On the occasion of SCIM - Week of Italian Culture in the World, (this year in its eighth edition, from November 13 to 19), we present I Racconti delle Radici (Tales from the Roots): a wide-ranging project, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, on the history of the cuisine of Italians who emigrated between the late 19th century and the 1970s to America, Northern Europe, and Australia. The aim of the project is to tell the stories and recipes that arose from the combination of the gastronomic traditions of Italian immigrants with the culinary customs found in the lands of arrival. Simone Cinotto, professor of Contemporary History at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo and food history researcher, has drawn a picture of the main stages of the emigration of Italians and introduces us to the characteristics of the "new Italian cuisine" born outside our borders.
Italy around the world: the migratory routes
First Phase: 1870-1900
The European routes for seasonal and temporary emigration (France and Switzerland) became permanent. Added to these were the transatlantic destinations (Argentina, Brazil, and the United States) as part of the population and development of these countries and the abolition of slavery
in the Americas. The Italian regions most affected by the mass migration phenomenon were those in the north and center, in particular, Veneto (Brazil) and Piedmont (Argentina), and to a lesser extent Liguria and Tuscany (California).
Second Phase: 1900-1930
Migratory flows reached their peak with the modernization of transport and an international job market stimulated by the industrialization of Northern European and North American countries. Six million Italians lived outside Italy, out of a population of 35 million. Two million emigrated to France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Germany, and three million to the United States alone. In 1924, the USA introduced a highly restrictive immigration law that reduced arrivals from Italy to a minimum, effectively closing this period which included the First World War. The Italian regions most affected by mass migration were those in the South, in particular Sicily, Campania, Calabria, and Basilicata, especially with emigration to the United States, but also to Argentina.
Third Phase: 1950-1975
After the fascist period, the attempted colonization in Ethiopia and Libya, and the Second World War, mass migratory flows resumed. Many of these headed towards Northern Europe to be involved in post-war reconstruction (Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Great Britain) and towards new destinations outside Europe, such as Canada and Australia. Emigration to these countries, which had experienced an economic boom in the post-war period, declined at the beginning of the Seventies: in 1976 the Italian migratory balance was positive for the first time in history, with more people entering Italy than leaving it. The regions most affected by post-World War II emigration were Sicily, Campania, and Calabria (especially to Canada and Australia), but there were other important migratory chains from Lazio, Sardinia, and Veneto (particularly to Australia).
Far away, close to home
«Thank you for the salami and mushrooms you sent me-I made the sauce with the mushrooms and I thought about you», a Ligurian immigrant in Argentina wrote to his mother. Between 1876 and 1976, 27 million people left Italy, the same number as the population of the country at the time of its unification in 1861.
For many of them, food represented the reason for their leaving, as well as continuing to connect them to Italy. The emigrants of the late nineteenth century left some of the poorest countryside in Europe and a daily diet based on polenta and black bread; meat and wheat were dreams that could only come true in “La Merica”, the promised land. As well as hunger, the immigrants brought with them the culinary traditions of the festivals - the "typical" dishes such as the Piedmontese tajarin with 40 yolks or the Sicilian San Giuseppe cuisine - and the idea that cooking would keep together families who were separated by oceans and borders. The conditions were better abroad: in Argentina and Australia, they ate beef three times a week instead of three times a year. Many emigration recipes, such as Italian-American chicken parm, replaced the vegetables in the original dishes with meat, or made extensive use of garlic, chilli pepper, and tomato sauce, hot and spicy ingredients that were recognized as ‘Italian’.
The special features of the Great Italian Emigration were decisive: the high number of migrants and their concentration in distinct communities, “Little Italy", created new markets for the pasta, tinned tomato, cheese, and olive oil industries, giving rise to the global export of produce made in Italy. Farmers would carry the seeds in their pockets as they traveled, starting to grow ‘Italian’ vegetables at every latitude: broccoli, courgettes, and aubergines. In Toronto, where the winters are very harsh indeed, they would bury their beloved fig trees and then replant them in spring. To feed the many immigrants, who were single men only later joined by women and children, many restaurants serving “Italian cuisine” were opened.
From Argentina to France, and from Germany to Brazil, Italian regional culinary traditions crossed paths with a variety of cultures, resulting in very different dishes which still had a ‘family feel’. We don’t know the names of those who created recipes in the kitchens where there was running water and a gas hob for the first time, or on construction sites where the owner gave them the task of cooking for many men, but we do know that it was chef-entrepreneurs like Salvatore Lupo of the muffuletta or Dario Fontanella of the Spaghetteis who invented the foods that became iconic. Today, in the age of Skype and Zoom, the emotional value of that food from home continues in the experience of the many Italians who still emigrate. The phenomenon of the “pacco da giù”, where the Italian family sends a box of delicious and memorable food to their children living overseas, is a testament to the unchanged value of food as something that identifies Italians all over the world. The dishes we offer bear witness to the many traditional cuisines with which they have built and renewed their identity over time and generations.
Aussie Spag Bol recipe
Italian migration to Australia began in the early twentieth century, with Sicilians heading towards Queensland to work on the sugar cane plantations; however, only after the Second World War did it become a mass phenomenon, with more than 400,000 arrivals between 1949 and 1980. Most of the immigrants came from Sicily, Calabria, and Veneto and were concentrated in the largest cities, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, and Perth. Until the 1960s, regional dishes brought to Australia, which focused on practices such as making your own salami and tomato preserves, attracted little interest outside the Italian community. Starting from the Seventies, though, as the migratory flow reduced, the image of Italy and its cuisine began to become attractive for Australians too. Spag bol (an abbreviation for spaghetti bolognese, a new recipe that could not be found in regional recipe books) is the symbolic dish that immigrants have managed to introduce into Australian cuisine. It was so successful that it was served in every restaurant, whether Italian or not and cooked in homes across the country. (ph Davide Maestri)
THE RECIPE
Cook Ilaria Castelli
Effort Easy
Time 1 hour and 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS FOR 6 PEOPLE
1 kg minced beef
800 g chopped peeled tomatoes
500 g spaghetti
375 g beef stock
100 g diced bacon
100 g peeled mushrooms
2 garlic cloves
1 onion
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
oregano
basil
Parmigiano Reggiano DOP
extra virgin olive oil
salt – pepper
Peel the celery, carrot, and onion and chop them finely.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan and add the chopped vegetables and bacon. Leave to brown for about 5 minutes.
Slice the mushrooms and crush the garlic.
Add them to the vegetables and cook for 2 minutes, then add the minced beef and mix with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes, until golden brown.
Then add the peeled tomatoes, the stock and a little oregano, season with salt and pepper, bring to the boil, turn down the heat and cook for about 1 hour.
Boil the spaghetti, drain it, and share it on the plates; add the sauce and top with grated parmesan
and basil.