I’ve spent a good part of 2018 writing about New Orleanians of Sicilian descent and their food. Inevitably, the discussion turns to “red gravy.” In New Orleans, many of us call our spaghetti sauce by that moniker, which is a term new-to-town Italians find confusing. That includes chef Giovanni "Gio" Vancheri of Villa Vancheri in Mandeville, who in...
READ MOREPicture it: A farmhouse kitchen in the 1950s Sicilian countryside. At the stove is Marianna Impastato. At her elbow is her son Sal. Atop that stove is a huge pot of simmering onions. As the onions turn translucent and shiny with olive oil, she adds minced fresh garlic; pig’s feet go in and gallons of crushed fresh Italian tomatoes. Who would enjo...
READ MORECreole-Italian restaurants blessedly still thrive in New Orleans, with their red gravies and Gulf seafood, but they’re no longer, as they were just a decade ago, the only games in town. Paladar 511 is the most recent perfect expression of the alternative that’s emerged. I call the cooking Italian because a sizable percentage of it takes the form of...
READ MOREOn March 14, 1891 eleven Italian-Americans were lynched in New Orleans by a mob waving the Confederate flag who had been whipped up into believing that New Orleans Police Chief David Hennessey had been murdered by "the dagoes." It is from this incident that the term "mafia" entered the American lexicon as the thugs who lynched these 11 men, who had...
READ MOREWednesday, November 7, 2018. 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM CST. Italian Cultural & Community Center - 1101 Milford Street - Houston, TX 77006. Justin Nystrom will be at the Italian Cultural & Community Center in Houston, Texas to share more about his book "Creole Italian: Sicilian Immigrants and the Shaping of New Orleans Food Culture" In his book Creole Itali...
READ MOREAfter Sicilians arrived en masse to New Orleans beginning in late 1800s, the area near the French Market became known as “Little Palermo” and the “Italian Sector.” Sicilian workers often stopped into Central Grocery for bread, olives, cold cuts, and cheese for lunch, which they ate standing up or with a plate perched tenuously in their laps. Salvat...
READ MOREIN THE MOOD IN OUR OWN WAY: a documentary written, produced, directed and narrated by LUCA MARTERA, edited by CARLA BRANDOLINI, linguistic consultant and additional voice narration FRANK PISATURO. A Sexual Radar Production, 2018 https://vimeo.com/296585302 From the ancient Italian tradition of the Great Opera Houses to the Neapolitan melodies of 20...
READ MOREOn this week's show, we'll explore the immense influence that Italian foodways had on the development of New Orleans cuisine. We'll time travel through the years of the family-operated Uptown gem, Pascal's Manale. This history, which is now immortalized in Poppy's new book, The Pascal's Manale Cookbook, focuses on two Sicilian immigrant families, t...
READ MOREAngelo Brocato and three generations of his family have been known for creating and selling authentic Italian gelato, ice cream, cookies and cannoli in the city since 1905, though the spot most New Orleanians know at 214 N. Carrollton Ave. actually is their third location. Author Justin Nystrom chronicles the Brocato story in his new book, Creole I...
READ MOREThis year marks the 40th anniversary of the Piazza d'Italia, an architectural highlight in downtown New Orleans. Located between Poydras and Lafayette streets, the outdoor plaza was conceived by leaders of New Orleans' Italian-American community as a public tribute to the contributions of Italians to the city. The $1.65 million piazza was designed...
READ MORE