Before Italian food became restaurant menus, takeout boxes, and chain favorites, it was cooked at home in tenement kitchens, coal-heated apartments, and crowded family tables.
In this episode of Tastes of Yesterday, we explore 25 Italian immigrant dinners cooked before Italian food went mainstream. These were the everyday meals that fed more than four million Italian immigrants who arrived in America between the late 1800s and early 1900s. Dishes like uova in purgatorio, braciole simmered in Sunday gravy, and other slow-cooked, pork-rich meals formed the foundation of Italian-American cooking long before Alfredo and breadsticks became common.
Some of these dinners are still familiar today. Others have nearly disappeared. Together, they tell the story of how immigrant families cooked with limited space, simple tools, and shared tradition and how those kitchens shaped one of America’s most influential cuisines.
If these dishes bring back family memories, or if you recognize recipes passed down through generations, share your story in the comments. Subscribe to Tastes of Yesterday for more documentaries on the food that built everyday American life.
#ItalianAmerican #ItalianImmigrants #VintageCooking #FoodHistory #OldRecipes #TraditionalCooking #HomeCooking #CulturalHistory #TastesOfYesterday
39 Comments
I saw the tripe in your thumbnail and had to click. Back in the 60’s in England there was a lady who came around selling tripes from a bag. Mum would buy honeycomb and another more smooth hairy surface tripe, both of which were sort of fatty yellowish. Then came the cleaning which was a long process. I don’t know how it was done, I only know it required a lot of washing, scraping, and rinsing. There was a distinct smell. I was a child and had no hand in the process other than to tell mum the tripe lady was here when she showed up in our back yard. Mum made a very delicious dish with butter beans that we looked forward to. I try to replicate it today, though my tripe comes from the local market where it’s in a package, sometimes frozen. It’s bright white from having been bleached. There is no smell. I don’t make the dish often, and sometimes freeze some once it’s cooked. I’m now the only one eating from it. Thanks mum for introducing us to all sorts of organ meats. (We had to eat her liver and onions weekly. Mum insisted it was good for us). You did your best to have us grow up healthy. Rest in Peace Mum 💐
Bravo 👏👏👏👏👏👏🌹🌹🌹
I remember braciole served any time all aunts uncles, grandma and cousins got together!
Chicken cacciatore was my favorite! We served it with bread.
Escarole and beans was something my grandmother cooked!
Homemade ravioli was a specialty of the second generation!
My aunt uncle manicotti was made from scratch by my uncle and aunt!
I made that home and parochial school!
4:30—1st generation immigrant women used to spend a lot on food. They came to places like Boston, or NY and never had such variety like they had in Europe. They were also able to get fresher goods from further away because of refrigerated railcars.
These 1st generation women also packed food for their husband's. My grandfather never ate a sandwich when he went to work or bought lunch. My grandmother sent him off with a full meal every day he worked. She left all the money on the table.
As a child in 1970s I never liked the eggs in sauce, my father did. I loved braciola. I grew up on linguine and mussels or clams ,white or red . We ate chick peas but not many did ,i still eat them . We had chicken cachatore. We ate polenta as well. Tripe was never on our menu. In my 20s my father ate some tripe and took a massive stroke. Escarole was a big meal for us during the holidays.
I love tripe! I serve it on top of a bowl of polenta. I put cheese in my polenta. The other dish I like over polenta is rabbit. And I have my cousin's grandmother's homemade ravioli recipe.
Oh my Lord…did this bring back memories?! All my grandparents came from Italy between 1880 and 1901. I still make escarole and beans, potatoes and eggs, Pasta y faggioli and yes "gravy" and "macaroni" as we still called it back in the 60s and 70s before Italian cuisine and Italian American cuisine went "upper crusty"! ! still make other things too but the Sunday dinners with pasta faded into memory in the 80s and the main meal shifted to the evening and could be meat loaf, hot dogs or anything including pasta, like any other weekday, . But, there was a time when Sunday morning saw every family household with a pot of "gravy" and "gravy meat" on the stove. I Still make angel hair pasta with garlic, oil, toasted bread crumbs with chopped basil and parsley and black pepper thrown in at the end. As an older baby boomer, this vid is both heartwarming and sad. The Ellis Island generation is long gone. The first generation World War II generation is gone and I ain't gettin' any younger…but the memories linger…
Italian women were and still are extremely creative when it comes to food. To be honest Italians are well known for being creative in all aspects of life. Proud to be Italian!!!
This is how I grew up eating. My grandmother was straight from Naples and we lived with her. I go to Italian restaurants and don't recognize anything as Italian food.
Iam a lucky lucky man.My Mother and my Beautiful wife cook like this almost every day.
There will never be ripening my mouth. I’ll pasta with nothing
THE BIG 3 FOODS THAN REST OF THE WORLD LEARN FROM IT WAS CHINESE, GREEK,AND ITALIAN,
I NOTICE THAT SOME OF THE PANS AND POTS ARE MODERN, SO ARE SOME OF THE RECIPES
I REALLY APRECIET THIS RECIPES THEY ARE GOOD ,TESTY,SIMPLE AND ECONOMICAL, AND HEALTHY WHAT IS NOT TO LIKE? TODAY ,IS ADDITIVES, FACKE COLORS,PRESERVATIVES AND FAKE FLAVOR,
I DO WISH THAT THE SAUSAGES ARE MADE LIKE LONG TIME EGO I AM NOT LIKE THE NEW KIND GREASE, TOUGH, TASTES ,NOT THE BEST NO MATTER WHAT THE COMERCIAL SAYS
I GOT TO KNOW A NONNA THE ROAST EVERYTHING MEAT BONNES, TOMATES, ONION, GARLIC, IN THE OVEV AND THEN MAKE THE SPAGHETTI SAUCE IT TOOK ALL DAY,THAN MAKE THE MEATBALLS I HAVENG EAT NATHING LIKE IT I MAKE MY OWN BUT IT IS NOT LIKE HER IT WAS THE BEST,,RICH, CREAME,TASTY LIKE ROASTED MEAT NOT TOMATY ABSOLUTELY THE BEST,
I grew up eating many of these recipes prepared by my grandmother and mom. The smell of gravy simmering on the stove brings back memories of waking up on a Sunday morning. Sunday dinner was always an event with extended family coming over for dinner. I've tried to keep the tradition alive. My grown children now still talk about the big Sunday dinners at my mom's house. Food is love and I am grateful to have those memories and to be able to pass them on to the next generation.
My dad hated Palanta till the day he died
Wow tripe stew or as Puerto Ricans call it mondongo is also part of our cuisine. We make it with potatoes carrots and garbanzos aka chick peas.
Eggs in tomato is made in Turkey — and called Menemen and also eaten from the pan with bread.
I like how the narrator keeps saying "the women" did this and that. Of course they did but he kept saying it. I make several of these recipes frequently
you show rack of lamb when you're talking about braciole? che pazzo!
I made Passatelli on Christmas Day in homemade chicken soup.
I laugh when I see a sign on an Italian Restaurant or on the menu that says something to the effect "Authentic Italian Cuisine" or "authentic taste of Italy" Being of Austro-Italian heritage i know that there are as many "authentic" Italian recipes as there are authentic Italian grandmothers and no two are alike. That's why we never had my great grandmothers sisters over to help in the kitchen. We didn't want to wait on dinner until after the police took everyone's statement of just what happened and HAZMAT cleaned the gravy from the floor and walls of the kitchen. So we waited until Nona had most everything ready and then called her sisters who always said "Lena why didn't you call us sooner, we could have helped you.?''
Nona just looked down at her plate and said "Oh, it was nothing" and gave those of the 15 other people there for dinner and were wise to the reason, a sly wink. This wasn't her last rodeo. As the second oldest daughter and the fifth oldest in a family of nine children she had learned that too many cooks spoiled the broth from an early age.
I miss her and the fragrance of her kitchen. But most of all I miss the foods that I didn't learn to make.
😓
Uova in Purgatorio sounds like shakshuka
Pinoy enjoyed Italy for four years ,had eaten these recipes and till now !!!❤❤❤
I would be interested to know how different they were from the old world because of the lack of access to the regional ingredients and also the socioeconomic status of many immigrants- they had to improvise and make do right ?
I was so fortunate to enjoy all these dishes and more. Sunday meals with Nana at the stove. Aunts, Uncles, cousins. Such memories
20 regions in the peninsula so many foods and recipies some very old. It's called La Buona cucina gastronomica italiana regionale. Furthermore; the a dish of the same name and ingredients is different in the next town.
Lot's of dishes but not much on curing meats on the cheap like mortadella, bologna and n'duja. Not a problem as many dishes to create and still a whole library can be made on bread along. I am curious to know how Italians have all this food game…but NO NEW CHEESE game…and if they do…where is it and how does it evolve into today. California is getting better at lava ash grown tomatoes and olive oil…so that is getting very interesting. However most cali wines do not even compare to Italy or the Mediterranean
I enjoyed this so much! All the foods my two Italian mothers in law made and taught me – but I found the low prices of "the old days" very depressing! Ahhh, but the tastes are priceless!
My grandma made every one of these dishes-she was an amazing cook
I grew up on northern German food but Italian food is simply the best❤