Ilaria Serra is from Venice and is a full professor of Italian and Comparative Studies at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. She studies Italian and Italian American cinema, literature and culture, and the history of Italian emigration to America. She curates several digital projects dedicated to the Italian American presence and history. She organizes the annual "Italy in Transit" International Symposium in Florida and the Florida Atlantic University summer program in Venice.
What was your first impression of the food when you moved to America?
It made me fat. The first time I came as a young 22-year-old lecturer at Colgate University, I was in awe of their all-you-can-eat cafeteria. I had pancakes or waffles every morning, and after a few months it showed.
Were you surprised by any of the foods, Italian or not, you discovered in America?
I was taken aback the first time I saw garlic bread in an Italian restaurant because it was dripping oil and garlic. I liked it but I could not digest it for days. Now I avoid it. In the US, I also discovered Southern Italian food for the first time. As a Venetian, I did not know spaghetti with meatballs, the seven fishes tradition or rapini (I love them).
On a scale of one to 10, how do you rate Italian food in America?
It depends where… but I like all kinds of food anyway, so I would give a 9. The only difference is that simple ingredients do not taste the same as in Italy. They are blander.
Are there any Italian products that you wish you could readily get here that you can't?
I would like to have the Macine cookies of Mulino Bianco for breakfast. I also wish the cheese, mozzarella and burrata were not so expensive here.
What is your favorite Italian dish to make at home?
Pasta and risotto. Risotto with peas (risi e bisi) or mushrooms or peppers or tomato or sausage… It tastes like home. I also make polpettone and melanzane alla parmigiana to make my husband happy.
Are there any Italian places where you live that you like to go out to eat?
I like Louis Bossi/Elisabetta or Mister01 and any other pizzeria with the wood-burning oven because it makes all the difference.
Any place you haven’t tried yet but want to go?
Lynora pizzeria. I speak of pizza because it is something you can’t make at home and it is not overpriced like everything else in Boca Raton.
Is there a kind of cuisine, other than Italian, that you might go out for or make at home?
I love Thai cuisine or Vietnamese cuisine. They make great dishes.
The next time you go back to Italy, where's the first place you're going to go eat?
Pizzeria ai Fratelli La Bufala. Now you’re making my mouth water.
Any additional thoughts on eating in America as an Italian?
As an Italian, I would never look down at Italian American food. It is different than Italian food and it should be so. I am sorry that basic ingredients’ do not have the same flavor as in Italy, but what Italian American cuisine lacks in “authentic” flavor, it gains in exuberance and affection. Italian American cuisine is a happy cuisine, made by people who are happy not to be hungry anymore and want their family and friends to enjoy their table. This is very valuable: you can’t give such a flavor only with ingredients.
I tasted this flavor for the first time at Salvatore and Esterina Napoli’s house when I was still a student just arrived from Italy. They were two elderly Southern Italian immigrants who still did not speak correct English, but who took us under their wings and prepared lavish Sunday lunches for us. The food tasted great, but the flavor of their love for us was invaluable. It was spiced up with their pride in having been restaurant owners in Florida and their regret for not having the same type of flour as in Cassino. This is the invaluable flavor of Italian American cuisine.
