Creating Home
2008
Beyers, Leen
Surveys concerning Italian labor migration to Belgium since 1946 have concluded that Italians cooked as they had done at home. This so-called cooking as at home is unraveled here ethnographically and historically. Actually, many of the immigrants' traditions were not transferred to, but invented in Belgium, as Italian newcomers adopted Northern Italian flavors and global formats of Italian food. Furthermore, Italians cherished their regional food among paesani, but, from the 1970s onwards, they also revived it in new regional Italian associations. At the same time, Belgians influenced Italian home cooking from early on. In the 1950s, Belgian efforts to assimilate Italians to Belgian food had the reverse effect of encouraging Italians to preserve a proper domestic culture. In contrast, two decades later, the improved status of Italians gave way to equal culinary exchanges. Belgians increasingly appreciated Italian food, while Italians, and particularly Italian women, enjoyed learning recipes from Belgian acquaintances.
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