread dough with mashed garlic (garlic won’t cover entire surface); sprinkle with crushed red pepper flakes and black pepper. Sprinkle with Pecorino Romano and thyme.

Roughly chop nettles and spread over thyme. Sprinkle mozzarella, provolone and fontina evenly on pizza. Carefully slide pizza onto the preheated stone; bake 6 to 8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and crispy. Slice, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil to taste.

Yield: makes 4 servings

Note: Place pizza on parchment paper—helps slide onto pizza stone.

 

Named after a historical term for “garlic”, The Stinking Rose offers contemporary California-Italian cuisine prepared and adorned with garlic – and strives to accommodate every palate. There is hearty fare for the truly adventurous, mild for the novice, and “sans “garlic for those finding the herb’s folklore and aroma more appealing than its taste.

This recipe is from their cookbook, The Stinking Rose Restaurant in San Francisco.  As the name implies, garlic is their featured ingredient.

Roasted Rabbit With Garlic and Olives

Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
  • 2 rabbits, cleaned, cut into pieces
  • 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup of peeled garlic cloves
  • 1/2 cup pitted assorted olives
  • 3 sprigs thyme leaves, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a shallow bowl, stir flour, salt and pepper together. Dredge rabbit pieces in flour mixture, completely coating meat on all sides.

In a large cast-iron skillet, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Put rabbit in the skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side, until nicely browned.

In a small bowl, toss the garlic with 1 tablespoon olive oil to coat completely.

Transfer rabbit to a baking dish and sprinkle with garlic, olives and thyme. Bake, uncovered, for about an hour or until the garlic cloves are golden brown and the rabbit is browned on the outside and opaque throughout.

Drizzle the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in an abstract pattern on a serving platter and arrange rabbit on top. Scoop the garlic cloves and olives from the baking dish and sprinkle over the rabbit. Serve immediately.

 

SPQR is an acronym for Senatus Populusque Romanus and translates to “The People and Senate of Rome” and was the emblem of the Roman Empire. 

Executive Chef Matthew Accarrino at SPQR in San Francisco was born in the Midwest and raised in New Jersey, Accarrino began his culinary journey in high school working his way up from dishwasher to cook in small local restaurants. With the desire to receive formal training, Accarrino enrolled in The Culinary Institute of America, where in 1998, he received his Associate Degree in Culinary Arts.

He has trained abroad in Italy and worked for some of America’s best chefs including Todd English, Rick Moonen, Tom Colicchio and Thomas Keller. In late 2009 he moved to Northern California and joined the intimate restaurant SPQR as Executive Chef. Since his arrival, Accarrino has been named Star Chefs’ 2010 Rising Star for his “innovative vision, finesse and deeply satisfying cuisine,” and in 2011 he took top honors at San Francisco’s Cochon 555 competition. Accarrino was nominated by the James Beard Foundation as a semifinalist for “Best Chef: Pacific” in 2012 and the restaurant received its first Michelin star under his direction in the 2013 guide. He is also co-author of the book SPQR: Modern Italian Food and Wine, which was released in fall 2012.

Here is one of Chef Accarrino’s recipes:

Tagliatelle with Poppy Seeds and Prosciutto

Serves 4–6

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 lb. tagliatelle or fettuccine
  • 2 oz. prosciutto, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan, plus more to garnish
  • 4 scallions, cut into ½″ slices
  • Juice of ½ lemon

Directions:

Heat butter and oil in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until soft, about 2 minutes.

Add poppy seeds; cook, stirring, until fragrant and shallots just begin to brown, about 3 minutes. Add wine; cook until almost all liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes.

Add buttermilk and cream; cook, stirring, until reduced slightly, about 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil; add pasta and cook until al dente, about 7 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving some cooking water, and add to the sauce in the skillet.

Add prosciutto, Parmesan, half the scallions and lemon juice; toss to combine, adding pasta cooking water if necessary to make a smooth sauce.

Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a serving dish; sprinkle with remaining scallions and more Parmesan.

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Posted by in Fish, Healthy Italian Cooking, Pasta, Pizza, Prosciutto, Rabbit, San Francisco, Seafood Chowder Tags: , ,

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New Mexico’s Italian Americans

July 26, 2013

Newly Arrived Italian Immigrant Sitting On A Hill Overlooking Albuquerque

A close-knit Italian-American community has been a strong presence in Albuquerque, New Mexico since the transcontinental railroad first arrived there in 1880. These families established a foundation for the growth and development of a thriving Italian community in New Mexico’s largest city. Alessandro and Pompilio Matteucci, Antonio and Cherubino Domenici, Ettore Franchini and Orseste Bachechi (who is known as the “Father of the Albuquerque Italian Community”) were prominent residents. Colombo Hall, the city’s first Italian-American organization, and the Italmer Club, founded in the late 1930s, are located in the city.

Columbus Day Parade 1910

When Mexico ceded New Mexico to the United States in 1846, the Santa Fe Trail linked the United States with its new territory. When the railroad came to Albuquerque, El Camino and the Santa Fe Trail became obsolete.

American Lumber Company 1910

The railroad brought goods in quantity that freighters had previously hauled by wagons and mule trains. It also brought newcomers. Before the railroad, Albuquerque’s population was largely Hispanic with a sprinkling of Anglos. By 1885, the town counted more than 20 ethnic groups, including African-Americans, Chinese and Italians who were building the line.

Building the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad

With accessible transportation, the town’s economy changed dramatically. Albuquerque became a shipping point for livestock and wool and the lumber industry boomed. In the early 1900s, American Lumber Co. was second only to the railroad as Albuquerque’s largest employer. Its 110-acre complex was built between 1903 and 1905 near Twelfth Street. At its peak it employed 850 men and produced milled lumber, doors and shingles.

Cattle ranching and commerce on the Santa Fe Trail established the Raton area as a trade center. When the railroad roared over the Raton Pass in 1879, the city of Raton was born and its progress became unstoppable. The first coal mines opened that same year, providing additional economic opportunities for Raton.

“Raton” was the choice of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad’s chief engineer, A.A. Robinson. He fought hard for the shorter route over the steep mountains, avoiding the Cimarron Cutoff. A plentiful water supply and the promise of coal cinched the matter.

A typical Western frontier town, Raton had shootouts in the streets and theater in the opera house. Those who came to live and work in Raton were cattlemen from Missouri and Texas and immigrants from Greece, Italy, the Slavic countries and Asia. Nearby towns followed suit and grew with the railroad.

Dawson – Italian American Miners

In 1895 coal was discovered in the area that is now known as Dawson. Then in 1901 the property was sold to the Dawson Fuel Company for $400,000. The Dawson coal mine subsequently opened, a railroad was constructed from Dawson to Tucumcari and the town of Dawson was born. The company worked the mine for several years, before selling the mine and town to the Phelps Dodge Corporation in 1906. Upon purchase, the Phelps Dodge Corporation was determined to transform the town and developed amenities to attract miners. It featured schools, a theater, bowling alley, modern hospital, golf course and even an opera house. Through extensive advertising in areas such as St. Louis, Missouri and similar cities, miners from the U.S. and immigrants from Greece, Italy, China, Ireland and Mexico flooded into the town. (During its height, coal mined in Dawson fueled an area equal to one-sixth of the United States.)

During its operation, Dawson experienced two mine large tragedies, one in 1913 and another in 1923. The first occurred on October 22, 1913, when an incorrectly set dynamite charge resulted in an enormous explosion in Stag Canon Mine No. 2 that sent a tongue of fire one hundred feet out of the tunnel mouth. Rescue efforts were well organized and exhaustive; Phelps Dodge sent a trainload of doctors, nurses and medical supplies from El Paso; and striking miners in Colorado ceased picketing and offered to form rescue teams. But there was little need for anything except caskets. Only a few miners escaped. A total of 263 died in what was declared one of the worst mining disasters in U.S. history.

Almost ten years later, on February 8, 1923, a mine train jumped its track, hit the supporting timbers of the tunnel mouth and ignited coal dust in the mine. Approximately 123 men perished, many of them children of the men who had died in 1913. These miners had been mostly immigrants, who had traveled here from Europe to work. A large percentage had been Italian.

 The original church of San Felipe de Neri was started in 1706 under the direction of Fray Manuel Moreno, a Franciscan priest who came to Alburquerque [the spelling was later changed to Albuquerque] with 30 families from Bernalillo in 1704 or 1705. The church was initially named San Francisco Xavier by Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdez, who founded the city of Alburquerque and named it after the Viceroy of New Spain. Jesuit priests from Naples, Italy, came in 1867 at the invitation of Bishop Lamy. The Jesuits oversaw a major facelift to the church and adjacent buildings. In 1878 they built a school for boys on the northwest side of the church. At the same time, the land to the east was enclosed for a playground, stable and corral. Today, the former school building is leased for use as retail shops. (Source: Coal Town – The Life and Times of Dawson, New Mexico”, ©Toby Smith.)

The first Spanish explorers and settlers, beginning in the early 1500’s, brought their European wines grapes with them as they made the sunny, fertile Rio Grande valley their new home. These original grape stocks remain the source of many of New Mexico’s vinters to this day. In the 1580s, Missionary priests were busily producing sacramental wines. By the 19th century, vineyards and wineries dotted the Rio Grande valley from Bernallilo south to the Mexican border. Census data in 1880 identified 3,150 New Mexico acres dedicated to producing 905,000 barrels of wines per year.

European farmers from Italy and France settled in the Corrales valley in the 1860s. Among the Italian families who settled there were the Palladinis, Targhettas and Salces and by the 1880s they were successfully growing several varieties of grapes (up until that time the only type of grape grown in Corrales was the Mission grape). By 1900 Corrales was known for its vineyards and the making of wine, much of it by French and Italian families.

1908 Champion Grocery and Meat Market

New Mexico’s Italian American Shopkeepers

A Few of New Mexico’s Italian Americans

PIETRO VICHI DOMENICI

Pietro Vichi “Pete” Domenici (born May 7, 1932) is an American Republican politician, who served six terms as a United States Senator from New Mexico, from 1973 to 2009, the longest tenure in the state’s history. Domenici was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Italian-American parents.  Alda (née Vichi), an illegal immigrant, and Cherubino Domenici, who were both born in Modena, Italy. Growing up, Domenici worked in his father’s grocery business after school. He graduated in 1950 from St. Mary’s High School in Albuquerque. After earning a degree in education at the University of New Mexico in 1954, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, he pitched for one season for the Albuquerque Dukes, a farm club for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He taught mathematics at Garfield Junior High in Albuquerque. He earned his law degree at the University of Denver’s law school in 1958 and returned to practice law in Albuquerque. In 1966, Domenici successfully ran for a position on the Albuquerque City Commission and in 1968 was elected Commission Chairman. This position was equivalent to that of mayor under the structure of the city government at the time. In 1972, Domenici successfully ran for a position in the U.S. Senate

LOUIS ANDREA SAVIO

Louis Andrea Savio who was born June 22, 1879 in Valperga, Italy. He emigrated to the US from Le Havre, France on December 20, 1901. He married his first wife, Regina, in 1905. In 1910, he operated a saloon in Rockvale, a mining town in Colorado. His passport application shows, he resided only in Rockvale, Colorado and Dawson, New Mexico during his lifetime. He obtained citizenship April 16, 1909 in Canon City, Colorado. His second marriage was on July 6, 1918 to Ernesta. In September, 1918 he was listed as a musician employed by the Phelps Dodge Corporation but his occupation was listed as baker, when he and his wife planned to travel to Italy to visit his mother in 1925. His father, Antonio, was deceased. Mr. Savio was active in supporting the Dawson community. He was the Dawson High School Band Director. He donated a piano and art work to support the high school activities. He always led the 4th of July Parade with his band. He was Treasurer for the Loyal Order of Moose. He also belonged to the Dawson Club and participated in men’s basketball and baseball games. The 1920 census shows him to be Manager of the Bakery Shop. In 1938 he was elected to the Board of Governors of the New Mexico Bakers Association. He was residing in Raton, NM at that time. He died on March 8, 1960.

MOLLY’S BAR

Shortly after the end of Prohibition in the 1930’s, Romeo Di Lallo, Sr. and his wife, Molly, both Italian immigrants, opened one of the first old-time nightclubs in New Mexico, the “Monterrey Gardens.” Less than two years later all was lost in a fire, so Romeo and Molly had to start all over. In 1938 after Romeo became ill with miner’s lung disease (having worked in New Mexico coal mines for a number of years), Molly opened ROMEO’S BAR on Bridge Street in the South Valley of Albuquerque and that same year their son, Romeo, Jr. was born. Romeo, Sr. passed away in 1946 and in 1947 Molly married a builder named Tony Simballa. One year later Tony built a new and larger facility for ROMEO’S BAR, on Isleta Boulevard in the South Valley. In 1948 their son, Albert Simballa, Jr. was born. In 1952 Molly, Tony, Romeo, Jr. and Al moved to Tijeras in the mountains just east of Albuquerque where they opened MOLLY’S BAR. At TRAILRIDER PIZZA, next door to MOLLY’S, you can enjoy Pizza, Sandwiches and Italian Appetizers. The sign over MOLLY’S front door states, “The Greatest People On Earth Walk Through This Doorway.”  Source: The italian Experience: Library of Congress and Center for Southwest Research (UNM)

New Mexico’s Italian Food

Zero otto pasta

Squid Ink Spaghetti with Calamari

Squid-ink noodles are now readily available from many shops. If you cannot find them, you can make your own pasta.

Serves – 4 

Ingredients:

  • 4 medium-sized calamari
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons or more of extra virgin olive oil
  • 1½ oz white wine
  • 2 cups peeled tomatoes
  • 1 small chili (fresh or dried)
  • salt and pepper
  • finely chopped parsley
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
  • 1 lb squid ink pasta

Directions:

Clean the calamari and cut the tubes into rings. Cut the tentacles into smaller pieces.

Fry the onion and garlic in the 2 tablespoons of olive oil until translucent. Add the calamari and wine and allow the wine to evaporate. Add the tomatoes, chilli, salt and pepper and cook until the calamari is tender, 30-40 minutes.

Finish with parsley, more oil if needed and the lemon zest.

Cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and combine with the sauce.

Mexican Lasagna

Ingredients:

  • 10 flour tortillas, quartered
  • 1 lb ground beef or turkey
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 cup jarred salsa
  • 15 ounces tomato sauce
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 16 ounces ricotta cheese
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Layer half of the tortillas on the bottom of a lightly greased 13×9 baking dish.

Heat oil in a skillet and brown the beef. Drain on paper towels.

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, salsa, tomato sauce, oregano and chili. powder

Layer half of this mixture on the tortillas.

In another bowl, combine ricotta cheese, beaten eggs and garlic powder.

Layer over the meat mixture.

Spread remaining meat mixture on top.

Layer remaining tortilla quarters over the meat mixture.

Sprinkle with mozzarella and bake at 375 degrees F. for 30 minutes.

Enchilada Chicken Parmesan

4 servings

Ingredients:

  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, (about 1/2-inch thick)
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups panko breadcrumbs
  • 1 1/2 cups red enchilada sauce, divided
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup freshly grated cheddar cheese
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • Chopped fresh cilantro, optional
  • Chipotle hot sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Pat chicken breast halves dry and season to taste – on both sides – with salt and pepper.

On a large plate, combine the flour, cumin, coriander and cayenne; whisk to combine.

In another bowl, whisk the eggs.

On a third large plate, pour out the breadcrumbs in an even layer.

Spread 1/2 cup enchilada sauce into the bottom of a baking dish large enough to comfortably fit all four chicken breasts.

Lightly dredge one chicken breast half in the flour mixture; tap off excess.

Dip the chicken breast half in the eggs, letting any excess drip off.

Finally, coat the chicken breast half on both sides with the panko bread crumbs, pressing to adhere. Set aside on a clean plate.

Repeat  with the remaining chicken breast halves.

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Place chicken breast halves into the hot skillet and cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, about 6 minutes total.

Place chicken in the baking dish with the sauce.

Spoon the remaining 1 cup enchilada sauce evenly over the chicken breast halves. Top with both cheeses and bake for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly and the chicken is cooked through.

Serve topped with cilantro and/or chipotle hot sauce.

Lemon Pudding Cake with Raspberry Sauce

Popular restaurant dessert.

8 servings

Ingredients:

  • 4 eggs, separated
  • 1 3/4 cups sugar
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 4 cups raspberries
  • Powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Beat the egg yolks and 1 cup of the sugar until light. Add the flour and mix well. Whisk in the lemon juice, salt and milk until completely combined.

In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Add 1/2 cup of the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the lemon mixture.

Pour the batter into a greased 9 by 13-inch pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Remove the cake from the oven and let cool slightly, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

To make the raspberry sauce:

Reserve 16 raspberries for the garnish. Puree the remaining berries with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar for 2 minutes or until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve.

Place a piece of plastic wrap over the pudding cake and flip it onto a flat surface. Cut eight 3-inch circles with a ring cutter. Serve with sauce and garnish with raspberries. Dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

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Italians On The Great Plains

July 19, 2013

Italian immigrants entered the Great Plains first as missionaries (Fra Marco da Nizza, 1495-1558 and Eusebio Francisco Kino, 1645-1711 were two) and later as adventurers ( Count Leonetto Cipriani, 1816-1888 and Italian American Charles Siringo, 1855-1928, for example). Since Italy was not a unified country until the Risorgimento (1860-70), early travelers were either in the service of Spain or France or were individual agents. In the mid-1800s the combination of economic and political conditions encouraged some Italians, like the officers and enlisted men in General George Armstrong Custer’s Seventh Cavalry Regiment, to find adventure on the Plains. After 1869 the transcontinental rail line brought Italian journalists and tourists to the Great Plains; their letters and published travel memoirs provided information about the people, geography and potential jobs for countrymen back home.

Giovanni Martini U.S. Army

Carlo De Rudio U.S. Army

History tells us that on June 25th and 26th, 1876 the U.S. 7th Cavalry had a date with destiny at the Little Big Horn River. On the 25th of June both Carlo De Rudio and Giovanni Martini were among the roughly 500 U.S. Troopers under Colonel Custer’s direct command. In all, the 7th had between six and twelve troopers of Italian birth in June of 1876.

Interestingly, the majority of Custer’s troopers of Italian descent served in the same unit. Part of the American military experience going all the way back to Thomas Jefferson’s Presidency was that Italians were considered highly skilled in the arts, especially the musical arts. As a result, it was common to find men of Italian descent in the military with duties that included being in the unit’s military band. This was true under Custer’s command with the majority of the members of the regimental band being of Italian descent. In fact the band director’s last name was Lombardi and he was identified as having been born in Naples, Italy.

Italian emigration began increased in the late 1880s, when political and economic upheaval coincided with natural disasters. A rapid rise in Italy’s population increased pressure on the land, which in many areas had been farmed to the point of exhaustion; years of poor rainfall contributed to famines and poverty; and in 1887 a devastating outbreak of malaria left 21,000 dead. Leaving one’s village in search of work in other parts of Europe was not uncommon in Italy. Between 1886 and 1890, however, there was a significant increase in emigration from Italy and by 1890 immigration to America surpassed movement to other parts of Europe.

All across the Great Plains, Italians worked together to help newly arrived immigrants find jobs and places to live. Small boarding houses provided familiar food, language and a comforting family atmosphere. Churches and schools were quickly established, as were mutual aid societies, such as the Dante Alighieri Society and the Christopher Columbus Society. The societies also served as sites for labor union meetings in mining regions.

“Little Italy” neighborhoods developed in urban areas such as Omaha, Edmonton and Sheridan. Italian-English newspapers were published in Omaha and Edmonton. Many Italians who decided to remain in the Plains, gradually worked up from their initial menial jobs to own shops, farms or businesses and, then, became active in local politics. In both Canada and the United States, immigration legislation in the 1920s and early 1930s, combined with Benito Mussolini’s efforts to reduce emigration, dramatically reduced the flow of Italian immigrants, although the movement was never eliminated entirely. By the late twentieth century, Italian immigrants were no longer laborers looking for manual work or skilled workers arriving with families, but were university students and professionals searching for educational and career opportunities that were difficult to find in Italy.

According to the 1910 census data, in the states of the Great Plains, Colorado had the largest total population of Italians (14,375). In Montana 2,568 made the Plains their home. In Nebraska 66 percent of the state’s 3,799 Italian immigrants lived in the city of Omaha and another 14 percent in Lincoln, with the remainder scattered throughout the state. Seventy-five percent of the 3,517 Italian immigrants in Kansas lived in that state’s southeastern coal-mining district. In Oklahoma, 72 percent of the state’s total Italian immigrant population (2,564) lived in the Great Plains and in Wyoming 1,086 of the statewide total (1,962) were in the Plains. In South Dakota the 1,158 Italians lived mainly on land along the rail lines and in North Dakota 1,262 Italian immigrants were recorded in 1910 census.

View of Downtown Denver 1879

Denver’s “Little Italy” had its roots in the Highlands neighborhood of North Denver. Italian miners, railroad workers and farmers helped to develop Colorado in the late 19th century and northern Italians were well represented in the state.

In the late 1800s and the first half of the 1900s, the area in Denver between Broadway and Zuni Streets and 46th and 32nd Avenues was known as “Little Italy”.  It was an area of Italian grocery stores and bakeries, community bread ovens, churches and schools – an area where a new wave of immigrants from all over Italy moved to and where they were comfortable and socially secure in a new country.

The area along the South Platte River, sandwiched between the growing downtown and the hills to the west, was known as “The Bottoms”.  Here many of the first Italian immigrants settled. There was also farmland along the South Platte, where they could grow cash crops of vegetables that were then sold in small, neighborhood shops and from push carts and horse-drawn wagons thoughout the neighborhoods of Denver. Later it became an area of railroad yards, industries and warehouses.

These two areas – “Little Italy” and “The Bottoms” – have undergone drastic change since those days of the first Italian immigrants. Today “Little Italy” is still a residential area interspersed with small businesses. But the demographics are most different, as the neighborhood is re-populated with a new wave of residents – young (20-30 year olds) singles and couples often with young children. “The Bottoms” is no longer an area of truck farms and warehouses, instead parks and high rise apartment buildings have been built there.

The Italian immigrants who settled in Utah faced a different environment. Their numbers were relatively small, yet they settled in four major areas and contributed to the life and labor that characterizes Utah history. These immigrants, almost all of them confined to mining and railroad centers, brought with them language, religion, beliefs, customs and products of cultural distinctiveness. The first noticeable number of foreign-born Italians in Utah appeared in 1870 and totaled seventy-four. These early immigrants, Protestant Vaudois of the Waldensian persuasion from northwest Italy, were the result of Mormon missionary activity in Italy from 1849 to 1861. Almost all settled in the fertile areas of Ogden, where they began to farm.

The first Italian laborers, predominantly from the North, began arriving in Utah in the late 1890s in response to the opening of the Carbon County coalfields. The development and expansion of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad into Utah in the 1880s was a catalyst to the state’s coal mining industry. Four major camps emerged: Clear Creek (1882), Winter Quarters (1882), Castle Gate (1888), and Sunnyside (1900) Many of these early laborers were lured to Utah by agents representing coal companies.

Upon their arrival in the Carbon County coalfields, the Italian immigrants settled in two of the four main camps, Castle Gate or Sunnyside. The coal companies (Pleasant Valley Coal and Utah Fuel) furnished a few of the workers with company-owned houses on company-owned property and compelled the laborers to trade at the company-owned stores. Trading at company stores was inevitable, since miners were issued scrip instead of currency. The company town became a prominent feature of western mining life and the immigrants who lived in them were subjected to difficult living conditions. For example, the rent charged by Utah Fuel Company depended on the number of rooms in a house. In one boxcar on company property a cloth curtain was used to divide it into two quarters. When company inspectors approached, a family member would take down the partition, so as not to be charged for two rooms instead of one.

In describing the camp at Sunnyside, a resident has written: “many put up tents in the southern part of the canyon and this section became known as “Rag Town” by local town residents. Company-owned houses were hastily erected framed structures, not plastered inside, but in 1915 the company began a program of building better homes and modernizing the camp.

Italian family in Utah

The mining and railroad opportunities in Salt Lake County also attracted Italian immigrants at the turn of the century. As early as 1880 there were thirty-five Italian laborers living in the mining camp in Bingham, mostly Piedmontese. Bingham was a bustling community of many diverse nationalities, described as “a town of 22 saloons and 600 sporting girls.” Like Carbon County, Bingham was susceptible to labor strife. The Utah Copper Company in 1903 became the major employer in Bingham Canyon.

By 1900, 102 of the 170 Italians who resided in the county lived in Salt Lake. Immigrants were employed by the Union Pacific and the Denver & Rio Grande Western railroads; but Italians also owned saloons, grocery stores and tailor shops. The lack of a mining town atmosphere with its potentially explosive character, differentiated Salt Lake City from other Italian immigrant localities. In Salt Lake, Italians took part in celebrations and parades that promoted good will between the Italian and non-Italian communities.

Life in Utah was a new experience, but Italian immigrants were able to maintain continuity with the past, while at the same time adjust to the new environment. Alexander DeConde, a resident, aptly described the situation as “it was mezzo amara, mezzo dolce (“half bitter, half sweet”).”

Carl L. Stranges immigrated to the United States, from Italy, in the 1880s at twenty years of age. After his arrival in the United States, he moved to Grand Junction, Colorado and resided there until shortly before his death in 1942. Carl Stranges opened his grocery store in the southwestern portion of the downtown area, often referred to as “Little Italy”, due to the concentration of Italian residents and Italian-owned businesses in the area. Three other grocery stores and an icehouse were located within a two-block area of the Stranges store. Carl Stranges owned and managed the grocery until shortly before his death in 1942. He willed the store to his niece and her husband who continued to operate the store until 1963. Since that time, a variety of businesses under several ownerships have used the building.

 Italian Food On the Great Plains

Antipasti of Grilled Octopus, basil pesto, tomato jam and Sicilian olive oil at Luca D’Italia.

Slices of 12-hour braised beef on a crusty baguette topped with melted taleggio cheese, caramelized onions, arugula and a red-wine sauce.  

Italian Sausage Soup with Pasta

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 8 oz Italian sausage, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1- 32 oz can chicken broth
  • 1- 15 1/2 oz can kidney beans (rinse and drain them)
  • 1- 14 1/2 oz can undrained diced tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon oregano leaves
  • 1 teaspoon finely crushed rosemary leaves
  • 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
  • 1 6 oz bag baby spinach leaves
  • 1/2 cup bowtie pasta, uncooked
  • Grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add the Italian sausage and cook for about three minutes, stirring often.

Add in the onion andcook for another three minutes or until the onions become tender and the sausage browns.

Add the chicken broth to the saucepan ,as well as, the tomatoes and the red kidney beans.

Stir the soup while you add the oregano, thyme and rosemary. Bring to a boil.

Once it boils, reduce to low heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Finally, stir in the pasta and the spinach and turn the heat back up to medium-high. Let it boil.

Once it boils, reduce to low heat again, and simmer for another 10 minutes or until the pasta is tender. If you used fresh tortellini, you don’t have to let the soup simmer as long.

Serve this hearty winter soup with some garlic bread and garnish the soup with cheese.

Braised Short Ribs

Serve with Mashed Potatoes.

Ingredients:

6 bone-in short ribs (about 6 pounds)

Seasoning for short ribs:

  • Fresh cracked black pepper
  • Kosher Salt
  • 1/2 bunch fresh thyme picked clean
  • 1/2 bunch fresh rosemary picked clean and chopped
  • Flour to lightly coat the short ribs
  • Olive oil (to brown the short ribs)

Coarsely chop all the following vegetables and garlic in the food processor

  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped large
  • 2 ribs celery
  • 2 peeled carrots cut in chunks
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

Braising liquid

  • 1 1/2 cups chopped plum tomatoes
  • 2 cups Merlot
  • 2 cups beef stock (homemade or low sodium purchased)
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Water to replenish evaporation during the cooking process

Fresh chopped Italian parsley for garnish

Directions:

Dry the short ribs of any excess moisture with a paper towel. Season each short rib generously with salt, fresh cracked black pepper, rosemary and thyme. Coat a roasting pan (that will fit all the meat and processed vegetables) with olive oil and bring to a high heat on the stove.

Lightly coat the seasoned short ribs with flour, add them to the pan and brown very well on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Do not stuff the pan with short ribs or they won’t brown. Better to browm them in separate batches, if necessary.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

When the short ribs are browned on all sides, remove them from the pan. Leave the fat in the pan to saute the vegetables, add a drizzle of olive oil, reheat and add the chopped vegetables.

Season vegetables with kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Cook the vegetables until they begin to caramelize. There will be a natural glaze of browned vegetable and meat juices on the bottom of the pan.

De-glaze

Add the Merlot and chopped tomatoes, along with the bay leaf and bring to a simmer scraping the bottom to assure all the caramelized juices are returned into the braising liquid.

Add 2 cups of beef stock.

Cover the roasting pan and place in the preheated oven for 3 hours. Check periodically while cooking and add water, if needed, to keep the liquid level just under the top of the short ribs.

Halfway during cooking turn the short ribs over to allow foe even cooking and tenderness.

During the last 20 minutes remove the cover, so the short ribs can caramelize. Garnish with fresh chopped Italian Parsley

Buffalo Cacciatore with Polenta

Serves 6 to 10

Ingredients:

  • 3 lb. buffalo roast cut into 1 inch slices
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 cups white wine
  • 4 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped, plus juice
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Mix all dry spices together and rub on the meat.

Over medium high heat, heat oil in a Dutch Oven and brown the meat. You may need to do this in two batches.

Place browned meat in a dish and set aside.

Add onion and garlic to the pan and saute for 4 minutes.

Deglaze the pan with wine; then add the tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to a boil.

Return meat to the pan, cover and place in the preheated oven. Braise for 1 1/2 hours. Check for tenderness and continue braising until tender.

Prepare polenta as directed on package.

Spoon polenta on serving platter and top with Buffalo Cacciatore.

Chocolate-Almond Cookies (Strazzate)

34 cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • Water
  • 1 ¾ cups finely ground, plus 2 tablespoons roughly chopped almonds
  • 1 ½ cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons chocolate chips
  • 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup Strega or Galliano liqueur
  • 1/3 cup coffee, at room temperature

Directions:

Heat oven to 325°F. Coat 2 parchment-lined baking sheets with cooking spray and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together baking powder and 1 tablespoon lukewarm water until dissolved, about 20 seconds.

Combine ground and chopped almonds, flour, sugar, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, oil and salt in a large bowl.

With a wooden spoon, vigorously stir in the baking powder mixture, liqueur and coffee to form a wet dough.

Divide the dough into 1-oz. portions. Using your hands, roll dough portions into balls and transfer to prepared baking sheets, spaced about 1-inch apart.

Bake until set, about 30 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks and let cool to firm before serving.

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Minnesota’s Little Italy

July 12, 2013

Open Pit Mine – Mesabi Range

Italian immigrants began settling in Minnesota 200 years ago and at the beginning of the 20th century the largest concentrations were living on the Iron Range, in the Twin Cities, Duluth and Stillwater. Early arrivals tended to be from northern Italy. Railroad workers hired in Chicago and sent northward, took up residence in St. Paul and Minneapolis and later in other towns. Railroad jobs led others to Cumberland and Hudson in northern Wisconsin and many immigrants moved back and forth between these towns and the Italian communites in Minnesota.

First mined in the 1880s, the three ranges – the Vermilion, Mesabi and Cuyuna that make up Minnesota’s Iron Range – provided an economic core for northeastern Minnesota. They also drew waves of immigrant workers, creating the state’s most diverse melting pot and a distinctive cultural legacy that still defines the region. Although mining has declined since the 1960s, the mines and the tight-knit communities they fostered have developed a new industry focused on cultural-heritage tourism.

Hand drilling holes into boulders for setting explosives.

On the Mesabi, iron ore was originally mined both underground and in open pits above ground. Few skills were required. Many Mesabi Range miners were immigrants, recruited by mining companies, including the Oliver Iron Mining Company, a subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation. From 1900 to 1980, the Mesabi Range contributed about sixty percent of the country’s total iron ore output. Production peaked in the 1940s, when more than 600,000 tons were shipped to serve the nation’s needs during World War II. Production remained high in the 1950s and then began to decline. It had taken less than 100 years for industrial demand to deplete the supply of high-grade ore.

Living and working conditions on the Iron Range were poor and mining companies openly discriminated against immigrant miners by giving them the most dangerous and lowest paying jobs. New immigrants were easily exploited because they did not speak English, had little money and were far away from their families and social support networks.

1918 Miners’ Homes

The history of the American labor movement is peopled by immigrants to this country. Finnish, Southern Slav and Italian immigrant laborers were prominent in labor movements in the logging and mining industries of Minnesota and its neighboring northern states of Michigan and Wisconsin. The Range, as the three ranges were jointly nicknamed, was a major site of strife between owners and laborers and a fertile field for labor organizing.

Picture

Miners were paid not for their time but for the amount of ore produced.

The Mesabi Range is where much of the strife occurred and where historic battles between labor and management were fought. Two strikes on the Mesabi — one in 1907 and another in 1916 — are legendary in the struggle for workers’ rights and fair wages. The 1907 strike was the first organized, widespread strike on the Iron Range. The immigrant miners had little experience with unions or large-scale strikes. Previous work stoppages had been unplanned reactions to localized problems. The Western Federation of Miners (WFM), an organization connected to several bloody, mining-related labor struggles, sent its first organizers to Minnesota in 1905 at the request of local activists. By June 1907 the WFM had organized fourteen locals. Although the union had been planning a strike, the immediate cause was the layoff in July of 200 union members by the Oliver Iron Mining Company. A strike was called on July 20 and, in early August, strikebreakers were brought in and “deputies” were hired to protect them. By mid-August, sufficient numbers of strikebreakers, combined with improved economic conditions, broke the strike. Despite minor hostilities between the strikers and the deputies, the strike was relatively peaceful.

Mining Camp

Forty miners walked off the job on June 3, beginning the 1916 strike. The unorganized miners soon realized they needed help. Unlike the 1907 strike, this time the Western Federation of Miners was not interested in organizing the miners. Instead, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies) responded, sending in some of their top organizers. Many of the strikebreakers from 1907, ironically, became instrumental in the 1916 strike.The 1916 strike was marked by violence. The civil liberties of strikers were violated, mine guards and police used force to intimidate strikers, union leaders were jailed, economic pressure was exerted on merchants who extended credit to strikers and, finally, the Oliver Iron Mining Company refused to negotiate with the strikers. The strike was called off on September 17. The miners did win some important short-range reforms from the mining company, but the company’s anti-union attitude persisted for another quarter century. A more serious altercation occurred at the Stevenson Mine west of Hibbing, when laborers protested the discharge of an Italian foreman. The strikers, most of whom were Italians, Finns and Southern Slavs, reportedly harassed the “loyal employees” who wished to continue working. To reduce tensions, officials closed the local saloon and brought the county sheriff and 42 deputies to the scene. The presence of so many armed men quelled the “enthusiasm” of the strikers and within a week they were back at work.

Filomena D’Aloia (right) and Luciano Cocchiarella with homemade bread from an earthen oven

Today, there’s no better place to learn about the Range’s legacy than at the Ironworld Discovery Center in Chisholm. Interactive exhibits in this mining museum, set on the edge of an abandoned mine pit, include everything from the early geology of the region to the story of taconite (iron ore). Wall-sized pictures show the men and women from 43 nations who transformed a dense wilderness into an industrial society in less than 100 years. Mary Ellen Mancina-Batinich directed an oral history project called, Italian Voices, that collected interviews in the late 1970s with the men and women who emigrated from Italy to Minnesota. The interviews provide a window into the world of the ordinary Italian immigrants, ranging from iron miners, labor activists, women at home and at work, small businessmen and women and people from all walks of life. Just some ot the stories include: a boardinghouse keeper found her kitchen in a mess after Saturday-night revelry and refused to cook on Sunday; an iron miner pried frozen ore from his car in 40-below temperatures and a grocer who made sausage, brewed wine and foraged for mushrooms and dandelion greens to sell in his store.

A few more stories:

Jeno Paulucci was born on July 5, 1918 in Hibbing, Minnesota. He was born just a couple years after his parents immigrated to the Iron Range from a small mining town in northeastern Italy, called Bellisio Solfare. Jeno began his career selling olive oil door to door. During Prohibition, his family ran a speakeasy out of his family’s basement on the Iron Range. Jeno did all he could to help, even making most of the wine himself.

After this chapter in his interesting life, he moved to Duluth at the age of 16 and began a job bartering fruit and vegetables on First Street. Jeno enrolled in the Hibbing State Junior College’s pre-law program. However, he had an offer for a job selling wholesale products, and left his education without a second thought. On a sales trip with this company, he learned to grow Chinese bean sprouts, with which he decided to start his now worldwide company, Chun King Foods. Today, Jeno’s business is worth $450 million. Just 15 years ago he started yet another brand, Michelina’s frozen meals, named after his mother.

The Amato family’s pathway from southwestern Italy to Minnesota’s Iron Range is a long one. Their story is told through the recollections and documents of Melanina Amato Degubellis. In 1901, Giuseppe Amato and his two brothers came to northeastern Minnesota where they worked as miners. After years of saving in Italy, his daughter, Melanina and her mother, Concetta set out to join Giuseppe in Minnesota. However their inability to speak English got them lost on their journey. With the help of many Italians along the way, the family was reunited in Chisholm, Minnesota. While such a detour was exceptional, the importance of others during their journey was not.

Robert Mondavi

Founder the Robert Mondavi Winery

Robert Mondavi’s parents emigrated from the Marche region of Italy and settled in the Minnesota city of Hibbing. Mondavi was born on June 18, 1913, in Virginia, Minnesota. His mother ran a boarding house for local Italian laborers and his father was the proprietor of a grocery store and later, a saloon. However, a Prohibition law was enacted in 1919, which outlawed the sale of beer and liquor, threatening Cesare Mondavi’s business. The law allowed for individuals to produce up to 200 gallons of wine though, so Mondavi’s father decided to become a grape wholesaler for the many Italian families who wanted to continue enjoying their traditional wine with meals. Cesare Mondavi’s business often took him to the West Coast. So, in the early 1920s, the family relocated to Lodi, California, south of Sacramento. 

These kinds of stories are what makes oral history interviews such compelling reading and, more importantly, provide information that would not necessarily be obtained elsewhere. The traditional historical accounts from working-class people are sparse, making the oral interviews even more crucial in trying to interpret the past of all Americans—not just those who left behind written records.

Pork is King on the Iron Range

Iron Range Porketta

Not to be confused with Italian porchetta, Iron Range porketta is a fennel-and-garlic-seasoned pulled pork originating in Minnesota. The pork butt is butterflied to speed up cooking and cutting a crosshatch in the surface of the meat ensures that the seasoning—a mixture of granulated garlic, crushed fennel seeds, salt, and pepper—will penetrate the meat. Before roasting, the meat is topped with sliced fresh fennel for a second layer of flavor.

Ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons fennel seeds, cracked
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 teaspoons granulated garlic
  • 1 (5-pound) boneless pork butt roast, trimmed
  • 1 fennel bulb, stalks discarded, bulb halved, cored and chopped
  • 8 crusty sandwich rolls

Directions

1. Combine fennel seeds, 1 tablespoon salt, 2 teaspoons pepper and garlic in a bowl. Butterfly pork and cut 1-inch crosshatch patterns, 1/4 inch deep, on both sides of the roast. Rub pork all over with spice mixture, taking care to work spices into the crosshatch patterns. Wrap meat tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 or up to 24 hours.

2. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees F. Unwrap meat and place in roasting pan, fat side down. Spread chopped fennel evenly over the top of the roast. Cover ­roasting pan tightly with aluminum foil. Roast pork until temperature registers 200 degrees F. and a fork slips easily in and out of the meat, about 4 hours.

3. Transfer pork to a carving board and let rest for 30 minutes. Strain liquid in the roasting pan through a fat separator. Shred pork into bite-size pieces, return to the pan and toss with a 1/2 cup defatted cooking liquid. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Reheat gently. Divide meat among rolls and serve.

Prepping the Porketta

BUTTERFLY: Slice through the pork parallel to the counter, stopping 1/2 inch from the edge. Then open the meat flat like a book.

CROSSHATCH: Use a chef’s knife to cut a 1-inch crosshatch pattern 1/4-inch deep on both sides of the meat.

Italian Sausage with Pasta and Herbs

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb Italian sausage
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 cups zucchini, cubed
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
  • 8 oz rotini pasta
  • 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
  • 2 tablespoons dried herbs (basil, sage, parsley)
  • Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Directions:

Cut sausage diagonally into one-inch pieces and cook in a large skillet over medium heat, brown evenly, about 10 to 15 minutes. Pour into a bowl and set aside.

Heat olive oil in the same skillet and add zucchini and red pepper. Cook over medium heat until tender but still crisp, 3 to 4 minutes.

Cook the rotini according to package directions. Drain and reserve one cup of cooking water. Add pasta to the skillet with the vegetables and stir in ricotta.

Add 1/2 cup pasta water and stir until creamy. Stir in sausage. Add more water if mixture is too dry. Sprinkle with fresh herbs and Parmesan. This recipe makes 4 to 6 servings.

Iron Range Pot Roast

This type of seasoned pork roast was popular with Italian immigrants who came to northern Minnesota to work in the iron mines, hence this recipe’s name.

Ingredients:

  • 3 lb boneless pork shoulder roast
  • 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • Olive oil
  • 2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch slices
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
  • 3/4 cup beef broth

Directions:

Mix together seasonings (Italian through pepper) and rub over the entire pork roast.

Brown roast in a little oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, turning often to brown evenly. Place potatoes and garlic in 3½ to 4-quart slow cooker; pour broth over and top with browned pork roast. Cover and cook on “low” for 8 to 9 hours, until pork is very tender.

You can also brown the roast in a Dutch Oven, add potatoes, garlic and broth. Simmer on top of the stove for about 4 hours or until very tender. Recipe serves 6 to 8. 

Pork and Olive Bruschetta

Ingredients:

  • 1 (1 1/4-lb) pork tenderloin, “silverskin” removed
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 24 (1/2-inch-thick) baguette slices
  • About 1/3 cup green or black (or both) olive spread, also called olivada or tapenade
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Combine Italian seasoning, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Rub all over pork. Add pork to the skillet and cook, turning occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes.

Leave pork in skillet, place pan in the oven and roast, turning occasionally, until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted in center of the pork reads 145 degrees F. about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove pork to a platter and let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes.

Reheat skillet over medium-high heat. Add wine and bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits in the pan with wooden spoon. Cook until reduced to about 2 tablespoons, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

Slice pork crosswise into 24 slices. For each bruschetta, place one pork slice on each baguette slice. Top with about 1/2 teaspoon olive spread and drizzle with pan juices. Serve warm.

This recipe serves eight (3 bruschetta each).

Read About Life On the Iron Range

New York Times best selling novelist, Adriana Trigiani’s novel, The Shoemaker’s Wife, captures the immigrant experience of the early 1900′s. Much of the novel takes place on Minnesota’s Iron Range.

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Posted by in Appetizer, Healthy Italian Cooking, Italian Cuisine, Minnesota, Olives, Pasta, peppers, Pork, potatoes, zucchini Tags: , , ,

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Milwaukee’s Little Italy

June 28, 2013

Milwaukee’s Italian families have a distinguished heritage, one that began in a great rush to the city shortly before the turn of the 19th century, when Italian immigrants poured into Milwaukee and quickly formed two distinct communities. The Bayview settlement was dominated by newcomers from northern and central Italy, many of whom took jobs in the sprawling iron mill on the south lakeshore. The second Italian community, and by far the largest, was in the Third Ward, just west of today’s Summerfest grounds. The vast majority of Third Warders, whose numbers swelled to 5,000 by 1910, traced their roots to Sicily. Mario Carini, an Italian-American historian and author of the book, “Milwaukee’s Italians: The Early Years,” said nearly every region of Italy was represented in Milwaukee. He noted, “Some came from the northern regions of Liguria or Lombardy and some from the more central regions like Lazio.” However, the greatest number of Italians who emigrated to the U.S. came from the depressed and impoverished regions of il Mezzogiorno, the southern regions of the Italy, the ones left behind culturally, economically and socially after the unification of Italy in 1870. According to Carini, many of the Italian immigrants from il Mezzogiorno came from the regions of Puglia, Campania, Abruzzo and Calabria. They were once part of the Kingdom of Two Sicilies and the transition to Italian unification was a difficult journey. The southern economy was mostly agrarian-based, in contrast to the industrial north, and the peasants of the countryside had to work non-stop to provide the simplest means of survival. The island and people of Sicily suffered most. Sicily thought of itself as an entirely different country. It was there that peasants faced the toughest of circumstances. A few very wealthy men owned nearly all of the workable land on the sun-baked island. The impoverished laborers hired to work the land toiled long and hard and received scant returns. Life in il Mezzogiorno soon became unbearable and the lure of America became more and more desirable. By 1910, four out of every five immigrants came from southern Italy. The quest for the American dream started soon after the immigrants passed through the doors of Ellis Island and stepped upon the real America. Carini said, “as the old axiom ‘go West, young man’  holds, so did the immigrants listen. A good number did stay and seek their fortune in the bustling metro of New York City, but others, intrigued by tales of a gold rush and general curiosity, embarked on their trek westward. But as they made their way, economic necessity forced the Italians to halt their journey to sunny California”, Carini said. With the huge metropolis that is Chicago and its some 16,000 Italians, so close, many sought their fortune just 90 miles north in Milwaukee. According to Carini, there was an Italian presence in Milwaukee as early as the Civil War, but the real influx of immigrants began in 1880 and, by 1910, records show 3,528 Italian-born immigrants lived in Milwaukee. Some natives of northern Italy chose the south side and suburbs, while others lived where work was found. But no neighborhood could compare to the Sicilian community of the Third Ward, where 2,759 Sicilians settled. Dubbed the Little Italy of Milwaukee, the Third Ward afforded a place to live and a place to work for the immigrants, which is really what they all came looking for in America.

Catalano Square

Most of Milwaukee’s early Italian population consisted of working adult males, Carini said. However, as women joined their husbands in America, their primary duty was to the family. They cared for the children in the morning, walked to the factory and put in a full day’s work and, then, went back home to prepare meals. As soon as children could have a job they did, some even worked on the coal docks next to their fathers. Though many found work and a place to live, the Italian immigrants were hardly living the luxurious life. Many men took up a second job and working conditions were very harsh. Rosario Spella, born in Milwaukee to Italian immigrants, knew the hardships of immigrant life. “Our economic situation was dire,” Spella said. “I was the primary source of income at 18 years old, since my father had gone job-to-job. There was very little money to support all of us, so we had to do whatever we could possibly do to help out.”

Brady Street

Living quarters were described as “sub standard” and immigrants were charged relatively high rents. Families were often crammed into small houses or apartments. “Housing was a big issue,” Carini said. “We used to move around a lot, but it used to always be within the Third Ward. We’d go from corner to corner or block to block. ” That was until the railroads started to take away housing property and the family was forced to leave the area, Carini said. However, Italian-Americans prevailed and fought through the arduous task that was immigrant life. The diet of the Italian immigrants in Milwaukee was apparently not better than what they were accustomed to Italy. In America they had meat more frequently, but less fruits and vegetables. Generally the families in Sicily had meat on Sunday, eggs daily (almost every family had chickens) and fruit of every kind grew abundantly in Sicily. Fruit was cheap, especially in the villages, and almost every family owned a little piece of land on which fruit trees and greens were cultivated for family use. This simple diet, accompanied by life in the open air and vigorous work in the fields, made the Sicilian peasants healthy and strong. In Milwaukee, instead of having fruit and greens, which were too expensive in America, they learned to substitute meat and stretch it with potatoes, which were more filling than nutritious. While macaroni was preferred to any other dish, the cost was too high and with the addition of tomatoes and oil, pasta became even more expensive. Since these were luxuries for the Italian laborers in Milwaukee, they learned to prepare cheaper food.

Peter Sciortino’s Bakery, Milwaukee’s Brady Street

Like the immigrants who preceded them, most Sicilians worked as laborers and factory hands, but a sizable number entered the produce business, selling fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the city. The most successful merchants graduated to their own wholesale houses on a stretch of Broadway long known as Commission Row. Others moved into the Brady Street area. Not afraid to work, the Italians were railroad employees, fruit peddlers, refuse collectors, shopkeepers, tavern owners or skilled craft workers in the masonry and stone trades.

Cialdini Grocery Store

At the time there were in Milwaukee 45 groceries owned by Italians and 38 of them crowded into three or four streets in the Third Ward. Many of the stores were one small, unsanitary room with stock consisting of a few boxes of macaroni, a small quantity of canned tomatoes and some oranges and bananas displayed in the window. Generally women attended the shop, while their husbands were at work on the tracks or in the foundries. Only three or four groceries had a large stock and did a good amount of business, but the system of giving credit to their customers, especially during periods of joblessness, made development of their trade on a large scale impossible.  Better conditions were found among saloon keepers, who did not give credit. In the Third Ward there were 29 Italian saloons, 12 of which were located on just 4 blocks on Huron Street. The immigrants engaged in other businesses, but on a smaller scale. Although almost every line of business was represented, Italian bakeries, meat markets, shoe repair shops, tailor shops and barber shops were typical of the businesses operated by Italians in the Third Ward. In 1905, the Sicilian immigrants adopted the Blessed Virgin of Pompeii Church on Jackson Street. The “little pink church” quickly became the neighborhood’s hub, both for worship and for the annual round of summer festivals that featured Italian bands, tug-of-war contests, food stands and fireworks. By 1939 many of the younger families had moved to the Brady Street area and they founded a new church, St. Rita’s, on Cass and Pleasant Streets, which then became the new center of their community. The descendants of those first arrivals, today, make up an extraordinary share of Milwaukee’s business leaders, politicians, clergy, restaurateurs, educators, police officers and military personnel. The warm and welcoming spirit that the Italian immigrants spread is still very much alive today. One need only take a trip to the modern-day Third Ward to find the epicenter of Italian culture in Milwaukee at the Italian Community Center. Paul Iannelli, a long-time Milwaukee resident and an Italian-American advocate, as well as a historian on the ICC’s history and executive director of Festa Italiana, said the Italians deserved their spot in Milwaukee. “We, Italian-Americans, have long entrenched ourselves in Milwaukee. We decided to build a sort of base for ourselves, as well as being a memorial to all those who came before us and laid the way for Italian-Americans in Milwaukee” Iannelli said. So after a challenging decade in the 1960s, when the city razed several blocks of the Third Ward including the local church, the Italian-Americans of Milwaukee began a revival of Italian heritage and culture. “Our first Festa was in 1977,” Iannelli says. “It was, initially, just a way to jumpstart the feeling of Italian-American heritage and pride.” Festa Italiana, an annual event now and in its 34th year, is an Italian-American festival featuring music, guests and authentic Italian food. Since the Festa became so popular a new headquarters was needed and in 1990 the Italian Community Center of Milwaukee opened its doors. “The ICC was built to house the organization and offices for Festa,” Iannelli said. “But it also was built to be a hub for Italian-Americans, which it became, and a place where old friends could connect.” A block-long building with a sandstone brick exterior, the ICC stands as an emblem of the Italian-American tradition. Three flags — the Italian flag, the American flag and Wisconsin’s state flag — fly high atop silver poles next to a black granite monument commemorating notable Italian-Americans associated with the ICC’s birth.

The Milwaukee Italian American Community Center

Italian Recipes From  A Few Milwaukee Chefs

Vicenza Barley Soup

Bartolotta Ristorante, Milwaukee Chef Miles Borghgraef Serves 6 Ingredients:

  • 4 quarts of broth (either chicken or beef broth will work)
  • 6 oz. pearled barley (rinsed well)
  • 1 cup white onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup carrots, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
  • 1 head radicchio (shredded)
  • 1 cup salumi* chopped fine 
  • 1 /2 cup Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese
  • 1 piece Parmigiano or Grana Padano rind
  • 3 tablespoons cold butter
  • 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 egg yolk

Directions: In large heavy bottom stock pot, on medium heat, saute the chopped salumi in 4 tablespoons of olive oil (reserve remaining 2 tablespoons of oil for plating) for 3-4 minutes or until lightly browned. Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook until the vegetables become translucent. Add rinsed barley. Mix ingredients well. Pour in broth, stir, bring to a light simmer and add cheese rind. After 30 minutes add shredded radicchio. Continue to simmer for an additional 15 minutes. When barley is tender (after about 45 minutes), remove two cups of broth. In separate bowl, temper** egg yolk with the two cups of broth. Mix in 1 cup of parmigiano or grana padano, reserve the other 1/2 cup for plating. While mixing vigorously, return the tempered egg/broth/cheese mixture to the soup. Melt in cold butter stirring continuously until incorporated. To serve, ladle soup into a serving bowl and top with some reserved extra virgin olive oil and cheese.   Notes: *Salumi is Italian cured meat ,such as prosciutto, pancetta, coppa and sopressata.  **Temper is to add hot liquid slowly so eggs don’t cook.

Venetian Risotto with Peas and Bacon

LoDuca Brothers Wine Chef Lou Bruno & Assistant Jim LoDuca Serves 8 or more. Can be used as a side dish or main course. Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. Carnaroli or Arborio Rice
  • 1½ quarts chicken stock
  • 2 onions, finely diced
  • 8 oz. frozen peas, thawed
  • 1 lb. cooked crisp bacon (cut into 2” pieces)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1½ cups Parmigiano Reggiano
  • 1/2 Bottle (750 ml) Pinot Grigio for stock

Directions: In 2 quart stock pot, bring chicken stock and Pinot Grigio to boil. Then reduce to a simmer. In a 6 qt stockpot, heat olive oil, add onion and saute until golden. Add rice and cook for several minutes, stirring constantly to coat rice. Add hot stock mixture to rice, a cup at a time, stirring constantly until the stock is almost absorbed. The rice should be never dry. When rice is still a little firm (after 15 minutes) add peas. When rice is cooked, add all the parmigiano cheese and mix well. Add more hot stock if necessary to keep rice wet and custard-like. Distribute bacon over top and warm. [Chef’s Hint: overly wet rice is best].

Sausage Rigatoni Rustica

Bravo Cucina Italiana, Milwaukee Chef Tony Evans 3-4 servings Ingredients

  • 1/2 oz. olive oil
  • 3 oz. Italian sausage
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic, chopped
  • 3 oz. eggplant
  • 2 oz. tomatoes 
  • 2 oz. Bercy sauce *
  • 4 oz. Alfredo sauce
  • 1 oz. each of Parmesan and Romano cheese
  • 1 tablespoon herb butter
  • 7 oz. rigatoni, cooked al dente
  • 1 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • Chopped parsley for garnish

Directions: Preheat a  grill or grill pan and oil the grill.  Thickly slice eggplant and tomato. Leave sausage in one piece.  Grill sausage and eggplant slices until brown and tomatoes until slightly charred. Sausage should be cut on the bias into 1/4” thick slices and then cut in half. Cook rigatoni according to package directions. In a saute pan, heat oil and add garlic. Stir for  30 seconds. Add sausage and eggplant and saute. Add charred tomatoes and saute. Add bercy sauce, alfredo sauce and salt & pepper to taste. Mix to combine and heat through. Add parmesan/romano cheeses and herb butter. Mix to incorporate. Add hot rigatoni to saute pan. Add mozzarella, toss to combine and heat through. Place in a serving dish and garnish with parsley. NOTE: *Bercy sauce is a white sauce made with white wine and sauteed shallots.

 

Strawberry Tiramisu

The Pasta Tree Restaurant & Wine Bar, Milwaukee Chef Suzette Metcalfe Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups strawberry preserves
  • 1/3 cup + 4 tablespoons Cointreau or other orange liqueur, divided
  • 1/3 cup orange juice
  • 1 lb. Mascarpone cheese (room temperature)
  • 1 1/3 cups chilled whipping cream
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups espresso
  • 1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate
  • 1 ½ pounds strawberries, divided
  • About 52 crisp ladyfingers (Boudoirs or Savoiardi)

Directions: Whisk preserves, the 1/3 cup Cointreau and orange juice in a 2-cup measuring cup. Set aside. Place mascarpone cheese and 2 tablespoons Cointreau in large bowl; fold just to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat cream, sugar, vanilla and remaining 2 tablespoons Cointreau to soft peaks. Fold 1/4 of the whipped cream mixture into mascarpone mixture. Then fold in the remaining whipped cream. Hull and slice half of strawberries. Spread 1/2 cup of the preserve mixture over the bottom of an oblong serving dish or a 13x9x2 inch glass baking dish. Arrange enough ladyfingers, dipped in espresso, over strawberry preserve mixture covering the bottom of the dish. Spoon 3/4 cups strawberry preserve mixture over ladyfingers, then spread 2 1/2 cups mascarpone mixture on top. Arrange 2 cups sliced strawberries over mascarpone mixture. Repeat layering with remaining ladyfingers, dipped in espresso, strawberry preserve mixture and mascarpone mixture. Cover with plastic and chill at least 8 hours or overnight. Slice remaining strawberries. Arrange over the top of the tiramisu and sprinkle with chocolate.

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The Italians In Texas (jovinacooksitalian.com) http://jovinacooksitalian.com/2013/06/14/little-italy-new-orleans-style/Birmingham, Alabama’s “Little Italy” (jovinacooksitalian.com) West Virginia’s Little Italy Communities (jovinacooksitalian.com) Baltimore’s Little Italy (jovinacooksitalian.com) Western Pennsylvania’s “Little Italies” (jovinacooksitalian.com) Philadelphia’s Little Italy (jovinacooksitalian.com) Chicago’s Little Italy (jovinacooksitalian.com) Cleveland’s Little Italy (jovinacooksitalian.com) New England’s “Little Italies” (jovinacooksitalian.com) Italian American Neighborhoods – Boston (jovinacooksitalian.com) Ybor City – Florida’s Little Italy (jovinacooksitalian.com) Little Italy – Manhattan (jovinacooksitalian.com) http://jovinacooksitalian.com/2013/03/08/new-yorks-other-little-italies/ http://jovinacooksitalian.com/2013/03/15/little-italy-new-jersey-style/ http://jovinacooksitalian.com/2013/04/12/delawares-little-italy/ The “Little Italies” of Michigan (jovinacooksitalian.com) The Hill” St. Louis’ Little Italy (jovinacooksitalian.com) http://jovinacooksitalian.com/2013/05/24/indianas-little-italy-communities/

Posted by in Cheese, Healthy Italian Cooking, Milwaukee, Pasta, Risotto, Sausage, strawberries, tiramisu Tags: ,

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Little Italy New Orleans Style

June 14, 2013

Between 1850 and 1870, New Orleans boasted the largest Italian-born population of any city in the United States. Its early Italian immigrants included musicians, business leaders and diplomats. However, by 1910, the city’s French Quarter was a “Little Palermo” with Italian entrepreneurs, laborers and restaurateurs dominating the scene. The majority of Italian immigrants in New Orleans were from Sicily and started to arrive in large numbers in the 1880’s. They arrived in a city where previous Italian immigrants had already established a decent-sized community, dating back to the French era. In fact, the Italian-born Henri de Tonti, as part of a French expedition, explored Louisiana even before New Orleans existed and later became a leader in the fledgling colony. A street named Tonti still exists in the city.

ST. CHARLES STREET IN NEW ORLEANS, 1900

The Sicilian transplants found work on sugar plantations upriver or toiling on New Orleans docks. Macaroni factories popped up around the neighborhood, while Italian vendors sold fruit at the French Market. Eventually, some immigrants were able to open small businesses, such as corner stores or restaurants. Some didn’t stay small, such as Progresso Foods, the soup and condiment giant, which began as a New Orleans import company. Over the decades Italians became integrated into New Orleans culture and society.The city has had two Italian-American mayors, Robert Maestri and Victor Schiro.

Sicilian Vincent Taormina founds an importing business in New Orleans that becomes Progresso, selling bread crumbs and canned soups.

Italians on Decatur Street, 1938 (Russell Lee photo)

Not only had Sicilians established roots in the French Quarter, but those seeking to farm the land moved upriver from the city, to Kenner and Little Farms (now River Ridge). These men were called “truck farmers” because their land was far enough away from the city that they had to haul their crops in by wagon, later by truck. They would sell their produce in the Farmer’s Market, stopping for lunch at one of the groceries along Decatur Street. The grocers would lay out cold antipasti spreads during the day, to sell for lunch. In 1906, Salvatore Lupo opened Central Grocery. Lupo observed that a traditional antipasti spread did not lend itself to America’s rapidly-developing “grab-and-go” culture. He began to combine some of the antipasti items, such as mortadella, cheese, ham and olive salad, on loaves of round Italian bread, creating the now-famous muffuletta sandwich. The truck farmers could pick up a muffuletta and eat their antipasti as a sandwich on the return drive to Kenner. Other groceries and restaurants picked up on the muffuletta, which became a New Orleans institution, second only to the po-boy sandwich.

The tourists waiting patiently for muffulettas in the aisles of the Central Grocery, today, likely have no idea they are surrounded by what was once a standard fixture of many New Orleans neighborhoods: the Italian-owned corner store. These grocery stores once dotted the city’s landscape, built by immigrants who flocked to New Orleans and its surrounding parishes. 

When the brand new French Opera House opened in New Orleans in the 1859, the call went out to Italian musicians. Local business leaders didn’t need to look very far, since the city of New Orleans already had a bustling Italian population. Living and working side-by-side with African-Americans, the Italians shared with them their own distinctive forms of music, which encompassed folk and classical traditions. The sons of these early immigrants, many of whom were hired to play at the French Opera House, would go on to become familiar names with the popularization of jazz.

One such artist was Joe Venuti who introduced the violin into the jazz ensemble and teamed up with his boyhood friend, Eddie Lang (born Salvatore Massaro), for some groundbreaking recordings, which eventually led to their being hired for Bing Crosby’s famous radio show band. Lenny Payton (born Salvatore D’Angelo) arranged many of Duke Ellington’s numbers in the 1940’s. Another Italian American, William Russo, carried on this tradition with his Chicago Jazz Ensemble. Nick LaRocca was an important Italian-American jazz musician at the birth of the genre, while New Orleans-born Louis Prima became a prominent singer and trumpeter during the swing era.

The elegant Hotel Monteleone, first established by a Sicilian shoemaker, is a landmark in the French Quarter and is still run by the Monteleone family generations later. The Hotel Monteleone is one of the last great family owned and operated hotels in New Orleans. Before he became founder of this famous New Orleans hotel, Antonio Monteleone was an industrious businessman who operated a very successful shoe factory in Sicily. Antonio had heard great things about America and the call of adventure motivated him to pack the tools of his trade and head for the “land of opportunity.” Antonio arrived in New Orleans around 1880 and opened a cobbler shop on Royal Street, the busest thoroughfare of commerce and banking at the time. In 1886, Monteleone purchased a small hotel on the corner of Royal and Iberville streets. When the nearby Commercial Hotel became available for purchase, Monteleone took the opportunity to expand. Hotel Monteleone’s Carousel Piano Bar & Lounge is the only revolving bar in New Orleans. The 25-seat carousel bar turns on 2,000 large steel rollers at a constant rate of one revolution every 15 minutes. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, the Carousel Bar was also the site of a popular nightclub, the Swan Room, where musicians such as Liberace and Louis Prima performed. The hotel has a long history in the city and, being one of the premier downtown New Orleans hotels, the Hotel Monteleone caters to the world during the famous festival of Mardi Gras.

The Italians began social clubs and benevolent organizations as other ethnic groups in New Orleans did. The oldest group began before the Civil War, but more and more formed with the influx of Sicilian immigrants during the last part of the 19th century. These organizations were often linked to a specific region in Italy to preserve customs among members and helped provide a support network for new arrivals. As the Sicilians established themselves, community’s leaders lobbied Archbishop Perche to provide them with a church larger than the wood-frame structure on Decatur Street and Esplanade Avenue that they were using at the time. In 1873, the Archbishop gave the Sicilians permission to fix up the old Mortuary Chapel. In 1903, Archbishop Chapelle turned the chapel and its parishioners over to the Dominican order, whose priests encouraged and nurtured the Old-World traditions and rituals of the Sicilians. By 1915, however, the popularity of the Storyville red-light district, along with the construction of Terminal Station made the new church less appealing as a focal point for the Italian community. Archbishop Blenk agreed and allowed the Sicilians to take over the an old chapel on Chartres Street, next to the Old Ursuline Convent, and the church was renamed St. Mary’s Italian Church. Even though several other churches in metro New Orleans have strong Italian roots, St. Mary’s on Chartres Street is still the official “home” of Italian Catholics in the city.

St. Joseph’s Altar, from a private residence in suburban New Orleans (courtesy Christopher Scafidi)

St. Joseph’s Altars

Each March 19th local families, descended from Sicilian immigrants, erect elaborate altars laden with bread, cookies and other food in honor of St. Joseph. The story goes that Sicily was ravaged by drought and famine centuries ago. The people prayed to their patron, St. Joseph, for deliverance from these trials. The rains came, the crops grew and the people of Sicily never forgot their promises to honor St. Joseph. Sicilian families would lay out baked goods and other delicacies on a table on March 19. These offerings usually started out small and often grew into multi-family and even parish-wide efforts. Bakeries would donate loaves of bread shaped as crosses and other religious symbols. Grocers would donate other foodstuffs and all would be arranged for display on a beautifully decorated altar. Meat was usually not part of the spread on a St. Joseph’s altar, since it was not permitted on St. Joseph’s Day (March 19th falling during the season of Lent).

As the Sicilian influence in New Orleans grew, so did the tradition of the St. Joseph’s Altar. Families would take pride in setting up an altar in the living room or perhaps taking over an entire garage. Parishes and schools now prepare altars and many families contribute either baked items or cash to the cause. The faithful then go around the city, from altar to altar, visiting family and friends. On the way out, folks pick up a “lucky bean,” a fava bean, symbolizing the restoration of the crops in Sicily.  In New Orleans St. Joseph’s Day has also been adopted as one of the few non-Carnival (Mardi Gras) days of celebration for the city.

The Famous Muffuletta Sandwich

The Sicilians brought their culture and cuisine with them, particularly Italian-style tomato sauce. Living on an island meant many Sicilians made their living as fishermen and their diet reflected this. Being close to the sea was one of the reasons so many Sicilians didn’t move further inland when they arrived at the Port of New Orleans. Just as New Orleans absorbed the French, Spanish and Afro-Caribbeans before them, the city absorbed the Italians. New Orleanians took the idea of Italian-style tomato sauce and mixed it with roux, their flour-and-fat base for sauces. Over time, the classic “red sauce” became “red gravy,” called that to distinguish it from the “brown gravy” in gumbo that New Orleanians have made for generations. To make the distinction between traditional cuisine and the modified style of Italians raised in New Orleans, some restaurants and restaurant reviewers began to refer to the modified style as “Creole-Italian” cooking.

The Rise Of Creole-Italian Cooking

Although they were treated to the same prejudices that newcomers usually get, the Sicilians saw their food immediately accepted in America. However, what happened in New Orleans was a little different. The established Creole ingredients and cooking styles began to be adopted by Italian cooks and vice-versa. By the early 1900’s a style of Italian cooking found nowhere else was established in New Orleans. A great example of this change is what happened to the classic Italian recipe for scampi. There were no scampi here, so Italian cooks used the plentiful local Gulf shrimp instead. This dish evolved into a new dish: the spicy, buttery and misnamed “barbecue shrimp”. The dish spread to restaurants and homes and is now one of the most famous New Orleans dishes.

Like the many other earlier influences, Italian cuisine contributed subtle nuances of taste. From the Italians, the Creoles cultivated a love of garlic and its presence is encountered just barely beneath the surface in many classic Creole dishes. Conversely, the Spanish roots of the Creole cuisine had a profound impact on Sicilian-American foods. The most unique feature of the cuisine is its tomato sauce, commonly referred to as “red gravy” or “tomato gravy.” This rich sauce, used over meats and pasta, has dozens of variations from family to family. Some red gravies are based on a brown roux. Some contain eggplant. Others contain anchovies, whole boiled eggs or meat. Two consistent threads in this red gravy are the addition of sugar and the frying of tomato paste! After the vegetables are sautéed in olive oil, tomato paste is added and, literally, fried before the liquids are added.

New Orleans BBQ Shrimp

The new Creole-Italian tomato sauce was different from the food of Sicily and is marked by smooth, sweet, thick sauce with a bit more red pepper than most. This is most often served over pasta or meat stuffed with bread crumbs – a common Sicilian-inspired dish. Meatballs, anise-flavored Italian sausage and roast beef, simmered in a red sauce called Daube, are all regarded by local Italian families as the best dishes for a big Sunday family dinner.Today, some of New Orleans’ finest restaurants are owned by descendants of Creole-Italians. They serve excitingly different food that started out many years ago as robust Sicilian fare but, through years of Creole influence, now enjoy a piquant flavor – due largely to the Spanish love of ground chilies.

New Orleans Creole Italian Red Gravy

Here is one of many ways to make this sauce.

Makes about 3-1/2 quarts

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 6 cups finely chopped onion
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon. dried basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 6 ounces tomato paste
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 3 (29 oz) cans tomato puree
  • 3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over a medium heat. Add the onions and saute, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes, or until the onions are translucent but not browned.

Add the garlic, dried basil and the three peppers and cook for 5 more minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir to coat the onions. Cook the tomato paste with the onions until the color deepens slightly to a red mahogany color. Add the bay leaves and all other ingredients. 

Bring to a simmer; reduce heat if necessary to maintain a very low simmer and cook for about one hour, stirring occasionally. Remove the bay leaves before serving.

New Orleans Italian Shrimp over Fried Green Tomatoes

Ingredients:

  • 24 Jumbo Louisiana shrimp
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 8 cloves fresh garlic, sliced thin
  • 1/3 cup chopped green onions
  • 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 2 cups white wine
  • 1/4 cup dried Italian seasoning
  • 2 teaspoons blackening seasoning
  • 2 teaspoons lemon pepper
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil
  • 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 3-4 lemons, juiced

Tomatoes

Or you can use my oven fried green tomato recipe from the post: http://jovinacooksitalian.com/2013/02/04/mardi-gras-time/

  • 6 sliced green tomatoes
  • 2 cups milk
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
  • Oil for frying

Shrimp preparation:

Saute garlic in olive oil. Add shrimp, green onions and rosemary. When shrimp begin to turn pink, add white wine and the rest of seasonings, Worcestershire, butter and  lemon. Let simmer until sauce comes together and shrimp are cooked.

Tomato preparation:

Combine milk with beaten eggs. Dredge sliced tomatoes in flour, then egg wash, then press firmly into bread crumbs, fry until golden brown.

Place tomatoes on a serving plate. Spoon shrimp over top of tomatoes.

 

Creole Daube

Daube a wonderful example of how French and Italian cooking merged in this food mecca, be it in restaurants or at home. For daube, also called beef daube and Italian daube, the marriage of French and Italian begins with the French style of braising beef with red wine, vegetables and herbs. And this is where the Italian forces come in with their red gravy ( known everywhere else as spaghetti sauce) with or without a roux base. Some recipes call for cooking the daube in wine and stock and preparing the red gravy separately. However, in today’s rushed lifestyle, most cooks  prefer to put it all together in one big pot. Various cuts of beef suit daube, including the rump, round, shoulder or chuck. Instead of larding, a stuffing of garlic provides flavor. Old Creole recipes used lard for the braising, too, but olive oil substitutes as a healthy and tasty alternative. Don’t be put off by the long slow-cooking process. The dish can simmer on the stove with little attention while you catch up on rest and relaxation. I am sure this recipe can also be adapted for the slow cooker.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

  • 3-pound rump roast
  • 5 cloves garlic, 2 slivered and 3 minced
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Creole seasoning, store-bought (without salt) or homemade, recipe below
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 bell pepper, chopped
  • 2 ribs celery, chopped
  • 6-ounce can tomato paste
  • 8-ounce can tomato sauce
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 14-ounce can beef broth
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne to taste
  • Pinch of sugar
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:

With a sharp, small knife cut slits in the roast about 2 inches apart and stuff with slivers of garlic. Rub roast generously with salt, pepper and Creole seasoning. Heat oil in a heavy pot or Dutch oven and brown roast well on all sides over medium-high heat. When browned, take roast out of pot and set aside.

In the same oil, saute onion, bell pepper and celery over medium heat until soft, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add minced garlic and cook for 5 more minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, until it begins to brown, about 10 minutes. Add tomato sauce and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 more minutes. Add wine, beef broth, Italian seasoning, cayenne, salt if needed and sugar. Stir well.

Return roast to pot, fat side up, turn heat to low, cover and simmer for 4 hours or until roast is very tender. Stir well every hour and turn roast over halfway through cooking. Sprinkle with parsley and serve over cooked pasta. 

Creole Seasoning

  • 2 tablespoons onion powder
  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoons dried oregano leaves
  • 2 tablespoons dried basil
  • 1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon white pepper
  • 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon celery seed
  • 5 tablespoons sweet paprika

Combine in food processor and pulse until well-blended.

Italian Chicken with New Orleans Spaghetti Bordelaise

Serves: 6 

Ingredients

  • 12 chicken thighs
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Cayenne Pepper
  • 4 heads garlic, cloves separated and peeled
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 2 cups white wine
  • 3 lemons, quartered
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/2 cup chopped parsley
  • Spaghetti Bordelaise, recipe follows

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken in a large bowl and lightly coat with salt, pepper and cayenne.

Crush half of the garlic cloves with the back of a heavy knife. Leave the remaining cloves whole.

Heat 1/2 cup of the oil in a roasting pan large enough to hold the chicken in one layer, over 2 burners on medium-high heat. Add the chicken and sear on both sides. Add the crushed garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add the remaining ingredients, stirring well to evenly distribute.

Cover the pan tightly and roast for 1 hour. Uncover and roast until the chicken is brown and tender and the garlic is caramelized, about 30 minutes, basting occasionally.

Remove from the oven. Transfer the chicken to a platter and sprinkle with the parsley. Spoon the pan juices over the chicken or serve on the side.

Spaghetti Bordelaise

  • 1 pound dried spaghetti
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup green onions
  • 1 tablespoon white wine
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander.

Meanwhile, in a medium pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and green onions and cook, stirring, until fragrant and starting to turn golden, about 2 minutes. Add the wine, basil, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes. Add the butter and parsley and cook for 2 minutes.

Return the drained spaghetti to the pot. Add the sauce and toss well to coat. Place in a large serving bowl and sprinkle with the Parmesan.

 

New Orleans Apple Fritters

Fritters or Fratelle (Italian for fritters) are deep-fried batters containing sweet (fruit & nuts) or savory (cheese, fish, vegetables) fillings.They are served throughout Italy during Carnival time. This recipe is another example of the merging of cuisines in New Orleans. The French-Creole colonists who came to inhabit the city in its earliest days originally introduced beignets to New Orleans. They are made from square-cut pieces of yeast dough without holes, fried and then covered with mounds of powdered sugar. The Italian version adds fruit.

Makes 20 fritters

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 4 cups 1/4-inch-diced, peeled, chopped Fuji or Gala apples
  • 2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
  • Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • 3/4 cup apple cider
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions:

Melt butter in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples and saute, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Sprinkle in brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and continue to cook 2 to 3 minutes longer, or until apples are lightly coated with syrup. Remove pan from heat and set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolks and apple cider. Stir in the cooled apple mixture.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and 1 tablespoon sugar. Make a well in the center of the flour and add apple mixture. Gradually incorporate flour into wet ingredients, mixing gently with a whisk until uniform. Set batter aside for 20 minutes.

Fit a hand mixer with the whisk attachments and beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold whites into batter until completely blended.

In a medium bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar with remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Add enough oil to a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or a deep cast iron skillet to come 4 inches up the sides of pan. Heat oil over medium-high heat to 350 degrees F. When the oil is hot, carefully add 2-tablespoon scoops of batter, working in batches and being careful not to overcrowd pan. Maintain oil’s heat between 300 and 350 degrees by adjusting burner as necessary.

Fry fritters 4 to 5 minutes until golden and cooked through, turning them as needed for even color. Remove fritters with a slotted spoon or strainer, drain briefly, then toss them in cinnamon sugar. Transfer fritters to a serving platter. Repeat with remaining batter. Right before serving, roll fritters a final time in cinnamon sugar.

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Want to read a more in-depth look at Italian American family life and culture, I recommend you read:

The author writes,”A Girl From the Hill: My Mother’s Journey from Italian Girl to American Woman is a collection of essays reflecting my mother’s experiences growing up in Providence, Rhode Island during the early 20th Century. This book depicts many aspects of my mother’s life growing up with Italian parents in Providence, Rhode Island during the Great Depression. It also speaks to all mothers and daughters about the bonds that tie us forever, even when we are apart. What I discovered is that I am more like my mother than I ever imagined.”

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Indiana’s Little Italy Communities

May 24, 2013

In 1920 artist, Enrico Vittori, created this bronze bust which was paid for by Italian immigrants living in Indianapolis.

Although Indiana has had an Italian connection from the very beginning – Enrico Tonti accompanied the explorer LaSalle in 1679 and Francesco Vigo assisted George Rogers Clark in exploring Indiana, it was only after 1880 that Italian immigrants were attracted to the state in any numbers. Indianapolis’  first Italians came from the Lombardy, Liguria, Tuscany and Basilicata regions. The Sicilians who developed the city’s fruit and vegetable trade came later, followed by barbers from Calabria and the Friulani experts in terrazzo-mosaic tile work. Early immigrants became grocers, shoemakers, tailors and barbers.

In 1882, Frank Mascari, a fisherman from Termini Imerese in Sicily, visited Indianapolis to investigate business possibilities. He opened a profitable fruit store on Virginia Avenue just south of Washington Street and before long his three brothers, his brother-in-law, their wives, their children and friends followed him. By 1910, 33 of the 54 fruit and vegetable dealers in the city were Italian. They were well represented among City Market stand holders and behind the wagons and push carts parked around the Marion County Courthouse. Reputedly responsible for introducing the banana here, several were nicknamed “the banana king.”

Residents of Italian ancestry have contributed significantly to Indianapolis’s economy, culture and professional and religious life. Later, primarily after World War II, many Italian Americans moved into Indianapolis, excelling in business and professional fields, including law, medicine and education. 

The Holy Rosary Neighborhood has been known as “Little Italy” because of the numbers of Italians who settled there. The neighborhood was historically known as the Holy Rosary-Danish Church Neighborhood. After the Civil War, the neighborhood was settled by German, Irish, Scottish, Danish, and Welsh immigrants. It is the story of the Italians, however, that shaped the neighborhood. In the 1890’s, southern Italians began arriving in Indianapolis and, specifically, in what is now the Holy Rosary area.

Before 1909, Italian Catholics attended services at St. Mary German Church. Because many of the Italian immigrants did not speak English, they desired to have an Italian parish of their own. Indianapolis’ Bishop Francis Silas Chatard authorized the newly-arrived Father Marino Priori to organize a parish for Italians on the southeast side of the city. Two years later in 1911, ground was broken for the Holy Rosary Catholic Church on Stevens Street. Due to financial difficulties, the basement was roofed and used for services from 1912 to 1925. Finally, in 1925 at a cost of around $50,000, the construction of the edifice was completed and Pope Pius XI sent his blessing from the Vatican. 

The Italians in the Holy Rosary Neighborhood were a tightly-knit group who believed strongly in traditional family ties. It was not unusual for a family with many children to live in a house with their parents and grandparents. Even if new couples did not live in the same households as their parents, they often lived across the street or down the block. The neighborhood is still home to many Italians whose fathers, mothers, children, cousins and friends are direct descendants of the Italians whose names are set forth in the original 1909 Holy Rosary Catholic Church charter.

As a means of raising funds, Holy Rosary conducted the traditional lawn fetes and bazaars, but after 1934 the parish attracted larger summer crowds by erecting stands and rides in the street and offering entertainment. Highly successful, other parishes imitated Holy Rosary. In 1984, parishioners revived the Italian Street Festival. This two-night event features Italian foods and amusements, attracts as many as 25,000 people and has produced a half-million dollar income over the last ten years.

Hundreds of mom-and-pop-owned stores once dotted the neighborhoods of Indianapolis. Before zoning laws restricted businesses in residential neighborhoods, small stores such as groceries, hardware stores, shoe repair shops and restaurants were sprinkled among the houses and their proprietors often lived in quarters behind or attached to the the shop.

One such store was the J. Bova Conti Grocery, which served Indianapolis’s Italian community on the near south side from the 1920’s through the 1950’s. According to Indianapolis Italians by James J. Divita (Arcadia Publishing, 2006), Josephine Mascari and her son Tommaso were experiencing hardship in operating their grocery business on Virginia Avenue. John Bova Conti moved in to run the store and ended up marrying the widow. In 1920 they rented a small, wood-frame grocery with an adjacent residence. Signs on the store and visible goods included, Wonder and Yum Yum bread, fruit, macaroni, olives, cheese, Coca-Cola and East End Dairy products. The store’s business ledger for 1924 through 1927 (housed at the Indiana Historical Society) indicates that many products were imported from Italy and distributed to other stores around the state. According to Divita, “After visiting relatives in Indianapolis, customers from smaller towns would stop at Bova Conti’s to buy 20 pounds of dry pasta for the month. Among his attractive prices were one gallon Berio olive oil, $3; one bottle Florio Marsala, $2.25; five pounds Sicilian caciocavallo, $3.75; and one case Brioschi, 75 cents.”

By the time the photographs, above, were taken in April 1946, the store’s namesake had been deceased for several years. Gus Mascari recalls that his grandparents operated the grocery from the late 1930’s through the late 1950’s. Another Mascari grandchild, Mrs. Terry Shannon, shares that the store had sawdust on the floor, pickles in large barrels and they sold Italian bread baked by Mrs. Mascari.

Iozzo’s Garden of Italy, originally established in 1930, is now the newest, oldest Italian restaurant in Indianapolis. Santora “Fred” Iozzo had a vision of creating the American Dream. Born in Calabria, Italy in 1888, Fred emigrated to the United States of America arriving at age 17. After working on the railroads in Boston and Ohio, Fred was naturalized in 1924 and settled in Indianapolis, Indiana. By 1926, Fred Iozzo had a small empire of 21 grocery stores located in the central Indianapolis area. But as the Great Depression did to so many proud businesses, his chain of stores closed. Later, when economic conditions improved, Fred relied on his background as a chef to build Naples Grill in 1930.

Naples Grill, at the time, was Indianapolis’ first full-service Italian restaurant and it quickly became popular, not only to Hoosiers but to those traveling through the Midwest. After a few years of success, the business moved to the corner of Illinois and Washington Streets, where Fred ran the restaurant with his sons Vincent and Dominic. The restaurant was renamed Iozzo’s Garden of Italy and it continued to be a commercial success. With three bars, a banquet room, two kitchens and a bandstand, it could service an incredible 850 customers at a time. Iozzo’s became a hot spot destination as one of the best restaurants in the Midwest.

Iozzo’s Garden of italy

On October 24, 1940, an unfortunate incident occurred inside the restaurant and temporarily derailed the hopes and dreams of the Iozzo family. That night, a group of sailors came into Iozzo’s and were sitting at the bar, flirting with Fred’s daughter, Margaret. Her brother, Dominic, decided the flirting had gone too far — and a brawl ensued. Fred, who heard the fight from the backroom, burst out and shot the sailor who was choking his son. When the sailor died, Fred was charged and convicted of involuntary manslaughter. He went to prison for 26 months. Fred Iozzo died in 1945, a few years after his release from prison.

After the closing of the restaurant, the Iozzo family continued to pass down their traditions and recipes. In July of 2009, Iozzo’s Garden of Italy re-opened. With traditional family recipes combined with new favorites, Iozzo’s has received awards and recognition from many publications, including “Best New Restaurant”, “Best Italian Restaurant in Indianapolis” and the restaurant has been featured on the cover of “Indianapolis Monthly” magazine.

The Original 1911 Speedway

In 1911 the first car race was held at the Indianapolis Speedway. An estimated 80,000 spectators attended the first 500 mile (800 km) race on Memorial Day when 40 cars competed. A classic race followed in 1912 when Ralph DePalma lost a five lap lead with five laps to go when his car broke down. As DePalma pushed his car around the circuit, Joe Dawson made up the deficit to win. Three of the next four winners were European, with DePalma being the exception as an American national, though originally Italian born. These races gave Indy a worldwide reputation and international drivers began to enter.

Ralph De Palma (December 18, 1882 – March 31, 1956) was an Italian-American race car driving champion who won the 1915 Indianapolis 500. His entry into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame estimates that he won about 2,000 races during his career. DePalma won the 1908, 1909, 1910 and 1911 American AAA national dirt track championships and is credited with winning 24 American Championship car races. DePalma estimated that he had earned $1.5 million by 1934 after racing for 27 years.

In 1958, a budding race-car driver named Mario Andretti first laid eyes on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His family, who had arrived from Italy three years earlier, had driven from their Pennsylvania home, so that Andretti could watch the Indianapolis 500. After the race, the 18-year-old made it to the infield to walk on the famed 2.5-mile track, which includes a narrow front straightaway lined with grandstands on both sides.

“It was very daunting,” recalled Andretti, now 69. “Just to look at all those grandstands, it was quite a sight, so unique.” At that moment, he said, “I wanted to find out what those other drivers were experiencing. It egged me on even more.” Andretti, of course, would go on to win the 500 in 1969 and become one of the most famous racers in history.

The Speedway As It Looks Today

Clinton, Indiana

At the turn of the 20th century Clinton, Indiana, located approximately 15 miles north of Terre Haute, had a great influx of Italian immigrants to the area to work in the coal mines. Italian immigrants made up the majority of mine workers (both deep-shaft and strip coal mines) in Clinton. At one point the city had a population of over 15,000 people, of which, nearly one-third were Italian. The northwest area of ​​Clinton became known as “Little Italy”, as the majority of its inhabitants had come directly from Italy. Unlike a lot of the Italian immigration that took place at that time, most of the Clinton Italians were from northern Italy. A listing of businesses in the Little Italy section of Clinton in the 1920’s shows (4) grocery stores, (2) meat markets, a bakery, a cheese shop, multiple tailors and clothing shops, shoe and variety stores all owned by Italian immigrants. 

According to The Daily Clintonian, Bollittino Edition, a large bronze statue, the Voice of the Immigrant (on North 9th St.), is located at what is known as, the Piazza Del Immigrante.  As a lasting tribute to Clinton’s Italian heritage, the Airola family commissioned the statue from Italian sculptor, Carlo Avenati,  and called it, The Voice of the Immigrant. But it’s not alone, the statue also shares the spot with a very unusual bullhead fountain and a tall granite fountain. These artifacts were made possible by the Airola family. As a coal mining town, with plenty of Italian immigrants, the granite fountain stands as a reminder of Clinton’s Italian roots.

The bullhead statue is unusual in that that particular style of bull is an image that is normally associated with Torino, Italy. As the story goes…hundreds of years ago, the town of Torino, Italy fought one war after another. The people just about lost hope and so decided to stampede their town with bulls. Lots and lots of bulls. The evil invaders were run down by the masses of bulls and the town then became known as Torino. Toro is Italian for, you guessed it, bull! The town of Torino does not sell their bullhead fountains. Instead, the Airola family, through a series of connections, were given permission from the Mayor of Torino to use a pattern of the fountain for a replica to be built in little Clinton, Indiana.

Clinton, Indiana’s Little Italy Festival

The festival has been held every Labor Day weekend since 1966. Part of every festival is the crowning of the Grape Princess and the Re & Regina. Another big part of the Little Italy Festival has always been learning about the Gondola. On June 27, 1967 Clinton’s gondola left its birthplace in Venice, Italy and shipped to the U.S. The Gondola made is debut at the 1967 Festival and is on display every year.

 

Italian Food Of Indianapolis

Baked Clams

Serves 4-6 as an appetizer

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic chopped very fine
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 24 cherrystone or littleneck clams, top shell removed
  • 2 cups fish or chicken broth
  • 2 lemons, cut into wedges

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Combine bread crumbs, oil, garlic, parsley, cheese and paprika in a medium bowl. Mix together well, mixture should be moist to the touch.

Place clams in bottom half of the shell in a baking pan and pack about 2 teaspoons of the bread crumb mixture into each clam.

Pour broth around clams, making sure not to cover the clams or wash away any bread crumb mixture.

Place in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until brown and crispy.

Transfer clams to serving plates and drizzle a little of the juice from the baking pan on top of each clam. Serve with lemon wedges.

Caesar Salad at Iozzo's Garden of Italy.

Classic Caesar Salad

The croutons are best made no more than half an hour before assembling the salad.

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

For The Croutons

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 loaf rustic Italian bread (8 to 10 ounces), crusts removed, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For The Salad

  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 4 anchovy fillets
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 20 ounces romaine lettuce, outer leaves discarded, inner leaves washed and dried
  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese or Romano cheese, or 2 1/2 ounces shaved with a vegetable peeler

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Combine the butter and olive oil in a large bowl. Add the cubes of bread and toss until coated. Sprinkle with salt, cayenne pepper and black pepper; toss until evenly coated. Spread the bread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake until croutons are golden, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Place the garlic, anchovy fillets,and salt in a wooden salad bowl. Using two dinner forks, mash the garlic and anchovies into a paste. Using one fork, whisk in the pepper, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and egg yolk. Whisk in the olive oil.

Chop the romaine leaves into 1- to 1 1/2-inch pieces. Add the croutons, romaine and cheese to the bowl; toss well. If you wish, grate extra cheese over the top. Serve immediately.

Cook’s Note: If you prefer not to use the raw yolk in this recipe, substitute 1 tablespoon store-bought mayonnaise. Raw eggs should not be used in food prepared for pregnant women, babies, young children or anyone whose health is compromised.

 

Spicy Chicken Rigatoni

The pasta cooks in the sauce.

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
  • 1  (26 ounce) container Pomi crushed tomatoes
  • 2 cups packaged dried rigatoni
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 -2 1/2 ounce jar sliced mushrooms, drained
  • 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning, crushed
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken (about 8 ounces)
  • Fresh basil leaves

Directions:

In a large saucepan cook onion and garlic in hot oil until tender but not brown. Stir in undrained tomatoes, pasta, water, mushrooms, Italian seasoning and red pepper.

Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes or until pasta is tender but slightly firm, stirring occasionally.

Stir in chicken; heat through. Garnish with fresh basil leaves.

Osso Buco alla Milanese

Risotto Milanese is the classic accompaniment. Using veal shanks is traditional, but I have had success with this recipe using pork shanks, beef shanks or trukey thighs.

Ingredients:

  • All-purpose flour for dredging (about 1/2 cup)
  • 4 meaty veal shanks, each 2 to 2 1/2 inches thick (3 to 3 1/2 pounds total)
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 medium yellow onion (about 6 ounces), chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 medium carrot, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 celery stalk with leaves, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 small fennel bulb (about 12 ounces), trimmed, cored, and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 strips orange zest, removed with a vegetable peeler (each about 3 inches by 3/4-inch)
  • 1  1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh marjoram or 1/2 teaspoon dried
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cup dry white wine or dry white vermouth
  • 1/2 cup veal or chicken stock, homemade, or store-bought
  • 1 cup chopped peeled tomatoes, fresh or canned, with their juice
  • 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 300 degrees F.

2. Dredging the shanks: pour the flour into a shallow dish. Season the veal shanks on all sides with salt and pepper. One at a time, roll the shanks around in the flour coat and shake and pat the shank to remove any excuses flour. Discard the remaining flour.

3. Browning the shanks: put the oil and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a wide Dutch oven or heavy braising pot (6 to 7 quart) and heat over medium-high heat. When the butter has melted and the oil is shimmering, lower the shanks into the pot, flat side down; if the shanks won’t fit without touching one another, do this in batches. Brown the shanks, turning once with tongs, until both flat sides are well caramelized, about 5 minutes per side. If the butter-oil mixture starts to burn, lower the heat just a bit. Transfer the shanks to a large platter or tray and set aside.

4. The aromatics: pour off and discard the fat from the pot. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the pot and melt it over medium heat. When the butter has stopped foaming, add the onion, carrot, celery and fennel. Season with salt and pepper; stir and cook the vegetables until they begin to soften but do not brown, about 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic, orange zest, marjoram and bay leaf, and cook for another minute or two.

5. The braising liquid: add the wine, increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Boil, stirring occasionally, to reduce the wine by about half, 5 minutes. Add the stock and tomatoes, with their juice and boil again to reduce the liquid to about 1 cup total, about 10 minutes.

6. The braise: Place the shanks in the pot so that they are sitting with the exposed bone facing up and pour over any juices that accumulated as they sat. Cover with parchment paper, pressing down so the parchment nearly touches the veal and the edges hang over the sides of the pot by about an inch. Cover tightly with the lid and place in the lower part of the oven to braise at a gentle simmer. Check the pot after the first 15 minutes and if the liquid is simmering too aggressively, lower the oven heat by 10 or 15 degrees. Continue braising, turning the shanks and spooning some pan juices over the top after the first 40 minutes, until the meat is completely tender and pulling away from the bone, about 2 hours.

7. The gremolata: While the shanks are braising, stir together the garlic, parsley and lemon zest in a small bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a cool place (or the refrigerator, if your kitchen is very warm.)

8. The finish: When the veal is fork-tender and falling away from the bone, remove the lid and sprinkle over half of the gremolata. Return the veal to the oven, uncovered, for another 15 minutes to caramelize it some.

9. Using a slotted spatula or spoon, carefully lift the shanks from the braising liquid, doing your best to keep them intact. The shanks will be very tender and threatening to fall into pieces and the marrow will be wobbly inside the bones, Arrange the shanks on a serving platter or other large plate, without stacking and cover with foil to keep warm.

10. Finishing the sauce: Set the braising pot on top of the stove. if there is a visible layer of fat floating on the surface, use a large spoon to skim it off and discard it. Taste the sauce for concentration of flavor. If it tastes a bit weak or flat, bring it to a boil over high heat and boil to reduce the volume and intensify the flavor for 5 to 10 minutes.

11. Portioning the veal shanks: if the shanks are reasonably sized, serve one per person. If the shanks are gargantuan or you’re dealing with modest appetites, pull apart the larger shanks, separating them at their natural seams and serve smaller amounts.

12. Serving: Arrange the veal shanks on warm dinner plates accompanied by the risotto, if serving. Just before serving, sprinkle on the remaining gremolata and then spoon over a generous amount of sauce .

Ricotta Cheesecake with Fresh Berries

12 servings

Cheesecake:

  • 4 cups (2 pounds) Ricotta Cheese
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 large eggs
  • Cooking spray
  • 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Topping:

  • 2 cups quartered strawberries
  • 1 pint fresh raspberries
  • 1 pint fresh blueberries
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • Mint sprigs (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F.

To prepare cheesecake:

Place first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a electric mixer at medium speed 2 minutes or until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Pour batter into a 10-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray. Bake 1 hour or until cheesecake center barely moves when pan is touched.

Remove cheesecake from oven; run a knife around the outside edge of cheesecake. Cool slightly; remove outer ring from pan. Sprinkle cheesecake evenly with powdered sugar.

To prepare topping:

Combine berries, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and juice; toss gently to combine. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve berry mixture with cheesecake. Garnish with mint sprigs, if desired.


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“The Hill” St. Louis’ Little Italy

May 17, 2013

When the fire hydrants begin to look like Italian flags with green, red and white stripes, you know you’re on “The Hill”.  With an Italian American style all their own, featuring Provel cheese and fried ravioli, there’s an unmistakable St. Louis flair in this town’s Italian flavor.

Settlement of what’s now called “the Hill” began in the 1830’s, but the area boomed later that century with the discovery of rich clay mines. The expansion of clay pits and plant production brought Italian immigrants from northern Italy and Sicily to St. Louis and they settled north of the city on the Hill, named for being close to the highest point in the area. Able to find work within the neighborhood, the immigrants, first, bought houses and, then, started businesses — grocery stores, bakeries, restaurants, barber shops and tailor shops, to name a few.

With the growth of Italian immigration came the growth in the influence of the Roman Catholic Church. The Parish of Our Lady Help of Christians, was founded in the downtown area of St. Louis in 1900 to serve primarily Sicilian immigrants and the Parish of St. Ambrose was founded to serve the northern Italian immigrants. By the time the new church of St. Ambrose was built in 1926, the parish had already been an influence in the area for over 20 years. The structure is modeled after Sant Ambrogio Church in Milan, in the Lombard-Romanesque style of brick and terra-cotta. It became a parish church for the area in 1955, after 30 years of focusing on those of Italian heritage. When Our Lady Help of Christians Parish closed in 1975, St. Ambrose became the center of Catholic life among many Italian-Americans in the St. Louis area.

The neighborhood is still predominantly Italian, about 75 percent of the population, and St. Ambrose Catholic Church is still the center of the community. A statue of “The Italian Immigrants” at the entrance of the church demonstrates the bond between the immigrants and their religion. The Hill is also one of the city’s most tight-knit communities. Just as they did a century ago, families on the Hill greet each other warmly at church, local bakeries or while working on their front lawns. 

The Hill has flourished over the last century and somehow managed to repel the decay, neglect and suburban flight that have wracked other neighborhoods. Of all the ethnic-immigrant settlements in St. Louis in the late 19th century and early 20th century (including German, Irish, Czech and Polish), The Hill is the only one that remains intact. The Hill’s streets are virtually free of litter and crime. Its homes are modest but impeccably maintained, and these homes recall an era that predates the three-car garage and bedroom for every child. Some homes, according to Rosolino Roland DeGregorio, a local historian, are framed with free lumber that immigrants hauled in wagons from the disassembled 1904 World’s Fair exhibits.

Yards are lovingly embellished with small flower and herb gardens, fountains, brightly painted flower pots, strings of lights and statues of the Virgin Mary. Across from the Missouri Baking Co., Salvador Palmeri, an immigrant from Sicily, hoses the alley behind his home every day because, he said, “I like to keep it clean.” His wife, Josephine, paints ceramic flower pots and animal figures for a patio menagerie. “I love the area,” said Frank DiGregorio, 49, who arrived from Italy as an 8-month-old baby and helps run family-owned DiGregorio’s Imported Foods. “I can walk up and down the streets and talk to Italian people. It’s a community. We’re a small town in a big city.” Bill Holland, who married into the family that runs the 101-year-old John Volpi Co. Inc., an Italian meat company, said, The Hill is St. Louis’s only 24-hour neighborhood, a fragile ecosystem that has been immune to urban blight and whose anchor is St. Ambrose Catholic Church.” He said the neighborhood has a healthy balance of homes, businesses and entertainment that spins positive energy around the clock. “When the restaurants shut down at midnight, the bakers all come in at 2 a.m.,” Holland said. “We start our business at 6 a.m. There’s always something positive in the neighborhood.”  http://www.thehillstl.com/history.html

The Hill is located south of Manchester Avenue, between Hampton Avenue on the west and Kingshighway Avenue on the east. Its southern border runs along Columbia and Southwest Avenues. One city block of the neighborhood is famous for hosting the boyhood homes of Baseball Hall of Fame members and producing approximately half of the 1950 U.S. soccer team that upset top-ranked England in the World Cup.

The best way to visit the area is with a walking tour of the neighborhood which includes an Italian grocery in business for more than 50 years, a gift shop with a variety of Italian products, a ravioli store and an Italian meat market founded in 1902. Take a stroll down Baseball Hall of Fame Place, a renamed section of Elizabeth Avenue, (between Macklind Ave and Marconi Avenue) where Yogi Berra, Joe Garagiola and broadcaster Jack Buck grew up. You can find their homes, marked by granite plaques listing the names and dates of their inductions into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The streets are loaded with specialty shops, including Volpi Foods (5250 Daggett Ave.), opened by Giovanni Volpi in 1902, which continues to produce cured meats for the city (some argue they’re the best in the country). Viviano and Sons (5139 Shaw Ave.), opened by a macaroni factory worker, John Viviano to supplement his income, has blossomed into a neighborhood go-to shop, selling an array of Italian wines, olive oils and cheeses.

Lunch options are limitless, but will probably include an item made with Provel, the signature shelf stable cheese of the St. Louis Italian community. Amighetti’s (5141 Wilson Ave.), has been offering its namesake sandwich, a classic featuring Provel cheese, since 1921.

Two St. Louis restaurants are credited with the toasted ravioli appetizer’s invention in the 1940s: Charlie Gitto‘s (now a popular chain) and Oldani’s (now Mama’s) in The Hill neighborhood.

Dinner at Mama’s On the Hill (2132 Edwards Ave.), is a must. Opened under the name Oldani’s in 1940, Mama’s claims to be the birthplace of toasted ravioli and Mama will tell you all about it over dinner. Start with the two-pound meatball resting atop a mount of spaghetti soaking up Mama’s marinara sauce. Take Mama’s ultimate meatball challenge and, if you manage to finish the dish, Mama’s will pick up your tab and throw in a t-shirt. 

Charlie Gitto’s “On the Hill”   While there are other claimants, Charlie Gitto’s is generally recognized as the birthplace of the ‘toasted ravioli” when the restaurant was called Angelo’s. Toasted ravioli was invented here in 1947,” says Charlie Junior. “Louis Townsend was the guy who accidentally dropped ravioli in the breadcrumbs. He decided to fry them and brought them to Angelo, who thought it was a great idea, because he could quickly get them out to the bar. In the post-war era, the bars were really busy and Angelo served ravioli as bar food.”  Apparantly, this was much quicker than serving ravioli the traditional way.

Restaurants:

The Hill is known nationally for its great Italian restaurants. It’s often the dining destination of visiting celebrities, as well as, for out-of-town guests. Great places to try include:

Zia’s – A favorite of locals, Zia serves classic Italian dishes. Portions are generous, the atmosphere is simple but warm and prices are fairly moderate.

Lorenzo’s Trattoria – As a relatively new restaurant on the Hill, Lorenzo’s can’t rest on tradition. Actually, it does just the opposite, bringing modern twists to classic Italian dishes.

Rigazzi’s – Best known for its “fishbowls” of beer, Rigazzi’s offers everyday Italian dishes and pizza.

Adriana’s – The Hill’s own Yogi Berra’s famous quote “no one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded,” could easily be applied to Adriana’s. Its classic Italian sandwiches bring in a full lunch crowd.

Mama’s Two Pound Meatball

Shopping:

The Hill also has quite a few independent shops selling everything from cutlery to ceramics. Here are just three of the shops on the Hill:

Girasole – Girasole sells a wide variety of Italian products, including ceramics, jewelry, handbags, beauty products and books. Located at 2103 Marconi Avenue.

Bertarelli Cutlery – Although geared toward serving the restaurant business, Bertarelli can be exciting for anyone that loves to cook. Shop for new knives and other quality kitchen supplies or take your current knives in for sharpening. Located at 1927 Marconi Avenue.

Atomic Neon – Glassworks studio selling everything from simple glass bead necklaces to elaborate neon signs and art glass. All crafted on site. Located at 4140 Manchester Road.

Italian Recipes of St. Louis

St. Louis-Style Pizza

With its cracker-thin baking powder crust and square slices, there are those who’d claim this dish isn’t pizza. But to residents of St. Louis, it’s one of their city’s culinary icons. There are many “authentic” St. Louis Pizza recipes, but all seem to stem from one particular St. Louis chain: Imo’s, a “mom and pop” business with over 90 stores in and around St. Louis.

Crust

  • 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Self-Rising Flour
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 6 tablespoons water

*No self-rising flour? Substitute 2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour; add 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt and increase the water to 1/2 cup.

Topping

  • 2/3 cup pizza sauce
  • 1 cup grated or shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated or shredded smoked provolone cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated or shredded Swiss cheese
  • Pizza Seasoning or dried Italian herbs

*To add smoky flavor without using smoked provolone, add 1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke flavoring.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Lightly grease two 12″ round pizza pans, or a couple of baking sheets.

To make the crust: Combine the flour, oil and water, mixing until cohesive. Gather the dough into a ball, divide it in half and shape each half into a flat disk, the rounder the better.

If you have time, let the dough rest, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes; it’ll be easier to roll out once it’s rested.

Grease a piece of parchment paper about 12″ square or a piece of waxed paper. Place one of the dough pieces on the paper and top with another piece of lightly greased parchment or waxed paper.

Roll the dough very thin, 1/8″ thick or less. Place the dough on the prepared pans.

Top each pizza with 1/3 cup sauce. Mix the cheeses together and spread half over each pizza. Sprinkle lightly with Pizza Seasoning or dried Italian herbs.

Bake the pizzas for 9 to 11 minutes, until the cheese is melted and beginning to brown, and the edges and bottom of the crust are golden brown.

Remove the pizzas from the oven, transfer to a rack to cool very briefly, cut in squares, and serve hot.

Yield: two pizzas, about 4 servings total.

The Original Toasted Ravioli

Makes 12 to 14 appetizers.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
  • 2 pounds ripe fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded and cut up
  • 2 tablespoons snipped fresh basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 slightly beaten egg
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 1 -16 to 20 ounce package frozen meat-filled ravioli, thawed
  • 2/3 to 1 cup seasoned fine dry bread crumbs
  • Cooking oil for deep-fat frying
  • Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

For sauce: In a medium saucepan, cook onion and garlic in hot olive oil or butter until onion is tender. Stir in tomatoes, dried basil, salt and pepper. Cover; cook over medium heat about 10 minutes or until tomatoes are soft, stirring occasionally. Uncover and stir in tomato paste. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, about 20 minutes or until mixture reaches desired consistency, stirring occasionally. Stir in fresh basil Cover sauce; keep warm.

In a small bowl, beat together egg and milk. Dip each ravioli in egg mixture; then dip in bread crumbs to coat.

In a heavy 3-quart saucepan, heat 2 inches of cooking oil to 350 degrees F. Fry ravioli, a few at a time, in hot oil about 2 minutes or until golden brown, turning once. Drain on paper towels. Keep warm in a 300 degree F.  oven while frying the rest.

To serve: Sprinkle ravioli with Parmesan cheese, if you like. Serve with warm sauce for dipping.

Chicken Spiedini

Zia’s restaurant on the Hill uses provel in this grilled chicken dish. It’s a cheese made in the neighborhood that tastes like a blend of cheddar, Swiss and provolone.

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 pounds chicken breast tenderloins
  • 2/3 cup Italian salad dressing 
  • 3/4 cups seasoned fine dry bread crumbs
  • 3/4 cup halved fresh mushrooms
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/4 cup coarsely chopped prosciutto
  • 3/4 cup shredded provel cheese or mozzarella cheese (3 ounces)
  • 1 lemon, quartered

Directions:

Place chicken in a resealable plastic bag set in a shallow dish. Pour salad dressing over chicken. Seal bag; turn to coat chicken. Marinate in the refrigerator for 2 to 24 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Drain chicken, discarding marinade. Place bread crumbs in a shallow dish. Dip chicken in bread crumbs to coat. On five to six long metal skewers, thread chicken, accordion-style, leaving 1/4-inch space between each piece.

For a charcoal grill: Grill skewers on the rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium coals for 10 to 12 minutes or until chicken is tender and no longer pink (170 degree F), turning once halfway through grilling.

For a gas grill: Preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Place skewers on grill rack over heat. Cover and grill as directed above.

For oven directions: Arrange skewers in a 15 x 10x 1-inch baking pan. Bake in a 375 degree F.  oven about 15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink (170 degree F.)

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook mushrooms and garlic in hot butter until mushrooms are just tender, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add prosciutto; cook and stir 2 minutes more.

Remove chicken from skewers; arrange on a serving plate. Sprinkle the chicken with half of the cheese. Spoon the mushroom mixture over chicken. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Squeeze a lemon wedge over each serving.

Salsiccia Bread

Salsiccia is Italian for sausage and it’s a tasty part of the filling in this recipe from Di Gregorio Imported Foods, which also sells the salsiccia. 

Makes: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients:

  • 8 ounces bulk Italian sausage
  • 1/2 cup chopped peeled potato
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 of a 10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained
  • 8 ounces canned or homemade pizza sauce
  • 2 tablespoons drained, snipped oil-packed sundried tomatoes
  • 1- 16 – ounce loaf frozen bread dough, thawed
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions:

For filling: In a large skillet, cook sausage, potato and garlic until sausage is brown and potato is tender. Drain off fat. Stir in spinach, 1/3 cup of the pizza sauce and sundried tomatoes. Set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 12×9-inch rectangle, stopping occasionally to let dough relax a few minutes for easier rolling. Spread sausage mixture evenly over dough, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Starting from a short side, roll up dough into a spiral. Moisten edge and ends; pinch seams to seal. Transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double (30 to 45 minutes).

Lightly brush loaf with oil. Bake in a 350 degree F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until loaf is golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack; cool about 30 minutes before cutting. Serve with remaining pizza sauce for dipping. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Note – Store leftovers, wrapped in foil, in the refrigerator up to 2 days. To reheat, bake wrapped loaf in 350 degree F. oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until heated.

Tiramisu

This recipe from Gian-Tony’s on the Hill.

Makes: 16 servings

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons instant espresso coffee powder
  • 1 tablespoon amaretto liqueur
  • 1 tablespoon hazelnut liqueur
  • 2 -8 ounce cartons mascarpone cheese
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 3 tablespoons dried egg white powder
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 3 – ounce packages ladyfingers, split
  • 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions:

For syrup: In a small saucepan, combine the 1/2 cup sugar, the 1/2 cup water and coffee powder. Cook over medium heat until boiling. Boil gently, uncovered, for 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in amaretto and hazelnut liqueur. Cool.

For filling: In a medium bowl, stir together mascarpone cheese, the 1/4 cup sugar and vanilla. In a chilled medium mixing bowl, combine whipping cream and the 3 tablespoons sugar. Beat with chilled beaters in an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Fold 1/2 cup of the beaten whipped cream mixture into the mascarpone mixture to lighten; set both mixtures aside. In another medium mixing bowl, beat dried egg whites and 1/2 cup water to stiff peaks according to package directions, adding the 1/3 cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, while beating.

To assemble: Arrange half of the ladyfinger halves in the bottom of a 9x9x2-inch baking pan. Brush with half of the syrup mixture. Spread with half of the mascarpone mixture, half of the whipped cream and half of the egg white mixture. Sprinkle with half of the cocoa powder. Arrange the remaining ladyfingers on top of the layers in the pan. Brush with the remaining syrup mixture. Spread with the remaining mascarpone mixture, the remaining whipped cream and the remaining egg white mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining cocoa powder. Cover and chill 4 to 24 hours before serving. Makes 16 servings.

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The “Little Italies” of Michigan

May 10, 2013

In doing research for this post, I was sure that Italian immigrants found their way to Detroit because it was a major industrial center that offered job opportunities the immigrants were seeking in coming to America. What totally surprised me was the number of immigrants who settled in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The land is totally different from the warm Mediterranean country that the Italian immigrants had left behind. As you read, you will see why.

                          The Eastern Market was established in 1891.

Italian Americans in Detroit

For more than 350 years, Italian immigrants played important roles in the opening and development of the land that is now Michigan, from their participation in the French fur trade up to the present day. People of Italian descent have been present in Detroit since Alfonso Tonti, second-in-command to Antoine Cadillac, participated in the founding of the city in 1701. By the close of the 19th century, the trickle of Italian immigrants had become a torrent, as thousands rushed to the growing industrial centers. They worked in stone and cement, paving, produce, tile work, at small groceries, as merchants and, of course, as part of the labor force in the auto shops around Detroit. Settling on the lower east side, the community grew rapidly, especially north and east into Macomb County. Italians in Detroit did not remain in a “little Italy,” but mingled with the diverse population of the city. Through a combination of hard work, strong family connections, and community ties, the Italians of Detroit achieved their dreams of a better life. They met the challenges of living in a new land while nurturing the culture of the old country.  Most Italians came to Detroit between 1880-1920. Detroit’s original “Little Italy” started from the lower east side (Eastern Market area) along Gratiot and Riopelle Streets near Black Bottom and Paradise Valley. They also settled in considerable numbers along Oakwood Blvd. in SW Detroit and in Dearborn early in their residency here. As they prospered, Detroit Italians in the 1950s eventually moved into neighborhoods across Detroit and their cultural and religious institutions dotted the landscape. Their affiliations were Catholic and other Christian religions. 

Church of the Holy Family

On the right is a photo of the yellow-hued church that is very visible when you exit the Chrysler Expressway in downtown Detroit, or drive west on East Jefferson toward the Renaissance Center. It is also Detroit’s first Italian Catholic church. Shortly after 1900, immigrants from Sicily and southern Italy settled in northeast Detroit. They began to worship at Sts. Peter and Paul on East Jefferson, but in 1907, Father Giovanni Boschi arrived from Italy and sought to establish an Italian parish here. In 1908, Bishop Foley gave him permission to do so and named the parish La Chiesa Della Sacra Famiglia or the Church of the Holy Family. In 1909, construction began on a modest Italian Renaissance-style, basilica-type church. More than one hundred years after its founding, this parish is in operation with an Italian language Mass said every Sunday.  There are about 300,000 Italian Americans in Metro Detroit, today. If you are in Detroit and looking for a restaurant with authentic Italian food and history related to the immigrant’s experience head to Giovanni’s Ristorante, 330 S. Oakwood Blvd., Detroit, MI 48219.

Giovanni Cannarsa was 14 years old when he embarked on a journey from Termoli– a town on the Adriatic coast of Italy, in the province of Campobasso, the region of Molise to the United States of America. Giovanni met a young woman, Rose Tonkery and in 1927 they were married. They moved from New York to Detroit, Michigan so Giovanni could go to work for Henry Ford. Giovanni and Rose settled in a neighborhood near the Rouge River plant, where the assembly line was first introduced during the immerging age of manufacturing. There the young couple started and raised their family, two sons and one daughter – her name is Frances. She and her brothers were born in Detroit. Frances had a best friend, Marie. She came from an Italian family that lived across the street from the Cannarsa family. It was her older brother – Olindo Truant who captured the heart of young Frances. In 1953 she married her sweetheart. Frances and Olindo had three sons, Chris – Michael and Randy. Olindo worked for Detroit Edison and Frances opened a carryout pizzeria, Givoanni’s Pizza Parlor. It was 1968. It didn’t take long for Frances to start taking charge and making changes – it was 1972. Frances decided the family style pizza parlor would one day be an elegant, award winning five-star class restaurant. Everyone thought she was crazy… but the night Frank Sinatra held a private dinner party in the back room of what was now called Giovanni’s Ristorante, was the night the whole family knew Frances meant business.

Italian-Americans in Wyandotte

Just after the turn of the 20th century, jobs were opening up at the J. B. Ford Company and the Michigan Alkali Company. The Italian settlement in East Detroit was bulging with a steady influx of friends and relatives coming to Michigan from Italy. Many young men sought work, and Wyandotte the bustling downriver town, offered the opportunity for jobs. A streetcar from Detroit brought the first Italian laborers to the city. Others joined the workforce and brought their families. Statistics show that in 1890 there were only 338 Italians living in Detroit and downriver and, by 1920, the number had swelled to 29,047. In 1914, a large group of Italian workers and their families were residing in what was then called Ford City. The community had formed in an area bounded by Antoine, Hudson, 2nd Street, and the railroad tracks. The families built large sturdy homes and planted gardens. Many of those early family residences still stand as testimony to the skillful construction techniques shown by those first immigrant workers. Most of the families knew each other from Palermo, Sicily in Italy, and interacted socially. During the summer evenings, the men could be seen playing bocce (lawn bowling) or playing card games.

In 1915, a concert band was organized. Maestro Pellegrino’s Italian Ford City Band attracted musicians from ages 15 to 25 and, in a relatively short time, the new musical group was presenting concerts for the entire community to enjoy. The camaraderie enjoyed by the band also gave birth to two early Italian social organizations. The San Giuseppi Society was a club that assisted many newly arrived Italian immigrants and helped them transition to the American way of life. The second organization, Santa Fara, was formed in Wyandotte in 1924 and named after the patron saint of the small Sicilian village of Cinisi. In order to become a member, one must be a “Cinisarii” or be married to one. Other organizations were formed over the years to serve the Italian community. In the 1930s, the Non-Partisan Progressive Club was organized. One of the first projects of this club was to host a war bond drive in early 1945. Americans of Italian descent in Wayne County, under the leadership of Anthony D’Anna of Wyandotte, raised $16,000,000 to build a ship. The U.S.S. Gosselin was commissioned on October 19, 1945, in memory of Seaman Joseph Polizzi, an Italian-American from Detroit killed earlier during the war. In 1970 fourteen members organized a new Italian organization, the Downriver Italian club, and built a hall to host events.

Italian Americans in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

Our knowledge of the Italian community in the Copper Country is credited to the research of Russell Magnaghi and to Cristina Menghini’s thesis: “Examining Patterns of Italian Immigration to Michigan’s Houghton County, 1860-1930”. Menghini’s study, the most detailed migration study of any immigrant group in the Copper Country, uncovered specific chain migration links between sending communities in northern Italy and receiving communities in Houghton County. Half of the Italians in Houghton County had emigrated from the province of Torino, in Italy’s Piedmont region and another quarter had emigrated from the province of Lucca, in the Tuscany region. Thus, three-quarters of Italians in Houghton County had emigrated from just two of Italy’s 110 provinces. Not surprisingly, Menghini found that nearly three-quarters of Italians in Houghton County in 1910 worked either in the mines or mine-related occupations.  Source: Recorded in Stone is a collection of the oral histories of immigrants to the Marquette Iron Range in the central Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Produced by the Central Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan University Archives and funded in part with a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council. Italians were attracted to Marquette County through the efforts of “barista” or what is known as chain migration: Immigrants arrived at a location and then sent letters back to Italy, which then brought their friends and relatives to America. At first, the Italians who were from northern Italy: Lombardy, Piedmont, Venice and the Tyrol settled in Negaunee. Initial­ly 50 Italians arrived; followed in the spring of 1888 by an additional 100. Although they inherited the jobs at the lowest end of the employ­ment scale as trammers (miners) or iron ore shovelers, they wrote back to Italy and encouraged others to join them. The wages and living conditions on the Marquette Iron Range were a great improvement over economic and work conditions in Italy. In the 1890’s southern Italians, primarily from Calabria but also from Naples and Sicily, settled in Ishpeming. They experienced a similar migration process. By 1910 Italians comprised 15% – 16% of the labor force on the Range. In 1910, of the 907 Italians with occupations, 741 or 81.6% were miners. There were also 51 Italians (6%) working on the railroad, 24 (2.8%) listed as laborers, and 20 working in the iron furnaces in Mar­quette. 

Copper Miners; Calumet, Michigan; between 1907 – 1920.

The first Italians who arrived on the Marquette Range were usually single men, who once they got settled, sent for their wives or got married. At first, many lived in company housing but, as soon as was possible, they purchased their own homes. Families took in boarders from the same Italian village and/or family members, as a means of providing housing and adding to the family income. Most of the Italian businessmen were located in Negaunee and Gwinn at that time. There were 16 boardinghouse keepers, 11 saloon keepers, 5 merchants, 5 bakers, and 3 shoemakers.  Each family maintained a garden which provided the household with much of the vegetables that the household needed during the year. Besides what was planted, the women and children gathered fruits and berries and made jams and preserves from them. If possible families kept a pig and cow. In November the pig was usually butchered and prime pieces were preserved in a crock jar, covered with liquefied lard, and the small pieces were processed into different types of sausage. The cow pro­vided milk, butter, and cheese for the family, and, if there was a surplus, it was sold to neighbors. The Italian family became self-sufficient so that they only had to purchase certain items, like coffee, sugar or olive oil. Pasta and Italian bread were often made at home but were sometimes purchased. In the late summer, orders were taken for grapes, and beginning in September trainloads of grapes arrived at railroad sidings in Negaunee and Ishpeming. Most families made as many as 150-200 gallons of wine, which would last them through the year. Most of the Italian immigrants who settled on the Marquette Range were literate. As a result, many of them kept in touch with the news through Italian-language newspapers. Some subscribed to papers published in New York City, like the popular Il Progresso, while others read the Il Minatore Italiano (The Italian Miner) which was published in Laurium, MI between 1896 and the 1930s, or the transient papers, such as La Democrazione Italiana of Hancock or La Sentinella (The Sentinel) published in Calumet, MI.

Portrait of an Italian Musician
From the collection of the Central Upper Peninsula and Northern Michigan University Archives

The Italian love for music is well known. As early as 1884, the Marquette Mining Journal noted that an Italian band provided excellent dance music in Marquette County. A number of Italian music teachers appeared in the various communities, such as Nettie R. Calamata, who in 1906 offered mandolin, guitar and banjo lessons. The Italian Band of Negaunee was organized by January 9, 1907, when it provided music for Mike Marrietti’s saloon, called Hogan’s Place and in the summer, it provided music for picnic dances. The most famous band in Ishpeming’s history was Vampa’s Band. Professor Vampa arrived in the community in 1915 and organiz­ed the band. He was able to get even the most musically illiterate to read music and, by January 1916, his band with thirty-four members, played for the first time and was an immediate success. Vampa’s Band played at the Marquette County Fair, Memorial Day, and Columbus Day celebrations and at other dances and festivals given by local clubs and lodges. The local Italians directed their entertainment and recreation toward their families. Home parties were popular with an accordion and violin or guitar providing the music on a Saturday night. The men played bocce in their backyards or saloon-side courts or played the Italian card game, morra. Some of the Italians fished and hunted both as recreation and also as a means of augmenting their families’ food supply. The mutual beneficial societies were a characteristic feature of all Italian communities, wherever the immigrants settled. At a time when there were no Social Security benefits for unemployment or disability insurance or death benefits, the Italians  established these societies. The oldest of the Italian fraternal organization in Marquette Coun­ty was Società Fratellanza e Mútuo Soccórso/Fraternal and Mutual Aid Society which was established in Negaunee in 1890. The biggest activity for the lodge was the annual picnic ,where there was boating, swimming and athletic events, eating contests and card games. Over the years a number of fraternal organizations were formed in Negaunee. Società Italiana di Mútuo Soccórso Giuseppe Maz­zini/Italian Mutual Aid Society Giuseppe Mazzini was founded on June 24, 1908. They built a series of Italian Halls, which were used for  meetings and social events. Like many benefit societies, the Italian Mutual Beneficial Society transformed itself in a social organization. It was through such organizations that Italian immigrants and their children located housing, found work, organized political blocks and met their prospective mates.

Calumet’s Italian Hall

Funeral of the Victims of the Italian Hall Disaster, Calumet, Michigan, December 1913.

On Christmas Eve, 1913, members of the Upper Peninsula mining community of Calumet, Michigan gathered in the upstairs of the Italian Hall for a party. The gathering was supposed to be one of a few happy times for the town, which was ravaged by a bitter strike between miners and owners. Popular history has it that someone ran into the party and yelled “fire”, causing a stampede down the stairs into doors that opened inward, resulting in a deadly pile-up. Some claim the incident was plotted by local copper bosses. So was it murder or an accident? Author and lawyer, Steve Lehto, goes back to find the answer in his book, Death’s Door: The Truth Behind Michigan’s Largest Mass Murder. Lehto uses his skills as a lawyer to investigate the deaths of 74 people, mostly children. His research led him to the conclusion that the doors opened out and were purposely held closed, resulting in the murder of the party-goers. Claims that the tragedy was an accident, Lehto believes, were the result of carefully placed stories in the mine-controlled newspapers.

The cuisine of the Early Italian Families in Michigan

Antipasto of Italian vegetables and fish Baccala – Italian dried codfish Bagna Cauda – garlic, olive oil dip Rustic Bread Cornetti -Italian rolls Grissini – Italian breadsticks Porchetta, Abruzzi Style  Salame Milanese for sandwiches Cudighi Italian Sausage – Italian sausage originating in northern Italy and made in the homes of many Michigan Italian Americans. It is made from pork meat on the hind section of the hog, this sausage is a combination of coarse ground pork, pork fat, red wine, and seasonings such as salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. The meat is then typically aged only for only a few days before being served. (See recipe below) Sautissa Piedmontese Sausage – pork sausage from the Piedmont region of Italy that uses cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves to impart a unique flavor. Often used as a filling ingredient for ravioli.  Suppress – Italian cured meats Garden Vegetables Pasta Torchetti cookies Cookies: biscotti, pizzelle, cialde Grappa  – Italian brandy Homemade wine

Try Some Michigan-Italian Inspired Recipes At Home

Northern Michigan Cherry Bruschetta

Ingredients:

  • 18 1/2 inch thick slices of small baguette-style bread
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1 1/2 cups pitted fresh sweet cherries, coarsely chopped
  • 1/4 cup each diced yellow sweet bell peppers and green onions
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Fresh mozzarella cheese
  • 1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh basil

Directions: Toast one side of baguette slices at 350 degrees F for 5 minutes. Turn slices, brush with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and bake 5 minutes longer. Combine cherries, bell pepper, green onions, lime juice, salt, pepper and remaining olive oil; mix well. Top each slice of baguette with a thin slice of fresh mozzarella cheese, a heaping tablespoon of cherry mixture, and sliced basil.

Homemade Cudighi Sausage

Unique to the central part of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the cudighi is an excellent example of the Italian-American food of this region. This one is made the more modern way, dressed like pizza. The classic sandwich is sausage with mustard and onions.  (Paisano’s in Negaunee, MI, an Italian-American restaurant on the shore of Lake Teal in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula) Ingredients:

  • 6 lb coarsely ground pork butt
  • 1 clove of garlic chopped fine
  • 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
  • 6 tablespoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons fennel seed

Mix well and refrigerate for 24 hours. Directions: Form into thin, 1/2 thick patties into oblong shapes. Brown in oil, cover, and simmer in a little water to help with the dryness, for 25-30 minutes or until no red shows and the pork is fully cooked. Serve on a Ciabatta roll or Italian bread with grilled green pepper rings and grilled sliced onion, mustard, ketchup, pizza sauce, or mozzarella cheese. Freeze extra cooked patties. Some other serving suggestions: You can make this into links or leave it in bulk. Use it in Italian cooking for lasagna, pizza, etc. You can also serve this as a sandwich, either grilled or pan-fried. Can be served with mustard and onions, but the most popular way is to top with mozzarella cheese and some spaghetti sauce. You could add some green peppers and mushrooms also. Can be served as an appetizer with cheese and crackers. Roll the sausage into a log. Wrap in foil and boil in water for 45 minutes. Let cool and serve sliced.

Iron Mountain Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients:

  • 2 zucchini, thinly sliced
  • 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 cup of fresh peas
  • 2 cups fresh asparagus, cut on the bias
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 cups besciamella (recipe follows)
  • 8 ounces freshly grated Parmigiano cheese
  • 1 -16-ounce package of lasagna noodles (or use fresh)

For besciamella sauce:

  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 6 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 3 1/2 cups milk, heated
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

For the vegetable filling: Heat oil in a skillet and lightly saute vegetables, in steps if needed, until vegetables are just tender. Cool to room temperature. For besciamella sauce: In a heavy saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly for 2 to 3 minutes, not allowing the mixture to brown. Slowly whisk in the hot milk and bring just to a simmer, whisking frequently. Reduce the heat to low and cook, whisking often, until the sauce has thickened to a creamy consistency, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Allow cooling for a few minutes before using. For the lasagna: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cook lasagna noodles to desired tenderness, drain. In a 12-by-18-inch pan assemble the lasagna, beginning with a layer of besciamella in the bottom of the pan, followed by a layer of pasta, a scattering of vegetables, a layer of besciamella, a sprinkling of grated Parmigiano, until all sauce, vegetables, and pasta are used up. The top layer should be pasta with besciamella over it. Top the lasagna with grated Parmigiano and bake, loosely covered with foil in the oven, until the sauce is bubbling about 45 minutes. Remove and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

 

Pork Roast alla Porchetta

 Ingredients:

  • 4 pounds boneless pork loin roast
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 bulb fennel, fronds chopped and reserved, bulb thinly sliced
  • 2 pounds ground pork or Italian sausage with casing removed
  • 2 tablespoons fennel seeds
  • 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
  • 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 4 red onions, halved

 Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Have your butcher butterfly the pork to an even 1-inch thickness, you should have a flat piece of meat about 8 inches by 14 inches. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside. In a sauté pan, heat olive oil until smoking. Add the onion and fennel bulb and sauté until softened and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add ground pork, fennel seeds, pepper, rosemary, and garlic, and cook until the mixture assumes a light color, stirring constantly, for about 10 minutes. Allow cooling. Add chopped fennel leaves and eggs and mix well. Spread the mixture over the pork loin and roll up like a jelly roll. Tie with butcher’s twine and place in roast pan on top of halved red onions. Place in the oven and roast for 2 1/2 hours, until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F. Remove and allow to rest for 10 to 20 minutes. Slice into 1 inch thick pieces and serve.

Northern Michigan’s Mario Batali Shares His Recipe for Ciambella with Summer Berry Compote

The chef summers in Northern Michigan. By: Mario Batali A ciambella is a simple ring-shaped bread made of egg, shortening and sugar. Ciambelle were for a long time a symbol of luxury in Italian culture; a fancy bread pictured next to royalty and aristocracy in Renaissance painting. Today, ciambelle are often served as an afternoon snack at a bar or cafe. They can be dressed with glazes, syrups, or, in this case, a berry compote. In this recipe, I incorporate berries abundant in this area, but you can easily substitute whatever berries are available at your farmers’ market. With the listed ingredients, this ciambella makes the perfect summer dessert in this fertile area that I’ve come to love—Mario Batali (www.mynorth.com) Serves 8 Ingredients:

  • 1-pint blueberries
  • 1-pint blackberries
  • 1-pint raspberries
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/4 cup cold milk

Directions: In a large saucepan, combine the berries, lemon juice,and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Place over medium heat and heat just to the boiling point, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a cookie sheet. Combine the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, flour, and baking powder in a food processor and pulse quickly to blend. Add the cold butter and pulse quickly until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. In a separate bowl, beat the egg, almond extract, and milk until smooth. With the food processor running, add the liquid all at once and blend for 10 to 15 seconds, until the dough just forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a well-floured cutting board and shape it into a log about 14 inches long and 1 1/2 inches thick. Form the log into a ring in the center of the cookie sheet. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until light golden brown. Remove, transfer to a rack, and cool to room temperature. Cut the cake into slices about 1 inch thick, top with 2 tablespoons of berry compote, and serve.    

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Baltimore’s Little Italy

April 5, 2013

 

Ellis Island in New York harbor is well-known as the main entry point for European immigrants in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. What many do not know is that Baltimore was the second-leading port of entry at that time. The establishment of the nation’s first commercial steam railway, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, in 1828 opened the way to the West. As the westernmost major port on the East Coast, Baltimore was a popular destination.

Irish and German settlers were the first to use Baltimore as a point of entry. Immigration increased after the Irish potato famine of the mid-1840’s and the German political uprisings of 1848. The number became so great that after 1850, immigrants were no longer brought directly to Fell’s Point, Baltimore’s first port. Instead, they were unloaded at Locust Point, next to Fort McHenry. Between 1790 and 1860, Baltimore’s population rose from 13,503 to 212,418. Word spread and, for those who worked hard, there were jobs to be had with the railroad and businesses in the city. By 1913, when Baltimore immigration was averaging forty thousand per year, the federal government built an immigration center at Locust Point. But just as the center was being completed, World War I closed off the flow of immigrants, so the building became a military hospital. After the war there were not enough new arrivals to justify reopening the center. In the 1920’s, the building was transferred to the Treasury Department and used by Prohibition agents as a depot for confiscated liquor bound for Baltimore.

The B&O had constructed two large buildings at Locust Point that served as terminals for both the steamship lines and the railroad.

Italians began to settle in Baltimore during the late 1800s. Some Italian immigrants came to the Port of Baltimore by boat. The earliest Italian settlers in Baltimore were sailors from Genoa, the capital city of the Italian region of Liguria. Later immigrants came from Naples, Abruzzo, Cefalù, and Palermo. These immigrants created the monument to Christopher Columbus in Druid Hill Park. Many other Italians came by train after entering the country through New York City’s Ellis Island. The Italian immigrants who arrived by train would enter the city through the President Street Station. Because of this, the Italians largely settled in a nearby neighborhood that is now known as Little Italy. Little Italy comprises 6 blocks bounded by Pratt Street to the North, the Inner Harbor to the South, Eden Street to the East, and President Street to the West. Other neighborhoods where large numbers of Italians settled include Lexington, Belair-Edison and Cross Street. Many also settled along Lombard Street, which was named after the Italian town of Guardia Lombardi. 

Italian immigrants who made their living as sailors settled in Baltimore. Some heading west to seek their fortunes during the tail end of the California Gold Rush — stopped in Baltimore to prepare for the long journey across the country. Baltimore was a growing city and many immigrants made the decision to stay and work there instead of continuing their journey west. Some worked in construction, helping to build the city; some become fruit vendors and importers of Italian food and others were tailors, shoemakers and barbers.

st leo the great catholic church catholic in Baltimore

St Leo’s in Little Italy.

Baltimore’s Little Italy got its first church when the Roman Catholic complex of St. Leo’s Church was built in 1880. Today the church is listed as a national historic shrine. In 1904 the Great Baltimore Fire wind-whipped into an uncontrollable conflagration that engulfed a large portion of the city. The story goes that the population of Little Italy prayed to St. Anthony to spare the district and the fire stayed on the west side of the Jones Falls River. Little Italy was not damaged. Today St. Anthony is honored with annual dinners around the neighborhood as people give thanks to him for answering the prayers of their predecessors in 1904 to keep the fire at bay. This celebration has become known as the Festival of St. Anthony, which takes place around the historic church of St. Leo. Dancing, processions and, of course, lots of eating takes place over the two-day event in June. 

1904 Great Fire of Baltimore

The Italian community is still vibrant today with a large Italian American population and a very active Order of Sons of Italy in America. Numerous feasts, an open air film festivals and bocce tournaments are some of the annual events. Parish dinners, an Italian Golf Open, a Columbus Day parade, a tree lighting ceremony with a choir, an Italian-speaking Santa Claus and close to 25 Italian restaurants attract over seven million visitors to Baltimore’s Little Italy each year.

In 1994 the first of Little Italy’s open-air film festivals took place. Every year since then, it has grown in size and today it takes place each Friday night throughout July and August. The event is free, with movie-goers bringing their own chairs, blankets and snacks, as they sit back to watch a featured Italian-related movie. Free popcorn is provided along with live music and the festivals are open to the public.

This community is best appreciated for its fantastic foods and charming restaurants. Beyond the delicious, authentically prepared foods representing each distinct region of Italy, this neighborhood has much more to offer.

Pasta is a staple of Italian cuisine. Germano’s (300 South High Street) offers a unique opportunity for kids and adults to try their hand at making pasta. The chefs at Germano’s present a pasta-making demonstration and explain the history and culture associated with Italian cuisine. The presentation is followed by lunch where you enjoy the pasta that you helped to create!

Vaccaro’s Italian Pastry Shop

Gioacchino Vaccaro established Vaccaro’s Italian Pastry Shop in 1956. He was born and raised in Palermo, Italy. Mr. Jimmy, as he was so aptly known, brought with him the recipes and the knowledge of how to make the finest Siciliano pastries Baltimore had ever seen. Soon after opening, it was evident that the cannoli and rum cake had created a sensation among Baltimoreans. Today, Nick Vaccaro continues the family tradition begun by his father with the same old world recipes brought over from Italy.

Chiapparelli’s Restaurant

In 1925, at the age of 26, Pasquale Chiaparelli arrived in the United States aboard the Conte Rosso from Naples, Italy. A tailor by trade, he came to Baltimore to join other family members who had immigrated here before him. In the early 1940′s he opened a pizza place with his brother that would later become Chiaparelli’s restaurant. He married Anna Mary Pizza (yes, Pizza was her last name !) better known as, Miss Nellie. She made fresh ravioli for the restaurant daily until well into her 80’s. Miss Nellie died in 2004, just a few months shy of her 101 st. birthday. Pasquale preceded her in 2002. Today, the restaurant remains in the family.

Chiapparelli's House Salad

Chiapparelli’s House Salad

  • 2 heads Iceberg lettuce
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
  • 1 can black olives, sliced
  • Pepperoncinis, sliced
  • 1/2 cup white vinegar
  • 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons oregano
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Chop the lettuce, red onion, hard-boiled eggs, black olives and pepperoncinis in a large bowl.

Combine the white vinegar, olive oil, garlic, oregano and sugar into a dressing. Pour over the salad, add the grated cheese and toss.

lasagnabaltimore

Butternut Squash Lasagna

For the lasagna:

  • 3-4 butternut squash, peeled and sliced lengthwise into 1/2-inch sheets
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 6-8 links Italian sausage, casing removed and browned
  • 3 cans artichoke hearts, thinly sliced
  • 1 container baby spinach
  • 2 cups sun-dried tomatoes in oil
  • 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Olive oil

For the sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 4 shallots, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 cups dry champagne
  • 2 cups half & half (fat-free works also)
  • 1 bunch rosemary, finely chopped
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

 Directions:

Season squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast on a parchment-lined pan at 350 degrees F. until softened. Butter the bottom of a casserole dish and pour in a thin layer of heavy cream. Put a layer of squash sheets in the bottom of the dish, then add a layer of artichokes, then sausage and then spinach. Repeat until ingredients have been used up, ending with a layer of squash. Top with sun-dried tomatoes and cover with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 20-30 minutes. Garnish with a ladle of the champagne-cream sauce when serving.

For the sauce: Saute the garlic and shallots in butter until soft. Add the champagne and reduce until almost dry. Add the half & half  and reduce for 5 more minutes. Add the rosemary at the end and season with salt and pepper.

20436264_SA

Double-Decker Soft-Shell Crab Club

 Ingredients:

  • 1 oz. avocado
  • 1 oz. Remoulade sauce
  • 2 slices beefsteak tomato
  • 2 slices yellow pear tomato
  • 2 slices bacon
  • 2 slices Bibb lettuce
  • 3 slices sourdough bread
  • 1 small prepared crab cake
  • 1 soft-shell crab

Toast sourdough bread and set aside. Stuff the crab cake inside the soft-shell crab and fry until golden. Drain. Cut crab-cake-stuffed crab in half. Spread half the remoulade sauce on one slice of bread and top with half the lettuce, tomatoes and bacon. Add one half of the crab and top with the second slice of bread.

Spread second slice of bread with avocado and top with remaining lettuce, tomatoes, and bacon. Add second half of crab. Spread remaining remoulade sauce on the third piece of bread and place it face down on the sandwich. Serve.

truffles-540x399.jpg baltimore

Rosemary Olive Oil Truffles

  • 1 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 branch rosemary
  • 1 lb. bittersweet chocolate
  • 1/2 teaspoon rosemary flavored olive oil
  • Cocoa powder, for dusting

Gently boil heavy cream and rosemary branch in a saucepan. Remove pan from heat and cool 3-5 minutes. Strain out the rosemary and return cream to the pot; discard rosemary. Bring cream back to a boil. Remove from heat and add chocolate.

When the chocolate mixture cools, add the rosemary oil. Pour the mixture into a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap (press the wrap against the surface of the chocolate to keep air out).

Refrigerate for 4 hours. After that, use a tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop up balls of chocolate. Dust your hands with cocoa powder and roll the chocolate into truffles. Transfer truffles to an airtight container, stacking truffles in a single layer and refrigerate up to 2 weeks. Bring truffles to room temperature just before serving.

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Posted by in Baltimore, Bread, Butternut Squash, Casseroles, chocolate truffles, crab, Desserts, Fish, Healthy Italian Cooking, Italian Cuisine, Salad, Sausage, Vegetables Tags: , , ,

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