This narrative helps participants reflect on the process of Italian food becoming American food. Older Americans can remember a time when many Americans didn't know what spaghetti and meatballs were. It's hard to imagine now. But like so many other ethnic cuisines, Italian food was street food, peasant food, brought to America by the poorest of the poor. It was strange and stigmatized, unless of course, you happened to be Italian.
Food is a great conversation starter. You can talk about things you love and things you don't appreciate at all. You can talk about food you love to make, food you love to eat, even food other people eat or read about or saw on television.
But this story can also frame a conversation about identity, belonging and becoming. If you are Italian, it's a great lead-in to recalling feelings of being different and excluded from the larger American experience, but also of the closeness and familiarity of family. But it's also a story about assimilation and becoming American. Italian-Americans who came of age in the 40's and 50's tend to think of themselves as American of Italian origins while their parents and grandparents considered themselves Italian. The same conversation can be relevant and engaging for any other ethnic group with similar feelings.
Business and advertising are another "hook" in this story. Precisely because they were based on compelling narratives themselves, powerful images and sometimes music, food advertising can be particularly memorable and evocative. The process of commercializing, merchandizing and ultimately commoditization played a big part in normalizing ethnic food and making it widely available to everyone. See if you remember the story about Anthony Martignetti in the Prince Spaghetti commercial filmed in Boston's North End. Or the Chef Boyardee ads and sudden appearance in supermarkets the decade before.
And finally, if participants in the conversation are interested, you can talk about loss. The personal, even intimate and authentic experience of your grandmother's spaghetti with meat sauce is a stark reminder of what Chef Boyardee's canned macaroni could never be.
