This weeks reading by Aliza Wong started a lengthy discourse on xenophobia and racism in Italy, and how food culture is used to hide it. She begins her piece with a story of a meal she prepared for friends. One friend asked her what the kids will eat because children do not eat Chinese food. Wong was slightly taken aback and responded by saying children in China would disagree. This was her first negative encounter with Italian food culture.

Wong raises questions of who belongs, who represents Italy, who can prepare and eat Italian food, and whether or not the authenticity of the food changes based on who creates it. After all pizza, an Italian staple, was shaped by migration. She later also asks who should be able to define these things. I, as well as seemingly most of the class, believe that if a cook respects the culture of the food and tries to preserve or incorporate traditional recipes in their own, then the food is still authentic.

Her examples show racism covered by food culture trying to preserve authentic Italian dining and history. One example she used is the banning of “ethnic restaurants” from Lucca, a smaller, more conservative town in northern Italy. A council member denied the law as being racist and said it was simply to preserve culture and historical identity. Another example she used was that of schools implementing an international food day to expose children to other cultures and foods. This initiative was short-lived, as the parents outrage forced the schools to shift the focus to Italian tradition and authenticity. This yet again masked racist attitudes by focusing on the pride of the host country. My experience in Florence has not shown me the same experience Wong has had. Florence is larger and more orientated towards tourists, so it makes sense that the majority of the population speaks English and that there are a variety of “foreign” restaurants in the city. Similarly, other larger tourist cities across Europe feel welcoming to people of all nationalities.

I’ve noticed that regional differences in attitudes towards immigrants seem to be common in all countries, not just Italy. As a white immigrant that sounds American, I haven’t faced any challenges due to my migrant status. However, my parents have had different experiences. My mother’s clients from Appleton typically treat her warmly and compliment her accent, often asking about her background. While some clients from rural Wisconsin will treat her harshly as soon as they hear her accent. In regards to food, anyone that has come to our home has loved her traditional Serbo-Croatian cooking and always request that rather than typical American food for the next time they come. As many members of our class pointed out, American attitudes towards “foreign” foods are typically very positive as they love a variety of foods.

Wong asks if assimilation can depend more on the host country’s population willingness to adapt to new languages, foods, and clothes rather than forcing migrants to do so. I believe many people in host countries are welcoming toward migrants and willing to try to adapt to their customs, foods, and help them with the language barrier, despite some places having as many unwelcoming as there are welcoming.

Cover image: Minorities in Italy from europeanunionmaps.com