Italian-American Cuisine

Italian-American Cuisine

Italian American cuisine is the cuisine of Italian American immigrants and their descendents, who have modified Italian cuisine under the influence of American culture and immigration patterns of Italians to the United States. As immigrants from different regions of Italy settled in different regions of the United States and became “Italian Americans,” they brought with them diverse traditions of foods and recipes that were particularly identified with their regional origins in Italy and yet infused with the characteristics of their new home locale in America. Many of these foods and recipes developed into new favorites for town peoples and then later for Americans nationwide; as, for example, the muffuletta sandwich from New Orleans or the "toasted ravioli" (actually breaded and deep-fried) from St. Louis, Missouri. A measure of the widespread popularity of Italian American cuisine in the United States is in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area of Minnesota, demographically dominated by Scandinavian and German Americans, the City Pages newspaper identified Italian American food as the most widespread culinary style in the region, with examples ranging from the ubiquitous spaghetti dinner to fashionable restaurants.

Prominent American chefs and cooks working in the Italian American style include: Giada De Laurentiis, Emeril Lagasse, Sal Scognamillo, Michael Chiarello, Frank Pellegrino, Laurie Thomas, Rocco DiSpirito, Tom Colicchio, Lidia Bastianich and others.