Unfortunately, Americans' appreciation of Italian foods is mostly limited to the dozens of commercialized dishes exposed at local Italian restaurants. That's like reading cliff notes without experiencing the debt and eloquence of Shakespeare love passages. This doesn't suggest Italian cuisine needs to be elaborate, but inclusive, with diversity of flavors, simply preparations, often with few ingredients, with a focus of superior quality. Try foods beyond the confinement of perception and experience the unexpected.
Generalizing the character of Italian foods is difficult. Italian cooking and ingredients are regional and are remarkably different, mostly based on the availabilities and abundances of ingredients throughout Italy's twenty major regions and their provinces. However, through years of conflicts and occupation, and proximity to neighboring countries, foods of other nationalities also influenced Italian cooking. Even the discovery of the New World is credited with their introduction of potatoes, tomatoes and bell peppers.
Some like to separate Italy into two broad cuisines, Northern and Southern. Another suggests a divide based on regions with whine and oil, the others with butter and milk. The foods of Italy are much more diverse over many more areas. The point, Italian cuisine isn't limited to spaghetti and meatballs, eggplant parmigiana, chicken cacciatora, pizza and cannoli and all other early restaurant adopted Italian "foods".
Growing up in the North end among Italian immigrants from diverse regions, we experienced many of their natural cuisines. Families were mostly thrifty. Common meats like beef, pork, lamb and veal were not served daily. However, the community wasted not; every edible animal part was eaten. Mom made "capuzzelle", lamb heads. They were spiced, halved, and baked with carrots and potatoes. Lamb was an Easter tradition and local butcher shops seasonally hung whole lamb near windows visible to shoppers. I still remember the butcher shop on Salem street where mom sent me to buy lamb's head. They were 50 cents each and sawed in half. If the incredibly tender and flavorful cheeks were presented at the finest restaurant, perhaps served with a dollop of lightly cheesed polenta garnished with mint and plated on fine china, the restaurant would be celebrated for this gourmet delight.
Another of mom's specialty was tripe, stomach muscles cooked in a light tomato sauce.
Other welcomed meals were so simplistic. Neighborhood specialty stores sold dried cherry peppers looped on string. Mom kept ours in our shaded pantry. She would section a whole chicken (or rabbit) and lightly season with salt. She crisped the pieces along with their skin in an abundant amount of olive oil. When cooked through, she removed the chicken and lowered the heat. Next mom crushed a whole dried pepper into the oil. When the pepper started to darken, she stirred the chicken or rabbit back in the spicy oil and adjusted for salt. Her cast iron skillet sat in the middle of our table throughout the meal. We ate the chicken in our plates and dipped hunks of fresh crusty bastone bread into the peppered oil. It was a family favorite! Mom would alternate and sometimes make the same dish with fried meatballs.
Fridays were traditionally meatless days in Catholic communities. Mom cooked seafood like stuffed razor clams or Zuppa di Cozze, Mussel soup. When times were tight, a familiar saying was if you can't afford steak, you could always afford pasta e fagioli, beans and macaroni soup. If this was the meal served while sacrificing, imagine how well we ate during the best of times!
Lucia prepared a delicious hot meal every night and dad always seemed to arrive just in time. I remember how excited I was to see him. We were blessed.