THE NEW MELDING POT

It is not so new as it seems old by now. What am I talking about, the gradual surge of mixing Italian food with American food as to become almost a new category? The ingredients of both pallets seem to mirror to some degree each other. To me, the time has come and it is great. But that cultural renaissance does not stop there, no, with the trend of Asian ‘Fusion’; it now ties into Italian/Asian fusion, a wonderful blend of ideas that is making strides. I guess for an appetizer you could do some Asian inspired mini pizza or, eggrolls stuffed with Italian inspired flavors like a spinach/ricotta mixture maybe? I'm a big fan of Asian food so I could probably have many more good ideas, I'm afraid.

Italian food like Asian is so full of options and wonderful flavors like no other cultural foods on Earth can claim. That is why they are both so popular in this country, and why we see many Italian restaurants overseas, outside of the Italian border.

Mexican also has a trend heading in the direction of fusion inspiration, and can easily be adopted with Italian or Asian foods. You must admit, taking the best culinary traditions and marrying them is just what America is all about. I married an Irishman, am happy to this very day, I’m sure many of you have married other ethnicities and thrive in your lives. We as the younger Americanized generation realize they are all good people and we are now more educated and mixed in with other nationalities, and what a great gift we are giving to our children.

The French claim to cooking is that they learned from the Italians, mostly the northern Italians. When the French occupied Italy way back in the 1700 and 1800’s they learned the local ways of cooking, and since there is no ‘real’ Italian cooking per se, it is regional and adapts to what ingredients are on hand. The French too, have a wonderful culinary tradition that lends itself to both Italian and American fare. This is Italian style cooking, taking what you have in your pantry and “Throwing something together”.

But being Italian I love to eat, I love the old dishes as well as the new I want to experience everything, that is the artist, writer and Italian in me. The comfort foods of Grandma and Mom still linger in the heart and mind, but most importantly on my tongue.