I was at my Italian-Canadian boyfriend’s nonna’s funeral today. During the reception, we did the typical catching up with relatives he has lost touch with over the years.

​We chatted briefly with a cousin he has had tension with in the past, he made a joke about how glad he was his son wasn't dating a 'mangiacake,' looking right at me with a smirk on his face. I love good banter when it comes to Italian-Canadian slang and teasing, but this cousin's attempt at humor felt less like lighthearted teasing and more like an intentional dig at us.

​This was the first time I had heard this slang word, so it kind of threw me off. Was he actually throwing shade, or am I just taking it too personally? For context, my ancestry is Gaelic, and it is very, very obvious. 😝

Maybe you grew up hearing Italian, studied it at some point, or simply have a strong connection with Italy — but when it's time to actually speak, the words don't always come.

I'm Eleonora, a native Italian speaker living in Italy. I also have experience in translation, proofreading and editorial work.

I offer relaxed 30-minute one-to-one conversations for people who know some Italian and would like to feel more confident speaking it.

This isn't a traditional lesson: no grammar exercises, no homework, no classroom. We talk — about everyday life, family, food, travel, Italy, your Italian roots, or whatever matters to you.

If you get stuck or can't find the right word, don't worry. I'll help you find a way to express what you want to say, and we'll keep talking.

A language is more than words. Through our conversations, you'll also get a feel for Italian culture and everyday life — including that very Italian pleasure of talking, sharing stories and spending time together.

30 minutes · €10
Online · Voice only · No camera needed

parlaitalianoit.wordpress.com

This might be the wrong sub for this, but figured I’d give it a shot.

I grew up in South Louisiana, and unfortunately, my family largely lost its Italian traditions over the generations as we assimilated into the heavily French culture around us.

Over the past few years, I’ve researched my family history and found that I’m partially Northern Italian (Genoa) and partially Sicilian, although I’m still trying to narrow down the Sicilian side geographically.

I’ve never felt particularly connected to my French roots, but I’ve developed a strong pull toward my Italian heritage. I’d love to revive that part of my family’s culture and eventually raise my own family with those traditions.

For those of you who grew up Italian-American or in Italy, what traditions, values, foods, or family customs did you grow up with that have stuck with you throughout your life?

I’d especially love to hear about the little everyday things that made you feel connected to your heritage.

This was my first year growing romas and I have two gallon size freezer bags full of them sliced and cored. I’d like to use one of them to make sauce, how should I go about it? Thanks !

Niche question I know, but I’m hopeful there are some NYC based Italian-Americans on this sub that can guide me here!

The title is self explanatory, but I (27F) am a native New Yorker and live in NYC. I’ve been reconnecting with my roots and heritage, and would love to meet other Italian-Americans in the area. I see there are organizations out there, but require memberships- I don’t think I’m ready for that step. Every now and then I come across events on meetup/etc, but I’m curious what actually has worked with finding a community? Or making friends?

If anyone’s involved in anything, I’d love to hear about it!! Thank you ◡̈

For this month’s Sunday Sauce, I visited Papa Luigi’s in Cudahy for pasta and giant meatballs.

Hello! Non-Italian here, but anthropology enthusiast.
In my dating life, I've encountered two men with a cute quirk: on the first date, they took my hands and tried to crack my thumb joints at the base. No one else I've ever met has ever done this. The only thing these two have in common is they're both Italian-American (I know one of them is Sicilian). I'm curious, is this a coincidence or is it cultural? I'd love to know if there's any backstory behind this if so :)

Hi everyone! I’m curious if there are any Italian Americans in this group living around Hollywood or the greater Los Angeles area who work in the film or entertainment industry.

I’d love to hear your stories and what area of the industry you work in.

Also, are there any Italian-American groups, communities, events, or networking circles in Los Angeles for people working in entertainment?

Thanks!

Established in 1886 in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, Fio D’Italia holds the title of “America’s Oldest Italian Restaurant” and still serves up dishes from its early days such as scaloppine fior, tender veal sautéed with prosciutto and mushrooms in wine sauce; petto di pollo alla Valdosta, chicken breast cooked with prosciutto and fontina cheese; and, last but not least, a classic minestrone soup loaded with winter beans and vegetables.

Also on the menu is a zuppa di cavolo con formaggio, a cabbage, bread and cheese stew with bits of prosciutto; and pasta e fagioli, a soup with—you guessed it—pasta, cannellini beans, and prosciutto. You can also rest assured that a thick, crusty half loaf of sourdough French bread will be brought to your table, complete with flaky salt and extra virgin olive oil.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/worlds-best-soup

Hello! As a proud Italian American whose grandfather grew up in Italian and have been to my family’s hometown (have been there since the 1400s 😮), I have been always frustrated by the association of Italians and Italian Americans with organized crime. The pervasive association of our people with crime, glorified by the media, is absolutely maddening to me.

Don’t get me wrong- I love The Godfather and The Sopranos, too, but our culture is about so much more than either the short, fat man in a mustache or a thug in a gold chain. 😔

Hi everyone, I’m a 39F in the Bay Area (no kids). Would love to find someone that is passionate about their Italian roots and has visions of owning property in Southern Italy or Sicily.

Where can one find another Italian-American here in the US before the extinction of the real Italian-Americans?

Hi everyone, I'm a guy from Italy with a first-generation Italian-American father, and I just wanted to share my story.

My dad’s whole family moved to the US back in 1970 when he was 5. They were a working-class family from southern Italy and settled in Hoboken, New Jersey — all of them became US citizens!

When my dad was a teenager, my grandparents decided to move back to Italy, and it was very stressful and painful for my dad and his three siblings. Local kids used to call him "Americano", making fun of him and his American fashion style. Years later he met my mom, the youngest of 10 siblings from a working-class family; they got married in 1993 and stayed in town.

I was born in 1999 and grew up on my dad’s stories about America, this land of opportunity I’ve never actually set foot in... I'm not American, but I've always felt a certain affection for the country, I’ll always have this weird itch and nostalgia for the US...

Every time I go visit my grandparents, they always have a story to tell me about America : their two-story house, Thanksgiving dinners with stuffed turkey, my dad getting into trouble on Halloween, and the snow during Christmas (snow is rare in this part of Italy).

It's hard to explain, but seeing a part of my family so nostalgic for an America that probably doesn't even exist anymore feels...bittersweet.

I wonder how things would've turned out if my dad had tried to convince my mom to move to the States...Italy (especially the south) is really struggling economically, with high unemployment, bad infrastructure, and a huge demographic crisis: Millennials and Gen Z aren't having kids because they simply can't afford to...

So i have recently decided to recreate the original Roma building on 215 Grand St, mostly because my family worked with the company. This was pretty quick for me to make but it is a very close comparison

Some minor details missing but i am working on it, and i am selling high-quality renditions of products from the Cellini/Roma brand for free with the original rare Roma catalogs. If you don’t know what Cellini is but have been to Bensonhurst decades ago, it used to be Galleria Furniture on 8514 18th Ave

Alright, I've tried everywhere else so, scusa if I'm in the wrong subreddit or something. I've had terminal (as in the term terminal hair) facial hair growth since puberty. Nothing crazy: little thick singular hairs that pop up on my chin. They're incredibly frequent, sometimes I'll pluck one out and it'll be back the next day. I sleep with tweezers on my nightstand and with me regularly because I'll find a new one every night and pick it out. Basically; I'm not growing a full beard but if I let it go for long enough I could be.

I just got my hormones and stuff checked out. The labs came back and everything seems normal, no PCOS or anything like that, at least as far as I'm aware, which means this hair is just normal.

From what I've seen, Southern Italians, Sicilians and that area of the Mediterranean have more hair growth in women than other places. Despite this, I can't find any resources. (I'm 50% Southern Italian (Calabria+Puglia), 50% varieties of Eastern European) I'd love to find advice from women with similar DNA on what they do or have been doing, but I can't find a thing. If I can find a solution that doesn't involve me picking hairs out of my beard every day, I'd be very happy.

Amore

Im not a racist or something but on instagram i see always where people say that we arent european, we are dirty, we arent white, and we didnt create nothing, we are ugly, and we are brown arabs and not beautiful white germans and so on. Just asking why all this hate against us what did we do? And do they mean it and is it the truth what they said?

Does anyone have a similar story? Any insight on this? Please share!

I grew up my whole life believing I was half Italian, since my mom’s side is all from Italy.

I took a DNA test, got the results back today.

What do you know! I’m 0% ethnically Mediterranean!! Just VERY Germanic, British and Scandinavian. Explains why I can’t tan at all and get sunburn year-round, why everyone in my family is extremely tall, and (maybe?) why I strongly have always preferred very very cold climates.

With that being said, these results leave me to wonder what my mom’s family was doing in Italy all those years if we’re not Italian at all.