>> From the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. ^M00:00:04 ^M00:00:18 [ Foreign language ] ^M00:00:22 >> Lucia Wolf: Welcome, we are very pleased to have you here this evening for this wonderful event. The first week of Italian Cuisine in the World, so very exciting. And we are very pleased to have two wonderful food historians and chefs here. Before I introduce them, I would like to talk a little bit about the Italian collections of the Library of Congress. We have 450,000 items across divisions in our collections. So it's quite a huge collection. And for Italian cooking, I counted 1,900 books, for Italian cooking alone. So we have a small display outside. It shows a range of books in our general collections. But one of these days, we will also have a nice exhibit of our rare books and special collections. So I am Lucia Wolf. I work at the European division. I am responsible for the Italian collections, of course. And also of Malta, Vaticano, San Marino, and Italian-Switzerland. So those are my fields. If you ever have some questions, please come and see me. Anybody can request and use our books at the Library of Congress. So we're happy to be here and to help you all out. But let's introduce our speakers. So, Domenica Marchetti. Domenica Marchetti grew up in an Italian family. Her mother is from Chieti, in Abruzzo. And of her family, Domenica says, "At the dinner table, we spent more time talking about what we should eat the next day, rather than politics and the news of the day." I can relate, being Italian. But I have to say that I had some of my best political discussions with my father, at the dinner table. Domenica refers to another experience. She says that her mother had her sister and her shaping gnocchi and ravioli by the time they could see over the kitchen counter. This too, is a very common experience in Italian families. Domenica graduated from Columbia's School of Journalism. Started her career as a newspaper reporter. And wrote about a lot of topics, until she realized that writing about Italian food was her calling. Her recipes and articles on Italian cuisine are featured in many national publications. Including ^ITCooking Light^NO, ^ITFine Cooking^NO, ^ITFood and Wine^NO, ^ITThe Chicago Tribune^NO, ^ITThe Washington Post^NO, and the list goes on and on. So she is the author of seven books, which we do have, I am happy to say, in our collections at the Library. ^ITPreserving Italy: Canning, Curing, Infusing, and Bottling Italian Flavors and Traditions^NO is her latest book, 2016. Thank you, Connie, for bringing her personal copy over, because I had trouble getting, requesting the book. ^ITCiao Biscotti^NO. ^ITThe Glorious Vegetables of Italy^NO. ^ITThe Glorious Pasta of Italy^NO. ^ITWilliams-Sonoma, Rustic Italian: Simple, Authentic Recipes for Everyday Cooking^NO. ^ITBig Night In: More Than 100 Wonderful Recipes for Feeding Family and Friends Italian-Style^NO. And ^ITThe Glorious Soups and Stews of Italy^NO. To learn more about Domenica, you can refer to her blog, domenicacooks.com. Now for Amy Riolo. Amy Riolo is no stranger to the Library of Congress. She has been here on various occasions for various lectures. But, for those who do not know about Amy, she is an award-winning, best-selling author, chef, television personality. And in this case, too, it goes on and on. I wouldn't have enough time to talk about all of Amy's achievements here. Amy comes from an American family, originally from Calabria. Calabria is Southern Italy, the tip of the boot, I like saying. So you guys have an idea where that is. She graduated from Cornell University. And set out to become one of the most respected culinary diplomats and advocates of the Mediterranean diet. Her most recent book, ^ITThe Italian Diabetes Cookbook^NO was released on January, 2016, and is in our display, among other books by Amy. Among them, ^ITThe Ultimate Mediterranean Diet Cookbook^NO. ^ITThe Mediterranean Diabetes Cookbook^NO. ^ITNile Style: Egyptian Cuisine and Culture^NO. ^ITArabian Delights: Recipes & Princely Entertaining Ideas from the Arabian Peninsula^NO. She makes -- Amy makes frequent appearances on many television and radio programs. Including ^ITFox TV, ABC, CBS, NBC, Nile TV^NO, and ^ITAbu Dhabi Television^NO. She was in Morocco, just before coming here. >> Wow! >> Lucia Wolf: Yes. Her delicious recipes grace the pages of many newspapers and magazines. Including, ^ITUSA Today, Cooking Light, The Washington Post, CNN.com^NO, and ^ITThe Wall Street Journal^NO. Again, the list goes on and on. If you would like to learn more about Amy, her blog, amyriolo.com is full of interesting information and wonderful recipes. Such as her mouthwatering mussels and tomato saffron broth. That made me want to get up and make it last Sunday. So it is impossible for me to say more about Amy's and Domenica's achievements in such a brief introduction. And I will let the speakers do it for themselves. And now to Domenica Marchetti and Amy Riolo. Enjoy. ^M00:06:50 [ Applause ] ^M00:06:56 ^M00:06:57 >> Domenica Marchetti: Hi, thank you. Thank you, Lucia, for that that lovely introduction. Hi everyone, thanks so much for joining us this evening. I was contacted by Renato, from the Italian Embassy, to speak about Italian food. Which is a subject near and dear to my heart. I have seven books on Italian cooking. So it's something I think about pretty much 24-7. And I was thinking about the theme of this week, Italian Food in the World. Italian Cuisine in the World. And so I'm just going to give you a little bit of an overview on my thoughts on that subject. And then Amy has prepared a wonderful PowerPoint presentation for us. I was thinking about my most recent book, ^ITPreserving Italy^NO. And the double entendre is definitely on purpose there, in the title of the book. On the surface, it's a book about Italian preserving traditions in the kitchen. ^M00:07:57 [ Foreign Language ] ^M00:07:59 So foods preserved in oil, foods preserved in vinegar. Marmalade's, jams, fruit pastes, syrups, liquors. Everything from those things to fresh cheeses and salami. Because if you think of the Italian table, so many foods that come to the Italian table, are foods that have been preserved. Preserving the bounty of Italian ingredients. And even if you're not Italian, chances are, you are familiar with most of these foods. If you go to just about any supermarket these days, you will find jars of Giardiniera. Or roasted peppers, or, pancetta and guanciale in the deli department. When I was growing up, these things were not quite as common as they are now. But they are pretty much everywhere. But beyond that, the book is also about preserving these traditions. These ways, these food ways, these ways of these techniques. And, you know, the world is ever-changing, Italy is changing. And so it was important to me, as somebody who loves Italian cuisine, to try to maybe bottle some of these recipes and old traditions in this book. I have to say, though, ultimately, it's a kind of a futile endeavor, because food is always evolving. Cuisine is always evolving. And when you think about Italian food in the world, you know, you really do see that. And the more I thought about this subject, the more I realized that Italian food. Or the food of the peninsula, I should say, before there was an Italy. There's always been the food of the Italian peninsula out in the world. Whether it was through the spread of the Roman Empire, to food traditions that traveled to France with Caterina de' Medici. And also the foods that Thomas Jefferson introduced to the U.S. after traveling to Italy. Including pasta, or macaroni, gelato, ice cream, and even rice he brought back. Nowadays, we have chefs who, you know, even here in D.C., who travel to Italy in search of authentic recipes. And they bring them back to their own restaurants here in the U.S., and elsewhere in the world. ^M00:10:14 So that's a little bit of an overview about Italian food in the world. But, as I was thinking of the subject, I thought, you know, it's not just that. If you turn it around, you have the world in Italian food, or the world of Italian food. And so that's kind of looking at things in a different perspective. There's always been a cross-cultural influences in what we broadly refer to as Italian cuisine. Whether this is a result of war, invasion, religion, migration, travel, and so on. So, you know, you think about Sicilian food. And the influence of Arab and African culture and ingredients on the food of Sicily. And you think of the New World, and the ingredients brought from the New World back to Italy. Potatoes, peppers, tomatoes. I mean, to me, the aroma of roasted peppers is the aroma of Italy. But, of course, and you know, in the history of the world, peppers are a pretty recent introduction into the cuisine of the Italian Peninsula. So, and in the 18th and 19th century, we had the so-called British invasion of Italy. Where a lot of British people you know, the poets, the romantics, moved to Italy, wrote about the Italian landscape. And they brought with them, things like roast beef. So even today, if you go to Tuscany, you can find in the trattorias, roast beef. Which is, basically, you know, the Tuscan variation of a British food. So all of these things were kind of rolling around in my head. And it's a very complex subject, as we know. And, as I was thinking of it, I thought of my friend Amy, who is a food historian and a cookbook author. And just a really a font of knowledge on the history of Italian cuisine. So I asked her to come with me and delve into this subject today. And she's prepared a wonderful PowerPoint, which we're going to kind of get into slide by slide. And talk a little bit about the evolution of Italian cuisine, from the beginning to now. And also kind of look back at the evolution of, or how world cuisine has influenced the food of Italy. So without further ado, I'd like to, for us to get started on the PowerPoint. Please, we will be taking questions afterward. We'd love to hear your perspective. We'd love to hear your comments. Your own experiences. You know, whether Italian or not, I think pretty much everybody in the world loves Italian food. So, and everybody has an opinion about it -- an opinion about it too. So, okay, Amy, come on over. ^M00:12:49 >> Amy Riolo: Thank you so much, Domenica. Thank you all so much for coming this afternoon. What a huge pleasure and honor it is to have all of you here. As I look around, I see a lot of familiar faces. Some of you from prominent Italian organizations, the Embassy. Others, really important Italian restaurants. And other restaurant's chefs here with us today. And people from the Library of Congress, who I've known for years. So it's great to be in such good company. And I'm really grateful to Domenica. And we've worked together for years now, on different topics. And doing different discussions for the National Italian American Foundation, for [foreign word]. ^M00:13:22 For different things that we work with. And, if there's no other take away than anything else today. What I would like for everybody to remember, is that there is room for more than one Italian. Because, you know, as an Italian, or as an Italian American, in any field, there is one box. And if it's filled, if Domenica is doing it, I'm not doing it. If I'm doing it, she's not doing it. Or vice versa. So there's so much to say, as you're going to see, you know, on the topic of Italian cuisine. That there could be 50 of us, 5,000 of us here, and we would all have something unique to say. And I thought of that last night, because we were talking a little bit about today. And I said, you know, we're talking about a very unique, niche topic. She has a complete different view than me. We're Italian American, we're women, we're authors, but very different. So that's the first thing I'd like to say, before we start. And the other thing is, this is a very large topic. I'll start teaching a series in January, every Tuesday evening. I'll teach an Italian culinary appreciation certification series at L'Academie de Cuisine, in Bethesda. But it will take even more than that one semester to talk. So please don't hate us if we left out your favorite topic. We can -- we'll address it in a Q&A. So here are some things, if anybody's on the Internet, and would like to use some hashtags. November 16th, officially, is the start off of the Italian Cuisine in the World week. So feel free to use that hashtag, since this is the first one. We've been trying to get some traction and make this a really popular event. These are all of our handles. And then, a couple of fun facts. Italian food is now the number one in the cuisine in U.S. and in the world. More pizza is eaten per capita, in the U.S., than in Italy. And pizzas served to Americans on July 4th, in troops overseas. Italian food, of course, is also the most misrepresented and misunderstood in the world. So we're going to talk a little bit about that. Made in Italy labeling, the geographic indicators are very, very important. For that reason, we'll talk about those. And only a third of the Italian foods that are eaten in the world actually come from Italy. So we're going to discuss the history of Italian food. Some cultural events that influenced the cuisine. We'll also talk about Italian cuisine today, and its influence in the world. So I'm going to start back with the 8th century, before the Common Era, [foreign word]. So this is my ancestral homeland of Calabria, specifically the town of Crotone. And in Calabria and in Lucania, the neighboring Lucania, they had something called lagane. Which were the original pasta. So many, many centuries before the Etruscans had pasta, and people were starting their theories about Marco Polo and things like that. We had lagane in some of the first indigenous settlements in Italy. That's the Temple of Hera that you see, and this is Pythagoras, down below. Because they both had places Crotone, believe it or not. All of southern Italy, at this time, was very important for Greece. It was called the [foreign word]. And so a lot of famous foods came from Greece, and went back to Greece at that very, very early age. In addition to what was already found there. And these pasta, this type of past that's called lagane, you can still find around today. As Domenica mentioned, people are trying to preserve some recipes. And there are movements taking place to preserve these recipes. Lagane comes from the Greek word lagana, which was a bread eaten on Clean Monday. And so this idea of paste, or dough, came over into Calabria, and we started using that. Then if we go into Rome, and we look at places like Hadrian's Villa, and what the emperors were doing. We get a very good glimpse into, you know, quote Italian food culture, very, very early on. Because the Romans were great purveyors of food. And they really wanted the best of everything. So they would send fleets out into North Africa and into China, bringing back the best spices from China. They wanted the best shrimp, from just the right time, from the catch off the shore of Libya. They had people tracking these things so that they knew. They were great, great purveyors of food, from early on. And here on the left, we see Hadrian's Villa. And then, on the right, we can see the Temple of Karnak, in Egypt. So there was a lot of synergy back then between ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and ancient Rome. Here are some, an example from 180 of the Common Era. We can see what the trade routes looked like then. So, you know, for people who thinking, we don't have transport, people were landlocked. They didn't have the globalization that we have today. This is how much influx they had going and coming. Already, at that, time the food was a fusion. And then we talk about some different things, and really the development of early Italian cooking. We can talk about Apicius. So Apicius was a Roman philosopher. He wrote the first cookbook that we know about, in the west called, ^ITDe re Culinaria^NO, or ^ITOn Cooking^NO. And this cookbook is still around today. You can see are different types of it. It's also been translated. And Apicius was a poor philosopher. He loved food. He was a great, like, [foreign word], as we say in Italian. But he couldn't afford what his pallet. He had the pallet of an emperor, but the budget of a philosopher. So he actually committed suicide, because he couldn't afford to eat the way he wanted. So he is believed to be the father of all gourmands and chefs. We all admire him and revere him for this reason. But, in Apicius' cookbook, he wrote about a lot of things from a lot of different places. And one of the things he wrote about was Numidia, and this place called Numidia Quadrata. If any of you remember taking the metro in Rome, you might know there's a stop on the Metro, called Numidia Quadrata. And it refers to this place, which you see over on the right. It's the square area, from Rome south, into North Africa, which was Roman territory. So this was the breadbasket for the Romans. And with the wheat and different ingredients that they got there, those were currency, an antiquity. So they could trade and they could fund the entire Roman Empire, all the way up to Great Britain, just from what came out of Numidia Quadrata. So this was like the administrative capital. And when I was in Morocco, I just came back Saturday night. One of the things -- places -- I took my guests, was to Volubilis, which was one of the Roman outposts in Morocco. Beautiful, you can see the olive oil presses, and just, you know, the amazing infrastructure that the Romans had. And how important food was back then, and lifestyle. And then if we go forward, we can go all the way to the 9th century. And talk about some of the influences that were taking place in Sicily, and in different places. But what I'd like to mention also before that is, there were many different regions, and Empires, and places that, indigenous settlements, in Italy. Long before we had some of these invading forces, or new forces coming in. ^M00:19:39 We look at the Romans a lot, because they were such an impressive Empire. They have so many things that you can trace back and look at them, and know what is Roman. And a lot of Italian Americans really identified, and Italians, identify themselves with what is Rome. Because Rome is so important in the world. But there were a lot of other indigenous tribes that were on too. Like the Etruscans in Tuscany. Like, in Calabria, we had the Italian, the [foreign word]. In Puglia, they had the Apulians. So these people were already there, already had their own culture. And then if the Romans were to come into an area, they were another culture coming in. It's not like everybody was Roman. So that's an important distinction to make. And then if we look into the 9th century, two very important, prominent groups came in from North Africa, into Sicily. One was the Aghlabids, and they came in in 827. The reason Sicily was so important, is because it's the largest island in the Mediterranean. It was the center of trade. So any caliphate wanted to claim Sicily before it claimed other areas. And sometimes Sicily was actually known as a caliphate. So the Aghlabids came from what was now known as modern-day Tunisia. And they named Marsala, which means Mars Allah, or the marsh of Allah, the Port of Allah. They named it that. And they also brought in a lot of different ingredients with them. A lot of lemons. A lot of mulberries. A lot of different citrus, and couscous, and things like. And they would plant the fruits on the base of Mount Etna. So all of that rich soil really enriched a lot of the products, and made them superior. If you go to North Africa today, the little lemons and oranges are like this big. They're very delicious, they're sweet, their own variety. But they took a whole new thing once they got enriched from the volcanic soil. So when, sometimes if you're overseas, if you're in a store and you see something, you know, grown in the volcanic ash of Etna or Sicily. And you're like, that's just a marketing ploy. If It really was, it really, it's not a marketing ploy. It's unique, it's different. Those years and years of ash really make a superior and a different product. So that's interesting to know about and interesting to talk about. And then in 917, the Fatimids came. And the Fatimids were really, really important. They were also, they were a Shiite group, also from North Africa, from what is now Tunisia. But they were important, because they first claimed Sicily, Palermo, as their capital. And then 50 years later, they claimed Cairo. So that's how important Sicily was to them. And there was a lot of synergy back and forth, between Cairo and Sicily, because of that in those days. Also the Fatimids were really big into kind of cross-cultural celebrations. So they would have religious festivals. They didn't care if people were Jewish, or Christian, or Muslim. They would have these festivals and then they would make what we now know as [foreign word], or the sesame candy and things like that. And those would be the sweats of the different festivals. And they would encourage everybody to eat them. So nowadays, if you go to the -- >> Domenica Marchetti: Well, he was going to -- you still see these sweats at community festivals. >> Amy Riolo: That's right. >> Domenica Marchetti: The sugared almonds, the [foreign word]. >> Amy Riolo: And if you go to, you know, the feast of Saint Rosalia, in Sicily, you'll see them. Or if you go to the Prophet Mohamed's birthday, in Cairo, you'll see them. Nobody realizes that people are, across the pond are, especially the more provincial people, don't realize that people are eating them for different reasons. But they're one of the very early examples that we have, of a food that goes across cultures. And they became a very, very powerful group. And then, the next big time period that we have, if we leap forward, that we can talk about, is the Renaissance. And, as Domenica mentioned earlier, Catarina de' Medici, when she married Henry II and moved to Paris, she brought with her all of her cooks. So this huge brigade of pastry chefs and regular chefs. So what we now know, what became the Grande Cuisine Movement, in Paris, was actually influenced by Florentine cuisine. We couldn't call it Italian at that time, because we didn't think of things as Italy. It was pre that. But it was Florentine. And many of the French chefs will, you know, have studied that, and history. So things like onion soup. Things like, that we call French onion soup, crepes, Duck a l' orange. These types things, the amaretti cookies fused into what we now know as the macaron. So there were many, many elevated dining styles, but also specific recipes that the Medicis brought with them to Paris. And then another important thing to think about, if we're kind of trying to get our minds wrapped around what was taking place, in the time of the Renaissance. And, you know, so much wealth, and so much learning, and so much knowledge. But still so much trade with the East, that at that time, an Oriental carpet was worth more than the David. Can you imagine? And kind of, if you took it to nowadays standards, so you have to think about. So if an oriental carpet was worth more, imagine how much spices were worth. Imagine how much other things that were [inaudible]. Blown glass, for example, from Syria, was really close to priceless at that time. They had so many knockoffs. And they used to write in fake Arabic to try to sell them. And I say this as it applies to food, because the food was also influenced from those styles. So we see a lot of spices, starting to come in. And people like, you know, beyond the Medicis wanting to show off at the banquet, even. And at the Papal banquets and the things that were going on at the Vatican. When they wanted to have something luxurious, they added spice, because it showed that they had money. Spice was a form of currency. Spice was used as a traditional medicinal. Spice was used as a show of wealth, as a mood enhancer, all kinds of different things. But at that time, Venice and Istanbul, over top right, and Cairo, were all sister cities. And they were all involved in the spice trade. All of those cities, the things would go around and around. The merchants would just keep bringing them back and forth. Were all built pretty much on spice. All of the beauty that, you know, all of the grandeur, all of the wonderful wealth that is hard to even comprehend today. Maybe we would think about it with petroleum. They were all built on spice. One of the unique things that happened, though, to Venice, in terms, that didn't happen to other cities. Was when the Dutch later on found a new trade route to the east, they didn't need these cities anymore. So they were all going to go bankrupt. And they knew. There was like a little bit of advanced warning, that they all knew they were going to suffer from these new trade routes. And not needing the Mediterranean and the Middle East anymore. But what the Venetians did was really cool was, they took the residual money that they had. And instead of holding onto it because they were going to go bankrupt. They actually spent it on the frescoes that you can see on the canal. So all of this additional beauty came out of a time that most people would have been really worried about failure. And then, of course, Venice became a popular tourist destination, because it was so beautiful. So it helped us to kind of, you know, live through that moment. And it's a really good example of food and culture, and kind of cities in the world. Then again, we have to talk about Da Vinci. Because -- and I would've loved to talk about, you know, 500 different figures. But, to just choose one, this is important. Because in the 15th century, and the 16th century. When you're looking at all of these titles that had -- Lucia was making fun of me. Because I have three slashes in my professional title. But look at his, and they were all like that. And it wasn't the first time, you know. There were many, many people during the Renaissance. Hence, the term Renaissance man. In two centuries prior, in Baghdad, many of those scholars were also like that. They had all these same things. And so, as we were taking many ideas from the east, so was this idea of being able to do many things. Of expanding the mind. Of no limits. Of not having to be so focused. Of science, and knowledge, and learning, and math, and food. And all being intertwined. We also see more formal ways of writing about food and appreciating food. Because, for a while, you know, that food was just something that you would talk about for the wealthy. For the upper-class. For the people in the palaces. And now we start to see it really being looked at as a science. And it's thanks to people like this, in addition to all of the many wonderful advancements that they made in society. And then, as Domenica mentioned, Columbus. And, of course, coming to the New World. And regardless of the individual that came, or, you know, what the reasons behind that were. There was definitely, with the Spanish, all of this influx of new ingredients that came to Italy. And Italy really, really embraced every single one. What's interesting is some of -- because of the Turkish influence. And the Turks were in charge of a lot of trade at the time. A lot of the products that were new into Italy, got Turkish names. So like, you know, products that are made with corn a lot of times get called [foreign word], or Turkish grain. And it has nothing to do with Turkey, other than that the Turks were the middlemen. Turkish coffee, you know, they didn't get the coffee from Turkey, but they were bringing it around. So it got labeled as Turkish. And so we see these words a lot of times in Italy. And it, you know, up until very recently, if someone in a very small community came from another place. A lot of French people called them a Turk, because they came from a part. So you can't always use etymology in food history. Sometimes it leads you to something different. It's just a little provincial thing. ^M00:27:56 We have corn, tomatoes, potatoes, vanilla, avocados, peppers. All kinds of things coming from the New World. And here's an example of, you know, some different dishes. This one is a [foreign word] dish on the left. They have a saying that if it has peppers, and tomatoes, and onions, it's [foreign word]. But, as we can see, a lot of those ingredients, you know, two of those ingredients, at least, came from the New World. And many people don't realize what Italian food would be without tomato sauce, prior to the 15th century. But, Domenica and I actually have a colleague, who wrote a book called ^ITBeyond the Red Sauce^NO. His name is Chef Matt Finarelli. And it's all recipes without tomato sauce, that were done prior to the 15th century. So you can find that if you're very interested. Another thing that we have to think about in Italian food is the idea of realism. And the idea of showing food like it is. And this kind of more modern approach in the way that we eat today. And the way that we eat today, even if you go to a restaurant and you look at a menu, it will tell you the ingredients. It will say such-and-such salad. Then it will say tomato/cucumber/onion, and we list the ingredients. That would not have happened in the Renaissance. In the Renaissance, they would want 50 million different ingredients in there. You know, wrapped in a crust, which has an animal in it. Which is stuffed with something else. And really, you had to like guess. The food was like magic, and a work of art, and a surprise, and these kind of things. So -- >> Domenica Marchetti: Okay, but I have -- so, you're talking about the Renaissance in Florence. >> Amy Riolo: Sure. >> Domenica Marchetti: And all of that? So what about the cucina povera, and when did that come about? I mean, was that always there as well? You know, you think of the fagioli and just varied, I think of Florentine cuisine today as very minimalist, almost. So when would that have come about? >> Amy Riolo: We're going to get to that in this slide in a little bit. >> Domenica Marchetti: Okay. >> Amy Riolo: It was always there. But it came about more as a force, a couple hundred years later. So we're going to get to that. But a similarity with the art, which we may be seeing at the National Gallery, if people go to that talk. Is something about Caravaggio and Titian using the realism in their work. And showing things, portraying as they are, more than creating like things that are kind of a fantasy world. We're also going to see that with the food. ^M00:30:03 And then we have these, some of the influences that to start coming into the United States. And we look at the different influences on Italian architecture. And things that our Presidents were looking at. And, as Domenica mentioned earlier, definitely the food and the wine of Jefferson. And there are even these clips that you can find, of the influence that Jefferson was under, of the Italians. >> Domenica Marchetti: And he had a winemaker who was Italian. >> Amy Riolo: Right, Mazzei. >> Domenica Marchetti: [Inaudible] yes. >> Amy Riolo: Exactly. So he brought Mazzei over, and he hands this little letter to him. It says, I thank you for obliging -- the obliging act of your culture of wine. And I'm happy to hear that your plantation of them is in so prosperous a way. So also, he brought over people to teach Italian, and to start an Italian studies program. So definitely a big proponent of Italian culture. He also smuggled rice into the United States [laughter], from the risotto. So even though it has nothing to do nowadays with risotto and what grows in the south. But you can see the similarities from them, just because he got it and he brought it in. So we have also our rice industry to thank Jefferson and the Italians for. And here we are, Library of Congress. Go around, you know, some of the different buildings. And you can see just how beautiful a lot of the Italian architecture is. And here's when we start to get more into the topic about the cucina povera, and that whole thing, and how it started. So 1892 is when we really see the mass immigration into the Americas. And as Italians, as, you know, people who are studying Italy. Anybody who cares about Italy at all, if you look at this time period, that's all you're going to see. But there's a lot else going on in Italy too. So we're going to present a little bit of both of that today. So we see the, you know, the immigration coming, and people leaving, and people having to leave. And that, of course, changes a lot about what food is known as, in the world. Here in America, if you study any of the textbooks from, you know, what they were teaching in the tenements and things like that. They would actually send social workers to the Italian neighborhoods in New York. And they would have them come with their clipboards. And, you know, they would like analyze the families. And they say, oh, you know, you came from Italy and you've got these kids. And, you know, you're just feeding them starch, and there's no protein, and vegetables. That's not good, they need meat and potatoes. They're not going to live. This is America, this is what we do, we're advanced. There was a lot of propaganda to get people to eat meat and potatoes. So, in addition to poverty, being new immigrants, you know, poor conditions, what they were living in, and food not being available. They were also being told, this is the way you have to eat. So, you know, if anybody every criticizes what happened to the, you know, Italian-American food. There's a really strong reason to it, and in a certain way, I think it's amazing that so many food trends stayed, despite everything that people went through. >> Domenica Marchetti: Right. >> Amy Riolo: Now, again, at the same time, you know, not too much before, in Italy. As we're talking about despair, and people talk about why people had to flee. There was also a lot of very great things going on, considering opera to be one of them. And Puccini was born in 1858, in Lucca. So Lucca is in Tuscany. And what he ate would have been known, he was -- would have been known as Lucchese, or the specific food from his town. So here we see some more examples of Tuscan food. And then, because it was a feudal town, and it was known for its wealth. Later on, when it started going through economic decline, this is really when this term, the cucina povera got coined, and people started talking about it. Because it was happening at the same time as the mass immigration, then it got brought here. And then anything that came, you know, with these poor people, was poor. And a lot of times what was Italian was poor, because it was coming with people. But when it went around, you know, through the opera starts and through the other things, then it had a different connotation. And also, it's important to note some very simple ingredients, like beans, like wheat. Fava beans, for example, world's oldest agricultural crop. Cheap as could be, plentiful, and easy to find. But they were, you know, very expensive at the time. They were a currency. Lentils were a currency, they were worth their weight in gold. So things change at different times. And I like to be very careful about what I call poor and rich, because it's all in the matter of the way you look at it. Plus, if it's good for you, then it has a wealth, I think, all of its own. So here are some of the examples of the cucina povera, that Domenica was talking about. We have the polenta and we have the panzanella salad. We have the pancotto. So the first two are recipes made out of bread. So the pancotto on the bottom is a soup made out of cooked bread. It's just leftover bread made into a soup. You know, obviously very cheap, inexpensive to make. But, when done well, there are few things that taste as great. And nowadays, a homemade, authentic, honest stock is probably one of the biggest luxuries, I think, you know, in humankind. Then we have the panzanella salad, which leftover bread. People are taking advantage of the good bread to turn it into the salad. ^M00:34:38 And polenta, so polenta comes from cornmeal. Corn, of course, was brought back with Columbus, often called [foreign word]. And made into this dish called polenta. This is our Italian version of grits. But people didn't like it. It didn't catch on very quickly. People were suspicious of it, it looked like food that you would feed to the animals. And it really didn't have, you know, much repertoire. But it caught on with the Jewish community in the North, and they started eating it. And then it, little by little, it became a little bit more widespread. It spread to the south. And then in the south, a lot of the farmers started eating it before they went out into the fields in the morning. So it would be a base. They would eat it with meat, and they were these very big, untraditional, not what we think of as Italian breakfasts. Because they had to work the -- they had to work the land. And then in 1889, the first pizzeria was born. So we all know, of course, we don't have to tell anybody how popular pizza is. But it's very important that it has -- the pizzeria. And it's important that you look at the Queen Margherita, and why, what she has to do with the pizza. Does anybody know this story? Okay. Okay, so some of you. So, you know, it was a very humble food. It was a street food. It wasn't something that the Queen would order. But, how they used to sell the pizza was, if anybody's ever been to Istanbul or Cairo. And you see the people walk around with those big aluminum tanks that are, they're getting water or juice or something from these things that are strapped onto them. Well, they used to strap ovens onto themselves, and go, they were like human vendors. And they would heat the pizza up and sell it on the street. It was very, very poor, you know, food. And the Queen had a craving for one, so she ordered one up to the castle. They made the tri-colored one for her, in honor of the Italian flag. And this is how we got the Margherita pizza. So you can still go to visit this Pizzeria Brandi, if you go to Naples. And then also Verdi. So it's important to think about opera, once again, at this time period. Because opera was so important, and I do whole lectures on the influence of opera on food. But Verdi was very closely associated with the Risorgimento. So his work was very political. And a lot of his writings and his music had understated political, hidden messages. And these are important, because at the same time, all of this unification was going on in Italy. So there was a need for unification of food. They were actually looking for food that would bring the country together. Because, at the time, the foods were all very regional and very different. And that's how we still like to kind of look at it today. But they were looking, as they were looking for a hero. A singer or a sports figure, they also wanted food. And one of the things that Verdi's legacy left was, he created some songs, and popularized some songs, Italian songs around the world. That, you know, are, people just hear the tune and they start humming them. And that's one of the many things that he gave us, in terms of culture. So if you look at Milan in that time, where the alla Scalla is, and the teatro, and very fine dining. And wonderful things are happening there today, in terms of gastronomy. We can also, you know, way back in his time, this wasn't that much going on at that time. So they had a lot of local products. They had the wonderful dairy that they had, they had the farms and things like that. Risotto, minestre, and freshwater fish, this was the basis of what was going on in Milan, at the time. And Verdi also has a risotto named after him. So you can look this up online, if you're a Verdi fan, and make this risotto when you listen to the opera. But here are the regions, as they are today, as I mentioned. So, you know, they weren't exactly the same at that time. But you can see kind of the differences, and how they evolved, and how they developed, and what's unique to one another. Even within the regions, there are still differences between the town. You know, a town one hour away, two hours away, will have a different dialect, different food, different terrain. And when you go, you get to see it. And this, as Domenica mentioned, really helped to shape the different things of the food. So one region that we know of very, very well, for food in the world today, is the region of Emilia-Romagna. And especially the town of Parma. So Parmigiano-Reggiano is the most famous cheese from there, and the most famous cheese known around the world. It's said that Benjamin Franklin even tried to get the recipe. And it has an eight-century history. Very meticulous process of what they have to do to make it. And it's all governed by the government and all of these types of consortiums. So you know you were getting an authentic product when you go there. For those of you who like the Prosciutto di Parma, the -- sorry for the small p on the Parma. For those of you who like it, you will find that one of the things that makes it unique, is that the pigs are fed the leftover whey from making the Parmigiano-Reggiano. That's one of the reasons why it gets so much flavor, in addition to the different breeds and the different things. These types of food traditions are one of the things that helps the Italian economy. That helps the gastronomy around the world, and it helps what makes the Made in Italy brand strong. So nowadays, one of the things that we're doing is really trying to promote geographic indicators. A lot of times, people will come and will have events here in D.C. from Switzerland, and from U.N. and different places. If we can protect, for example, the Idaho potato, and the Prosciutto di Parma, and things like this, different economies do better. You know, there's a lot more increased trade. People know what they're buying and they get authentic products. So it's a thing of the future, that to look at. But getting back to the unification of Italy. So Garibaldi, who is probably, you know, considered to be the father of the [foreign word]. And very important General in the Italian Army, and in causing the unification of Italy. ^M00:39:41 He first ate Spaghetti al Pomodoro in Calabria, at this place that you see over there. Melito di Porto Salvo. And he said to the soldiers, "I swear to you, this will be the dish that unifies Italy." So for those of us who, like, when we see the dish, and we're like oh, no, it's stereotypical. It's not. Garibaldi endorsed it. That's all we need. We can have it for 5,000 more years. And then, of course, we start to see the mass-produced pasta. And, you know, why was there such a need for mass-produced pasta? Well, this is when people really started leaving Italy. So they're leaving Italy. They can't bring with them their pasta making tools, maybe. They don't have maybe the new ingredients to make pasta. They're going to need pasta. And one of the things that [inaudible] the way of packaged pasta. And pasta chuta, as we call it, dried pasta in the world, is this mass immigration. So then we have this invention of Italian-American cuisine. So nowadays, what people were eating, maybe on a Sunday, in Italy, as a, you know, luxury food. We're eating more and more commonly as a daily food in America, because meat is cheap here. Meat still is cheaper than herbs. And then a lot of vegetables, and very easy to get. You know, dandelion greens, which we used to eat by the bushel-full when I was a kid, are expensive. Meat, on the other hand, is cheap. And so there's a sort of, there's a, you know, health component to that. Because you have, the name for dandelion, in Latin, is official disease remedy. And they're expensive. So, but -- >> Domenica Marchetti: But also portions. >> Amy Riolo: Yes. >> Domenica Marchetti: I mean, portions are a big issue, I think. And that's a problem here. Because everybody in the U.S. seems to think that Italians eat all the time, you know, gargantuan portions. And, of course, if you go over there, that's not the way it is at all. >> Amy Riolo: Right. >> Domenica Marchetti: You know, look at that plate of spaghetti. That's a very American way of serving. ^M00:41:28 [ Laughter ] ^M00:41:30 No offense. >> Amy Riolo: And then, in 1891, there's a book that we actually, Lucia provided for us out there, you can see. ^ITLa Scienza en cucina e l'arte di mangiar bene^NO. This was a very important book, written by Artusi, that all the Italian chefs study. And anybody who's interested in Italian food should look at it. Because it talks about verismo in the kitchen. So again, this ideal of realism, like we were talking about with Titian and Caravaggio comes in. And this was written for the middle classes. So, unlike Apicius, who was writing for, you know, the emperors, and he was a philosopher. And unlike, later on, people who were writing for the cooks of the kings. He was actually writing for the middle classes. >> Domenica Macchetti: And, one thing about Artusi is that he was from, I think, Emilia-Romagna, but lived for years in Florence. So I guess the majority of the recipes in his book were from that region. But he did gather recipes from around the peninsula. And so that was kind of considered maybe one of the first regional cookbooks. And it helped to unify, you know, what we know of as Italian cuisine. >> Amy Riolo: That's a really good point. That's a very good point. Because, prior to that, the books would have been, you know, from wherever they were written. Or from wherever the author was written. In the 19th century, so with the continuing changes that we see, are a lot more lighter, more fresh ingredients. Again, we're getting away from those heavily spiced, really intricate recipes of the Renaissance. Then comes along Puccini. And now we're seeing verismo in this idea of realism in the opera. And Puccini talking about very middle-class scenes. And very everyday things that you can see. And not trying to be so elevated. This, again, is something that transformed and it shows in the kitchen. And then also, Puccini, because of his success, and because of the different global things that he talked about. He had things set in Asia. He had things set in Paris. So against the backdrop of this mass immigration, and people aren't afforded to live. You also have people who are really upholding the high end of Italian culture. And telling people, okay, this is really what we're capable of, in addition to some of the problems that are going on. Then we have the futurist movement in food. And I know you're going to be hearing a talk on that very soon, so I won't go in too much. But this is really fun. I can't endorse it too much, because the first one, no more pasta. Which, to me, life wouldn't be worth living. But they did have some kind of cool ideas. One of them was that the meals had to be in perfect harmony with one another. They had these wonderful table settings. They had all of these kind of sculpted foods. Some of the foods, you didn't even eat. They were just placed on the table for your eyes, and to attract you, and as, you know, eye candy. >> Domenica Marchetti: This is modernist cuisine, you know. >> Amy Riolo: Yes, yes. But you literally didn't eat them. They disallowed political speech at the table, which I think is a great idea. They also forbid music and poetry, which is weird. Because a lot of the more elaborate things up until that day, they used to would actually have people come and recite poetry before you ate. Or sing a song or something like that. And then they, probably the most bizarre thing, was that they would have these little simulators of airplanes, like they have at the Air and Space Museum. They'd have people go in there and sit to eat. And then they would have, they would stimulate movements that were supposed to make people more hungry. And open up their appetite. So, but I'll leave that for the person who's special in that. Then, as we move forward, we look, we start to develop, by now, in Italy, a really strong sense of style. That's respected all over the world. So despite problems and despite immigration and things that might have been immigration -- attributed to it in the past. By now, we're very respected all around the world, in terms of Made in Italy and Italian style. And this is a quote by Diego Della Valle. Also, language and food, so many of our American food products now have Italian names. Some of them are changed a little bit, but a lot of them are straight on. You know, pizza, ravioli, pasta. Bologna, of course, is a whole different thing, but that's [inaudible] Italian word. Coffee, pepperoni. Pepperoni, in Italian, is peppers. So there is no like pork product that we call pepperoni, that does not -- >> Domenica Marchetti: Yeah. >> Amy Riolo: -- It's not there. But all of these words are some of them. And also, we see fashion, and different American-style icons turning to Italy. Like Jackie O and different actresses, for their fashion. That really helped. Food and fashion go hand-in-hand. And whenever people like one, they usually like the other. So this really helped with the food to be spread in the world. And films, you know, by Dino Di Laurentis and Carlo Ponti, and Sophia Loren. All of these wonderful actresses. Also, American movies that are going to Italy. Now, by this time, Americans want to have their movies shot in Italy. So this, again, added to the appeal. And, of course, music. We had so much great music that was coming out of this area. And then American travel. By now, Americans could afford to travel. And, you know, we had a type of disposable income that would let us go to Italy. So once people went to Italy and saw it for themselves, that's how it became such a great tourist destination that it is. We saw huge changes in the 1970s and the 1980s, in terms of what people thought Italian food was. What you could get in restaurants. What recipes were available. All kinds of misconceptions. You know, they started out with the now, we're not just Italian anymore, but we're Northern versus Southern. And there was that whole thing. >> Domenica Marchetti: Which is still a simplification of the way it actually is. >> Amy Riolo: Yes, yeah. And sometimes it's just because you're on Twitter and you only have a certain amount of characters to use. And you can't say -- ^M00:46:35 [ Foreign Language ] ^M00:46:37 [ Laughter ] ^M00:46:38 You have to just say South. >> Domenica Marchetti: But it's changed since then. I mean, you know, we don't really see too much of the Northern/Southern anymore, right? I think it's much more regional. You know, there's an attempt to really dig down deeper into Italian cuisine here in the U.S. And, I think, around the world. >> Amy Riolo: And then, of course, by the '90s, a lot of Italian food is associated with gourmet. So now we have things that aren't even Italian, using Italian names. Putting Italian cities. Putting Italian words, or, and, you know, of course, with the olive oil. We won't go there today, but it's a big thing. Because, by now, we've got a gourmet reputation. And so people start to do that, and also take advantage of it. And then, one of the wonderful things that we're doing and we see being done, is people preserving the artisan pastas. So, here we have -- >> Domenica Marchetti: So this is a chitarra, from the Abruzzo region, which is where my family is from. And this is -- >> Can you go to show to the people? >> Domenica Marchetti: Okay. >> Yeah, yeah. >> Domenica Marchetti: Okay. Yeah, so -- >> Sorry. >> Domenica Marchetti: No, no, no, that's fine. So I'll just kind of put it on the chair here. >> Thank you. ^M00:47:37 >> Domenica Marchetti: This is actually a tourist one. I have my mother's, but I didn't want to bring it, because it's kind of in bad shape. But this is actually a 19th century invention. It was apparently invented by the [foreign word]. The artisans who made the -- what do you call a [foreign word]? >> Amy Riolo: Sieve. >> Domenica Marchetti: The sieves, yeah. So when you made pasta, or whatever, you sieved your flour, because you wanted to get rid of all the little bits, and you save the rest. But this was actually a way to sort of make cutting your pasta easier for housewives. So you put your strip of pasta on here and you'd roll this, you know, this rolling pin along it. And you'd cut the sheet of pasta into strips. So until very recently, Abruzzo was really the only place you could get something like spaghetti a la chitarra. But now, if you go down to Rose's Luxury, you can get [inaudible]. Because it's become very popular. And this is what is happening with regional Italian cuisine. That, you know, cooks, cookbook authors, chefs, are really digging down. Because every region, I say -- I always say that Italy is a small country. But every region is vast and deep. And, you know, I know that every time I go back, I come across recipes that are new to me. That are either very old or very new, and there's just, there's always something to discover. Which is pretty incredible, when you think about how many centuries people have been traveling to Italy. And have been mining its food and its culinary scene. So the fact that there are still discoveries to be made, I think, are pretty incredible. >> Amy Riolo: I agree. And as we talk about that, in Italian food around the globe. This is a map that's from Yelp, in Singapore. And you can see how many different tiramisu restaurants there are. Tiramisu is the number one dessert in Singapore. They love -- they're crazy about it. And many places in the world. In Morocco, I was seeing it all over the place. And also restaurants named for it, but it is definitely the most famous Italian dessert in the world. >> Domenica Marchetti: So and I want to say one thing about Singapore. Because I met a chef from Singapore, when I was in Italy over this summer. And he's actually Japanese, but he has a restaurant in Singapore, and it's an Italian restaurant. And he just won a Michelin Star. So that's, you know, talk about global, that's pretty incredible, yeah. ^M00:49:53 >> Amy Riolo: That's awesome. That's awesome. And do you want to talk about your -- >> Domenica Marchetti: Oh yeah, so you see those teeny-tiny little bagels. That's my daughter's hand, actually. We were in Florence in this, over the summer. And they, our hotel at happy hour, or whatever, cocktail hour, will put out wine and some little [foreign word], little things to eat. And one day, it was these many bagels. So here we are in the heart of Florence, snacking on mini bagels. And if you go to Italy, you know, or the world of the internet, and food blogging. I know a lot of Italian food bloggers. And if you look at their sites, you'll see recipes for muffins and cheesecake, and, you know pancakes. And when I go to Italy, I don't want to have bagels, you know. ^M00:50:36 [ Laughter ] ^M00:50:38 That's a personal preference. But, of course, you know, if you're Italian, you might want to have bagels, I guess. I don't know. So it's a shifting landscape, I guess. >> Amy Riolo: And also, you have the, you've seen the sushi with the Italian flag. And over on the right, the pizza and kabobs. So very common, especially in Rome. I lived in Rome for a while. And the places where they have the pizza Italia or the hand cut pizza, will also have a shawarma stand over in the corner. A lot of them are run by people from the Middle East. But they don't call them a shawarma, they call them kabob, which after the doner kabob, for the Turkish name. So and some people, you know, have an opinion about that and they don't like it. They think that they're ruining the pizzerias, and they're ruining their culture. But, if we look back to the history of pizza, the word pizza comes from [foreign word], which is Turkish. So I think it's fair. And there's lots of tiramisu in Turkey, so -- >> Domenica Marchetti: Well, and of course, if you go up to the Gran Sasso, you can eat [foreign word] kabobs out of [foreign word]. Which are made with mutton, and they're really delicious. So, you know, I'm sure that those [foreign word] had their origin elsewhere. And they were a typical food of the shepherds who passed through the area. And they're delicious. So slow food, when I was working on preserving Italy, I spoke with a number of food artisans. And I profiled a few in the book. But some of them work with the slow food movement and an organization. And one of the wonderful things that they're doing is they are, they have been working to preserve, you know, specific varieties of tomatoes, or artichokes, or beans. And they're not just doing this in Italy, they're doing this around the world. So these traditions and these foods are not lost to us. >> Amy Riolo: You could also join Slow Food D.C. We have a local chapter. They give something called the snail of approval to local purveyors and restaurants who use local, sustainable ways. So if you're here, it's a great thing to do. And then we'll end with this great quote. ^M00:52:32 [ Foreign Language ] ^M00:52:34 So, the food that you enjoy is best digested. And thank you all. We'd love to take questions, if you have them. >> Domenica Marchetti: Yeah. ^M00:52:41 [ Applause ] ^M00:52:47 Yes, ma'am. >> Okay, I always have multi-parted questions. So for the first time this weekend, I at [inaudible]. >> Domenica Marchetti: You ate what? >> Reginetti. >> Domenica Marchetti: Oh, reginetti. >> Yes, [inaudible]? ^M00:53:01 >> Domenica Marchetti: So that's a great question. And I don't know if there's a specific answer. There's all the varieties of dried pasta. And then all the varieties of fresh pasta. So where did you have your reginetti? >> In New York. >> Domenica Marchetti: In New York. So I wonder if it was a fresh pasta? >> It was fresh. >> Domenica Marchetti: It was fresh. What does it -- what did it look like? >> Like a little kind of squiggled ribbons, kind of twisted, with a scalloped edge. And, you know, maybe a -- >> Domenica Marchetti: Yeah, I mean, especially in the last couple of decades. The shapes have -- there have just been more and more shapes that come out, and they're very whimsical. And some are traditional, but many these days are not traditional anymore. I mean, there's a shape now that I see in stores, called the calamarata. And it looks like a calamari ring and you serve it with a seafood sauce. But, you know, when I was growing up, that didn't exist. So I don't know if there's an answer. I would say hundreds. I mean, yeah, honestly. >> Amy Riolo: But also, sometimes people take pastas that are traditionally made fresh. And they make them into a dry pasta, or vice versa. >> Domenica Marchetti: Right. >> Amy Riolo: One that's normally dry, then they'll start, in a restaurant, they'll say, oh, we want to do that fresh. But in Italy, there might not be a tradition of making that pasta fresh. That happens too. >> Domenica Marchetti: Yeah. >> And the second part of my question is, exactly what does antipasto mean? And why is it called -- why is mortadella called mortadella? >> Domenica Marchetti: So antipasto is -- anti is before, pasta, before the meal. So it's your appetizer, essentially. And mortadella is called mortadella because, I don't know. Do you? ^M00:54:44 [ Laughter ] ^M00:54:45 Does anybody know? I'd love to know that. That's a good one. I'll -- >> We'll research it. >> Domenica Marchetti: Yeah. >> [Inaudible] Something like that. But it's delicious. ^M00:54:53 >> Domenica Marchetti: Yeah, I don't know. That's a great question. >> First of all, I want to thank you, both of you, for these illuminating speeches. Are wonderful to hear from you all about Italy. [Inaudible] so we don't know never enough, you know. So I do have a question. So when I grew up in the restaurants, my mother was a chef, my grandmother was a chef. I'm not a chef, but I eat it a lot, and we are -- >> Domenica Marchetti: Where, in Italy? >> Liguria. >> Domenica Marchetti: Oh, the best. Wonderful. >> So when I moved here ten years ago, and every day mostly that I go. Like today, [inaudible] invite me for lunch in an Italian restaurant. And it's the most awful thing [inaudible]. I see on the menu, pasta with Alfredo sauce. Where is this coming from? Because we don't have that. I never have in Italy, have Alfredo sauce. And here it's everywhere, in the [inaudible]. So can you please help me to -- ^M00:55:43 >> Domenica Marchetti: So that's a great question. I know it's not Italian. >> No. >> Domenica Marchetti: And I'm surprised to hear that places still serve it. Because I had mentioned that I think a lot of chefs are really trying to do justice to Italian food. Using local ingredients, but -- ^M00:56:00 [ Inaudible Comment from Audience ] ^M00:56:02 So, do you know the story? >> Amy Riolo: Yeah, the popular story, whether it's lore or real or not. Was in the early part of the 20th century, in Rome, a lot of the actors and actresses were going there. And Mary Pickford, who is a prominent silent film star, actress, here in the United States. Went to one of the Roman chefs and asked for something like, similar to like [foreign word], but with cream. And so they made that for her. And apparently, his name was Alfredo, and the recipe came to be known as Alfredo sauce. So even though it's not an Italian recipe that people would eat and enjoy at home, it came back here because she was Mary Pickford. So it got introduced as an Italian recipe. >> Right, okay. Thank you so much. ^M00:56:37 [ Multiple Speakers ] ^M00:56:38 >> Domenica Marchetti: Yeah. >> -- You know, when other people go. >> Domenica Marchetti: There are other dishes like that. Yes. >> Susan Finstead [phonetic]. It's such a pleasure to be here and to learn about this. Not to say anything except something good. Are there places that you can recommend in Washington, D.C., to get Italian food? That isn't Italian style, but would be something that would seem to you to be what you would enjoy? >> Domenica Marchetti: I can tell you what I enjoy. And it's not like going to a restaurant in Italy, necessarily. But, like I said, I do think that chefs are really trying to do justice. Now, I haven't been in a number of years. But Obelisk is, you know, said to be a good Italian restaurant here in D.C. That's been around for a long time. I am a fan of Michael Schlow's restaurant, Alta Strada. Which, yeah, Alta Strada, which is on K Street, and that's pretty new. And he's opened a seafood restaurant called Casolare. So those are a couple. Nick Stefanelli, in, near Union Market, has a restaurant called Masseria, which is very high-end, but Italian. And also high-end, are the Fiola and Fiola Mare. So are they, I mean, and the Chef from Fiola is from Le Marche, Fabio Trabocchi. So, you know, you can get -- it's still not, to me, I mean, the food at these places, I think is really wonderful. It's not like going to, you know, an agriturismo in the Maiella mountains. Which is like what I like to do when I'm -- ^M00:58:19 [ Laughter ] ^M00:58:21 -- But, yeah. I think there's -- do you have -- >> Amy Riolo: I also recommend Al Tiramisu on P Street, and Aperto on I Street. >> Domenica Marchetti: Right, and he's from Basilicata, right? >> Amy Riolo: Yes. >> Domenica Marchetti: So he's from Italy as well. Yeah. >> Amy Riolo: You had a question. >> You pointed out the regional variations of food in Italy. Well, of course, Italian-American food is very varied too. Especially like pizza. Like, I swear by New Haven Pizza, especially with the white clam sauce. But, versus that bread in Chicago. >> Domenica Marchetti: Deep-dish pizza. Yeah, yeah. >> And, of course, Detroit style pizza and St. Louis pizza. Of course, in St. Louis, they fry the ravioli. >> Yeah. >> Domenica Marchetti: Yeah, so there are regional differences in Italian-American cuisine, for sure. Yeah. >> Are any of them popular in Italy? >> Domenica Marchetti: Not that I know of. ^M00:59:13 [ Laughter and Multiple Speakers ] ^M00:59:15 I don't think they're popular. There is some -- I did see somewhere, that there is an Italian-American restaurant that has -- >> Amy Riolo: In Rome >> Domenica Marchetti: In Rome? I thought it was Milano. Really? >> Amy Riolo: Maybe both. Maybe both. >> Domenica Marchetti: So -- >> Amy Riolo: I've seen the Rome one. >> Domenica Marchetti: So the food came back here and now it's gone back there. I'd be curious to try it. I, you know, maybe, I don't know. Yeah. Yes. >> I have a question. When I lived in Italy, or when I first, you know, lived in Italy. I was told a lot of things, like first of all, you do not order cappuccino after noon. >> Domenica Marchetti: That's right, that's right. >> Never, ever, and that kind of tags you as an American. Or, you know, a non-Italian. >> Yeah. >> And the second thing was that you never, ever put grated cheese on seafood pasta or mushroom pasta. >> Domenica Marchetti: Mushroom, yes. >> But, is that a practice, is there some kind of rule about this? >> Domenica Marchetti: Yes, and best not to question it. ^M01:00:10 [ Laughter ] ^M01:00:13 You know, cappuccino is a breakfast drink. If you have it in the afternoon, it'll sit in your stomach like a stone. You know, that's what I think the Italian -- but we all have our own habits. I mean, here, we drink, you know, coffee, or the -- ^M01:00:28 [ Foreign Language ] ^M01:00:29 -- I don't know how big, Starbucks, you know. And then I think there are rare exceptions with the seafood. And I thought of one the other day, and now it escapes me. But, in general, seafood doesn't call for cheese. They just clash of flavors. And does anybody have a more specific answer to that? >> Amy Riolo: Yeah, well not more to that, but just to add on. There are so many more. And that's one of the things that, when people try to learn about Italian food. Is that they might learn how to make a recipe, or they might learn how to make two or three things. But even pairing them together, when to serve them, or what goes together, is so difficult. So one of my main objectives for the series I'm going to teach next year. For example, in a course, you would never have soup and then pasta. It's soup or pasta, as a first course. And but there, sometimes I find American chefs doing Italian food, and they'll have like a prefixed menu. It's like soup, and then pasta, and then, you know, and it's really, it's strange to see it. It's -- and I once described it to one of my editors as, you putting these together in a picture, is like putting a corndog on a silver platter on an American cookbook. Like, nobody would do it. So there are a lot of things. It takes time. And when you're there, you learn them. And you could get little by little, in cookbooks. But I don't think anybody has ever done one thing that has like all the rules. You know, that would be fun. >> Domenica Marchetti: That would be fun, and a very complicated process. >> Yeah, [inaudible]. >> Amy Riolo: Very controversial. Any other questions. Well, we thank you all for -- >> Domenica Marchetti: Yeah, thank you so much for coming, everybody. ^M01:02:00 [ Applause ] ^M01:02:05 >> Lucia Wolf: Thank you all for coming. I am going to introduce Renato Miracco, the cultural attaché of the Italian embassy in Washington, D.C. Because he will give us some conclusions about this event. >> Renato Miracco: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Lucia, I really, really thank you. As you know, this is the first day of the Italian Cuisine in the United States. They decide just to have during the Thanksgiving week. But I say, are you getting crazy? During the Thanksgiving week, we cannot have just the Italian Cuisine in United States. So we decide just to anticipate. And thank you to Domenica, thank you to Amy, it was really amazing. This is really the big start of the week. This will be just only the start. Maybe next year will be, we have much more time, just to think about, just some news about cuisine. We started, anyway, we started with the Library of Congress. And I'm really honored just to be a partner of this one, with the Library of Congress. We started just idea to have just the new idea of food, in September, when we were part of a festival. National festival book, with two events related to Italian cuisine. So, and we thought about why we can give just a new images of Italian cuisine. Because the mix of generation, the mix of culture. The mix of people all over the world. And then we have to update the idea of Italian cuisine. In the meantime, we have to preserve old Italian cuisine. And this is another project that I'm leading. So preserving our heritage is another thing that the Italian Embassy at UNESCO are doing this year, 2016. And we'll do in '17 and '18. What doesn't mean that just to preserve our culture, preserve our monuments. Preserve, in the meantime, our recipe, our smell. Something that we can give to the next generation. So Eliza will be there. Sign if you would like to, and thank you for coming. And thank you, really, Lucia, to host another beautiful event here. I thank you too, both of you. ^M01:04:41 [ Applause ]