Most American visitors to Italy search in vain for Spaghetti with Meatballs or Linguine Alfredo. While we think we know what Italian is, we discover that what Italians eat and what Italian-Americans eat is quite different. Food provides an excellent barometer to measure the speed and completeness of the integration of Italian-American immigrants to the United States? Did they stick tenaciously to their food traditions, or did they assimilate (culinarily speaking) quickly and totally? This talk focuses on the institutions (social clubs, Little Italies) and events (the Great Depression and Prohibition) that shaped Italian-American cuisine.

Lecture by Zachary Nowak from Harvard University.