A day does not go by in my life that I don’t think about being Italian. My Italian-American heritage is very important to me; it connects me with my ancestors. It took my ancestors a lot of courage to leave their homeland and move to a foreign land. My ancestors left behind so much to come to nothing, in search of a better life. They struggled, like so many to adapt to their new land. But on their journey here they were determined to keep a live many traditions of Italian life, and they passed these traditions from generation to generation. Many of these traditions come from the kitchen. No matter what the occasion is, there is always an Italian dish on the table. Food always connected my family, from times of happiness to times of sadness. Food holds my family together.
My Great-great grandparents Maria Ruggiero and Luigi LaBrusciano came to America in 1900 from Malvito Italy. When they got married Maria was only 15 and Luigi was 29. They had 9 kids together. After arriving to America they moved to Mamaroneck NY, where he worked for the village and was a caretaker for several estates in the town. My great-great grandfather also enjoyed growing vegetables in his garden and making Italian wine. They both became American Citizens in 1943. When the judge approached them, the first thing my great-great grandmother said was that she had six sons in the army. Upon hearing that, the judge said he did not have to ask them any questions for all of her sons were fighting in the war. He granted them citizenship.
My great grandmother Nellie LaBrusciano was born in 1903 in Mamaroneck NY, to Maria Ruggiero and Luigi LaBrusciano. She than married Michael Battapaglia, they had two children together, Gloria and Agnes. My great-great-great grandfather Domenico LaBrusciano came to the United States to seek employment. He was hired a blaster during the building of the New York Subway system. He was about 27 years old. While blasting rock one of the explosives failed to go off. When he and his foreman decided to go check why it failed to work, the unit of dynamite exploded, killing him and his foreman. This happened in 1896.
The great majority of the lives of the Italians were not success stories. They lived in poverty while working at whatever jobs were available, even when working conditions were dangerous or unhealthy. Their determination to work whatever the salary created a wide demand for their services, particularly in larger cities, Ninety percent of the labor forces employed by New York’s Department of public works in 1890 was Italian (Magione and Morreale 138.)
The "dirty work" entailed a variety of unskilled jobs such as sewer laying, subway construction, street grading, general construction, and street cleaning. The most desirable of these jobs placed the worker on the city payroll, providing a steady job and minimum danger (Mangione and Morreale 138-139.) My great-great-great grandfather had a common among Italians.
My Great-great grandmother Carmella Gallo was born in Pennsylvania in 1904. Her father Salvatore Gallo came to America in 1903. He had worked as a teacher back in Calabria, Italy. After coming to the US, he worked in the coal mines in Pennsylvania. His hands were badly burned in a coal mine fire. From Pennsylvania they moved to Louisville Kentucky still hoping for a better life. My Great-grandmother married Anthony Etre in 1920. She was only 16 and Anthony was much older. This was arranged by their parents, true Italian style. They had three children, Samuel, my grandfather, Marguerite, and Frank.
After being in the whole-sale fruit business in Kentucky for a while. Anthony Etre then moved to Mamaroneck, New York. He had friends living there and told him about this town. In Mamaroneck he started a landscaping business, which he ran until he retired. My grandfather than took the business over and expanded it to include other things such as blacktop and construction equipment. My grandfather Samuel Etre married Gloria Battapaglia in 1951. They had four Children together, Marc, my father, Robert, Deborah, and Richard. They have lived in Mamaroneck since the time of their marriage.
Many Italian Immigrants moved to cities in which they knew family and friends. Usually these people helped the new immigrants settle in. They helped them find jobs and get used to what it is like to live in America (Iorizzo and Mondello 65). My ancestors moved to Mamaroneck because some of their family and friends were already living there. The heard about Mamaroneck by "word of mouth." These people already living there helped the to find a place to stay and a job to survive.
My great grandmother Nellie has influenced my life in many ways. From her stories to her cooking, she is a part of me. When I was younger I always looked forward to going to her house, especially her kitchen. There was something always on her stove or in her oven. I always went to her house on Sundays. When I went over I always smelled her famous tomato sauce simmering on the stove. I loved to help her make it. I would sprint right toward her pantry closet and take out her little yellow step stool so that I could help her put all of the ingredients into her sauce. She told me her secret ingredients, how to add a pinch of sugar to the sauce. Without fail, every Sunday my great grandmother told me how when she was my age she helped her grandmother make the same exact sauce. She also told me how, when I got older I would be making the same sauce for my family.
Not only was she known for her famous sauce she always made the best Italian cookies from Biscotti di Nodo, Italian knot cookies, to ribbons, fried dough shaped like a ribbon. I always loved to help her bake. I loved to make the knot cookies because she let me put the "finishing" touches on them, the icing and the sprinkles. Every time we made those cookies without fail she would always told me "not to much icing Krissy, to much sugar is no good for you." She always had everything ready for me on her kitchen table. Everything lined up from the Fluor to the sprinkles. She helped me with putting everything in to her big bowl, which was her grandmother’s. My great grandmother told me that someday this bowl would be mine.
While we cooked or bake she would tell me stories of her childhood. One story that stood out the most is how she was an extra in two of D. W. Griffith, "Orphans of the Storm" and "Birth of a Nation." She got to be in these movies with Lillian Gish, a famous actress at the time. Both of these movies were shot in Mamaroneck, NY, her hometown. She always told me that if an opportunity comes up take it, you never know when it might come up again. That’s what she had learn from her experience as an extra. She would tell me how if she did not do this work how she would have regretted it later on in her life. The Advice my great-grandmother’s gave me back then is something I still live by.
My great grandmother died when I was on the eighth grade. I will never forget all of the stories she told me about her mother and grandmother, how they cooked and baked just like us. I will always have her tomato sauce recipe in my head; I will never forget the secret ingredients that she told me. After her funeral we all went back to my grandmother’s house and ate all of the Italian foods she love to eat and make.
What is a holiday in an Italian household without Italian foods? Every Christmas Eve, which was always meatless, my family indulges in fish, up to eight different kinds. Fish on Christmas Eve is a big tradition in my family. My grandmother cooks just about all day for maybe, if we are lucky a forty-five minute dinner. My favorite has to be the shrimp and the lobster. My grandmother also makes filet of sole and many others.
My great grandmother always made the best cookies for Christmas. After her death, my Aunt Debby took her tradition over, with the help of my cousin and me. The three of always have fun; we make my great grandmother famous knot cookies along with her famous walnut cake. And what is Christmas with out chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookie. The three of us have fun baking, and talking about how "nanny" use to have her kitchen spotless while baking and why we are such slobs. Easter is another day where my grandmother’s kitchen is frantic. Everyone is in the kitchen on Saturday. My grandfather is making enough Easter bread for each member in my family to have at least two loaves. My cousin and I are helping my grandmother making her famous Struffoli, honey balls. These are little fried puffs coated with honey. I always loved their sticky outside. My cousin and I would place them sitting in a pyramid shape on my grandmother’s famous Easter dish.
Italian American’s have kept alive many of the customs and traditions of their heritage. Traditions from the village life back in Italy. These traditions are carried on generation after generation (di Franco 15). This past summer my family and I took a trip to Italy, to see where my ancestors came from. It was a trip I will never forget. This trip made me have a better understanding of my heritage. It put all of the pieces together. Now when I go to my grandparent’s house for dinner at 2:00 in the afternoon on Sunday, I felt like I am in my ancestor’s homeland. Italy’s eating pattern is so much different than America’s. The have their larger meals in the afternoon, our dinner and they have a lighter meal in the evening, our lunch. Most of the foods that I ate there were foods that my family eats just about everyday.
I also got to see what it was like to go to a foreign land and try to adapt. My first impression of the way they ate was, "how could your eat prosciutto sandwiches for breakfast?" More than likely when my ancestors came over they were in the same position I was. They might have been looking for sandwiches for breakfast and to their surprise they found bacon and eggs.
Seeing first hand what it was like to live in a small Italian Village also helped me understand what it was like to live in Italy. I got the sense that everyone knew each other in the town. I somewhat think that is why most of my family settled in Mamaroneck NY. Growing up there myself, my family pretty much knows many people from the town, either from a business point or a social point. I could not go to church without someone saying to me, "I used to play with your grandmother at your age." I give my ancestors a lot of credit for leaving their towns and villages to come to a place where they knew very little about. They must have had great strength and courage. Some of my ancestors left when they were younger than I was. I would never imagine leaving my house now to move to a different country in search for a better life.
My heritage is very important to me. I am proud to be Italian American
and each day I know who I am. I am connected to my ancestors not only but
the stories I hear, but also by the foods I eat. Throughout the generations,
my family has made it a point to keep the tradition of foods going. I know
that someday when I have a family of my own, I will be teaching my kids
how to cook and bake using my great grandmother’s bowl and also sharing
all of the secrets to her recipes. I will be proud to keep all of my Italian
traditions alive for the rest of my life. I cherish all of the bit and
pieces of my heritage.
Works Cited
Di Franco, J. The Italian Americans. New York: Chelsea House, 1988.
Iorizzo, Luciano and Mondello, Salvatore. The Italian Americans. Boston: Twayne Publisher, 1980
Mangione, Jerre and Morreale, Ben. La Storia New York: Happer
Collins Publishers, 1992