Did you know...
Food, like religion, played a big role in the Italian American community. The Italian dishes were the first “ethnic” foods to appear in small towns and large cities across America. As Americans became more prosperous and eat out more common, the Italians were there to serve their fellow Americans. Del Monico in New York became a landmark in 1900; later Mamma Leone was a must stop for all visitors to New York; Marro in South Philadelphia, Pizza Margherita was created in Naples in the nineteenth century and brought to America by the immigrants. Today no town in America is without a pizza parlor. Some Americans actually claim it is their own invention! Pasta also has become as American as apple pie but was said that the Chinese invented pasta. The truth is that a Tuscan cookbook was left by Marco Polo on his journey to China and clearly describes vermicelli pasta!
Eye-Italian!
Why do Italians hate Jehovah Witnesses? Because Italians hate all witnesses!
Do you know why most men from Italy are named Tony? On the boat over to America, they put a sticker on them that said, “TONY!”
You know you are Italian when:
- You can bench press 325 pounds, shave twice a day, and still cry when your mother yells at you!
- You carry your lunch in a produce bag because you can’t fit two capicolla sandwiches, four oranges, two bananas, and pizzelles into a regular lunch bag!
- If someone in your family grows beyond 5’9”, it is presumed his mother had an affair!
- There were more than twenty-eight people in your bridal party.
- You netted more than $50,000 on your First Communion!
- You really, really know you are Italian when your grandfather had a fig tree!
- You eat Sunday dinner at 2:00 p.m.
- Christmas Eve you only eat fish.
- Your mother’s meatballs are the best.
- You have been hit with a wooden spoon or had a shoe thrown at you.
- Clear plastic covers on all the furniture.
- You know how to pronounce “manicotti” and “mozzarella.”
- You fight over whether it is called sauce or gravy.
- You understand “bada-bing”!