It is impossible to have a rational discussion about anything when you are arguing with someone who has their facts all wrong. One perfect example of this is immigration. I have heard or seen written four talking points in this argument which are so far off the mark that they need a fact check. The four are as follows:
Premise 1. The new immigrants, or at least the Hispanic immigrants, don’t learn the language like the prior immigrants did.
My family immigrated from Italy in the 1920’s so I know a little about this subject. It is true that many of the new immigrants do not learn the language today, but to suggest that the groups before them did is disingenuous. My parents did learn English but believe me they were not the norm. My father thought he was a little more sophisticated than the Italians that came in the early 1900's so he moved into an “American” neighborhood where he and my mother were forced to learn English and take the abuse that ensued because they spoke it badly. Most Italians moved into Italian neighborhoods where they felt comfortable and could get by very well speaking their native tongue. My oldest brother entered school at five years old not knowing any English. Many, if not most of my relatives, spent 30 to 50 years here learning little or no English. Most were forced, by circumstances, to become citizens before the Second World War. They became citizens without learning English.
Ditto for the early Polish immigrants.
Go to any Chinatown today and tell me that the immigrants there speak English.
German immigrants? Go to Lancaster County today and see how many people still speak a form of German (Pennsylvania Dutch).
Irish Immigrants? Don’t they speak English in Ireland?
Russians? The Russians and Eastern Europeans that fled Communism and are still coming over are recipients of a sophisticated education system where they learned multiple languages, therefore learning English was somewhat easier for them.
ALL, including Hispanics, who were born here or came here early in life speak English. The major difference today is that there is bilingual education (much maligned) that is afforded all the newer immigrants. Because of this they are given the ability to move ahead in school while they are learning English. My brother and others like him spent years in a class not knowing what the teachers were talking about in subjects such as math and science, certainly putting him and the others in a hole that they had to dig their way out of. Many never did. Wouldn’t it have been better if they were bilingual?
Also, I have had the privilege to live for extended periods of time in Brazil and Austria among Americans expatriates, much better educated than recent immigrants in America, who never learned the language of the respective countries. Many lived there for multiple years and, just as in America, their children learned the languages. It is extremely difficult to learn a new language as an adult. Just ask anyone who has lived abroad.
Premise 2. New immigrants, especially Hispanics, bring crime!!!
Of course this is true, but to those that argue that previous immigrants didn’t, I have two words for them, “La Mafia”. Ever hear of the Italian Mafia, the Chinese Mafia, the Russian Mafia, the Irish Mafia? Most immigrants then and now are not criminals. There are always a small percentage within every group that are. Many natural born Americans are criminal.
Premise 3. Millions of Hispanics enter the country illegally.
This is also true, but to think that the Italians, Polish, Irish and other Eastern Europeans did not, is a pipe dream. I suggest that those that can see Arthur Millers, “A View From the Bridge”. This is a story about two Italian “submarines”, as they were called, coming into the country in the hull of a ship. If these previous immigrants came from a country that had a contiguous border with the Untied States, how many more would have flooded the country illegally? It is much easier to cross a two foot border than to cross an ocean of three thousand miles in the hull of a ship.
Premise 4. I am tired of pressing one to speak English.
Why? Is it difficult to press one? And, business people are not stupid. They know there are millions of prospective customers that speak Spanish, for example, and they want their business. I don’t blame them. Government also knows that they need to communicate with non English speakers to have them understand what it is that they want. Imagine the IRS, for example, that has someone who needs information about their taxes (Yes, most Spanish speakers pay taxes). Believe me, I have lived in countries that only use one language. It makes it more difficult if not impossible to get what you need.
So, let’s have a discussion about illegal immigration, but let’s make sure we have our facts straight. To do otherwise and use talking points will never get the problem solved. It would be a physical and logistical nightmare to deport the 11 or so millions back to where they came from. Do you think they would just go easily without a fight? If you want to see criminally, try it. Many of the illegals here today live in families that have legals living in them. Yeah, I can just see them allowing their mothers, fathers and in some cases children to be shipped out. Get real!!!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Pizza, Pasta and Prozut
Italian Food? This is something that has been bothering me for a long time. What exactly is Italian food? Ask different people and you get different answers. From my point of view Italian food can be broken down into two areas: Italian/Italian and Italian/American. Italian/Italian is mostly eaten in Italy and Italian/American is consumed in America. Did you notice that I used the words “eaten” for Italy and the word “consumed” for America?
Both cuisines can be very good, but I will say that the variation, between good and bad, is the more pronounced in America. Rarely does one find bad food in Italy and then again good Italian food in America can sometimes be hard to find.
Let’s look at Italian/American food first. When the first immigrants came to our shores the food tradition that they brought with them was for the most part Southern Italian peasant fare. To think that our ancestors ate haute Italian cuisine would be a grave mistake. They ate pasta, pizza and prozut (Prosciutto) or some variation thereof. The taste was wonderful and many of us remember well the smells and tastes of that cuisine. They were not eating or cooking the same way that the gentry were eating in the large cities of Italy, however their food was still very high quality, minimally processed and locally sourced.
Throughout the years this cuisine morphed into what we in America today call Italian food. Unfortunately, it morphed to satisfy the American palate, which in many cases is not well developed. ( Rent the movie “The Big Night” ) Quantity took precedence over quality descending into the abomination that we today call “The Olive Garden”. Some of the worse culprits of this descent are “spaghetti and meatballs”, “chicken parmigiana”, “veal parmigiana” and most things on the menu at “The Olive Garden”. La Pizza, which was invented in Naples, also has had its dumbing down spiral. You can get good pizza in America but it will not be found at Domino's or Papa John’s. There is actually a government entity in Naples that defines what a “real” pizza should be. There are a few places in America that qualify, but most are very far from the mark and so are their tastes.
Most cuisines around the world grow and improve with time. Look at Chinese food for example. After thousands of years they have a cuisine that is varied, delicious and still evolving. For the most part the Italian/American cuisine has devolved into something startlingly standard, bad tasting and getting worse. There are exceptions to every rule, although most are not found in Italian/American restaurants, but in the homes of some second and third generations of Italian/American cooks. Fortunately, I know some of these individuals and they make me happy when I dine with them. Marie and Louise where are you?
Now let’s look at Italian/ Italian cuisine. For those of you who have been fortunate enough to travel to Italy you will know what I mean. Rarely, and I mean rarely does one get a bad meal in Italy. In fact, there are “Howard Johnston” type restaurants that can be found along the large motorways in Italy, called “Autogrilles” that can compete with the best Italian restaurants in America. The one secret ingredient in Italian food is fresh local produce. Seldom are there items on the menus that are not in season. Also, there is a creative culture that exists in Italy that is a force that moves their cuisine to higher and higher levels. They certainly match the Asian cuisines in this respect.
Once you go to Italy you will realize that their food is very dissimilar to what we in America think of as Italian food and a gazillion times better. After a few weeks in Italy my wife and I always dread the thought of coming back to our food. “Where are we ever going to find food like that in America?”, we lament. The truth is, if you look you can find it.
Where can you find it? Probably in most large cities in America there is someone, or more, that knows how to cook Italian. Certainly in New York there are many Italian/Italian restaurants. They may be a little more expensive, but they are worth the price.
Also, and I am not a TV fan, but the Food Channels that show Mario and Lydia are wonderful. I think that they, especially Mario, have done more to change the American palate than anyone else. Mario is GOOD!!! He learned to cook in Italy and he knows the history behind everything he makes. He knows real Italian food. Don’t ask him for chicken parmigiana.
He and Lydia have teamed up with an Italian and opened up a place in New York City called “Eataly”. Google it. This place is 60,000 square feet of food that showcases food from everywhere in Italy. There are different sections, such as the Pizza section, the Pasta section, the Meat section, the Fish section etc. Each section has a restaurant attached to it. I have eaten only at the fish section and I can tell you it was Italy supreme. The original began in Turino, Italy with the second in Tokyo, Japan. The third and I think the largest is in New York. They are looking to open the next in Los Angeles. Look for one in your local area very soon, I hope.
What I urge you to do, if you have not already, is to expand your palate. Find a real Italian restaurant or prepare something that the Mario or Lydia types suggest. For god’s sake, or my sake, don’t go to The Olive Garden.
Both cuisines can be very good, but I will say that the variation, between good and bad, is the more pronounced in America. Rarely does one find bad food in Italy and then again good Italian food in America can sometimes be hard to find.
Let’s look at Italian/American food first. When the first immigrants came to our shores the food tradition that they brought with them was for the most part Southern Italian peasant fare. To think that our ancestors ate haute Italian cuisine would be a grave mistake. They ate pasta, pizza and prozut (Prosciutto) or some variation thereof. The taste was wonderful and many of us remember well the smells and tastes of that cuisine. They were not eating or cooking the same way that the gentry were eating in the large cities of Italy, however their food was still very high quality, minimally processed and locally sourced.
Throughout the years this cuisine morphed into what we in America today call Italian food. Unfortunately, it morphed to satisfy the American palate, which in many cases is not well developed. ( Rent the movie “The Big Night” ) Quantity took precedence over quality descending into the abomination that we today call “The Olive Garden”. Some of the worse culprits of this descent are “spaghetti and meatballs”, “chicken parmigiana”, “veal parmigiana” and most things on the menu at “The Olive Garden”. La Pizza, which was invented in Naples, also has had its dumbing down spiral. You can get good pizza in America but it will not be found at Domino's or Papa John’s. There is actually a government entity in Naples that defines what a “real” pizza should be. There are a few places in America that qualify, but most are very far from the mark and so are their tastes.
Most cuisines around the world grow and improve with time. Look at Chinese food for example. After thousands of years they have a cuisine that is varied, delicious and still evolving. For the most part the Italian/American cuisine has devolved into something startlingly standard, bad tasting and getting worse. There are exceptions to every rule, although most are not found in Italian/American restaurants, but in the homes of some second and third generations of Italian/American cooks. Fortunately, I know some of these individuals and they make me happy when I dine with them. Marie and Louise where are you?
Now let’s look at Italian/ Italian cuisine. For those of you who have been fortunate enough to travel to Italy you will know what I mean. Rarely, and I mean rarely does one get a bad meal in Italy. In fact, there are “Howard Johnston” type restaurants that can be found along the large motorways in Italy, called “Autogrilles” that can compete with the best Italian restaurants in America. The one secret ingredient in Italian food is fresh local produce. Seldom are there items on the menus that are not in season. Also, there is a creative culture that exists in Italy that is a force that moves their cuisine to higher and higher levels. They certainly match the Asian cuisines in this respect.
Once you go to Italy you will realize that their food is very dissimilar to what we in America think of as Italian food and a gazillion times better. After a few weeks in Italy my wife and I always dread the thought of coming back to our food. “Where are we ever going to find food like that in America?”, we lament. The truth is, if you look you can find it.
Where can you find it? Probably in most large cities in America there is someone, or more, that knows how to cook Italian. Certainly in New York there are many Italian/Italian restaurants. They may be a little more expensive, but they are worth the price.
Also, and I am not a TV fan, but the Food Channels that show Mario and Lydia are wonderful. I think that they, especially Mario, have done more to change the American palate than anyone else. Mario is GOOD!!! He learned to cook in Italy and he knows the history behind everything he makes. He knows real Italian food. Don’t ask him for chicken parmigiana.
He and Lydia have teamed up with an Italian and opened up a place in New York City called “Eataly”. Google it. This place is 60,000 square feet of food that showcases food from everywhere in Italy. There are different sections, such as the Pizza section, the Pasta section, the Meat section, the Fish section etc. Each section has a restaurant attached to it. I have eaten only at the fish section and I can tell you it was Italy supreme. The original began in Turino, Italy with the second in Tokyo, Japan. The third and I think the largest is in New York. They are looking to open the next in Los Angeles. Look for one in your local area very soon, I hope.
What I urge you to do, if you have not already, is to expand your palate. Find a real Italian restaurant or prepare something that the Mario or Lydia types suggest. For god’s sake, or my sake, don’t go to The Olive Garden.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
From Guappo To Guido
“You dirty Wop”. Them’s fighting words to any Italian/America. Calling an Italian/American a Wop is the equivalent of using the N word for an African/American. When this word is used I cringe, for example when President Nixon used it to describe Judge Sirica during the Watergate investigations. However, I also cringe when folks, both Italian/American and otherwise, tell me the derivation of the word Wop. I have heard many otherwise educated people tell me that it means, “Without Papers“, meaning that when the Italians came over they would pin the letters WOP on them to indicate that they were undocumented. This is pure folk etymology which is defined in Wikipedia as the following, “ Folk etymology in its basic sense, refers to popularly held (and often false) beliefs about the origins of specific words, especially where these originate in "common-sense" assumptions rather than serious research”. http://wikipedia
This “without papers” has three major flaws as I see it. First of all “papers” were not introduced until 1921 and the use of the word “Wop” certainly predates that. Secondly Italians were not the only ones that immigrated to America and so they probably were not the only ones after 1921 to come in illegally. Why would only Italians have the words WOP written on them? Thirdly, I have never seen a picture of anyone, let alone Italians, with the words WOP written on them. Wouldn’t someone have documented this if it were true?
What is more than likely true is that the word “Wop” derives from the Neapolitan word “Guappo” which was a term that was used in Naples and Campania to describe a boy, usually connected to the Camorra, a Neapolitan organized crime group. My father told me this 50 years ago and it still makes sense today. The Neapolitan dialect chops the end off of words so that “Guappo” became “guap” and the article in front would sound like “u” hence the word “u guap” morphed into “Wop“. English speakers mimic the “u guap” sound and referred to all Italians as “Wops”.
In Spanish “guapo” means a good-looking, flashy male. Spain ruled Southern Italy until 1860’s and its Capital was Naples. Because of this, I am sure that many Spanish words are in the Neapolitan dialect.
Wikipedia says the following about a “Guappo”:
“It is a historical figure in the Neapolitan area, distinguishable by his smart or overdressed dandy-like appearance, his unusual pose that serves to draw attention to him, and the particular care he lavishes on his body and face” Remember this definition, it is very important.
Since the late 1880’s and the early part of the 1900’s Italians and particularly Neapolitans came to this country in droves. They lived in what we could call Italian ghettos. These areas were full of “guaps”. In fact, they came to define the Italian/American culture. I came of age in the 1950’s and although I did not live in the Italian section of town I knew many people who did. It was full of this type of individual, both male and female. Every non Italian that I knew thought that this was “Italian”. Many times I was told that I was not like “them”. I remember my mother telling me very clearly, “I don’ta care who you marry, but no bringa homa one of thosa types” I knew just what she meant. They were “Wops”, I was Italian.
In the 70’s and 80’s a new name was given to this ever shrinking, but overtly visible group, “Guidos”. The above mentioned definition remained the same only the name was changed. Watch “Saturday Night Fever”, “My Cousin Vinny” or “True Love”, these were the quintessential Guidos. That is until “Jersey Shore” came along. This show gave Guidos a new dimension. These are Guidos on steroids, both figuratively and literally. Also, in egalitarian America the female version of Guidos were introduced, “Guidettes”.
What’s the big fuss? This group has been with us since the first Neapolitans landed on these shores. This is just the line from Guappo to Guido. Well the big fuss is that we Italian/Americans thought we had made it in this country, that we had arrived, and in many ways we have. Two on the Supreme Court, The Speaker of the House, plus many, many others in high places. This was supposed to be a Post Guap/Guido period in our history. But no, with the general dumbing down of America, television producers had to tap into the very lowest rung of our society, hence “Jersey Shore”. Just like the mafia image, they are a subpart of our culture and we will have to accept it, but not glorify it.
As in most things Italian/American there is a direct connection to Italy. Anyone who thinks that “Guidos” and “Guidettes” are an American phenomenon has never been to Naples. The only difference is the language, as the above definition is true for both groups.
How does one differentiate a Guido from a normal Italian/American? The first give away is the leather jacket, then the open collared shirt (even in winter), the chains around the neck, the jelled hair and of course the ever present Cadillac Escalade. If you ever run across one give them a fist pump for me.
This “without papers” has three major flaws as I see it. First of all “papers” were not introduced until 1921 and the use of the word “Wop” certainly predates that. Secondly Italians were not the only ones that immigrated to America and so they probably were not the only ones after 1921 to come in illegally. Why would only Italians have the words WOP written on them? Thirdly, I have never seen a picture of anyone, let alone Italians, with the words WOP written on them. Wouldn’t someone have documented this if it were true?
What is more than likely true is that the word “Wop” derives from the Neapolitan word “Guappo” which was a term that was used in Naples and Campania to describe a boy, usually connected to the Camorra, a Neapolitan organized crime group. My father told me this 50 years ago and it still makes sense today. The Neapolitan dialect chops the end off of words so that “Guappo” became “guap” and the article in front would sound like “u” hence the word “u guap” morphed into “Wop“. English speakers mimic the “u guap” sound and referred to all Italians as “Wops”.
In Spanish “guapo” means a good-looking, flashy male. Spain ruled Southern Italy until 1860’s and its Capital was Naples. Because of this, I am sure that many Spanish words are in the Neapolitan dialect.
Wikipedia says the following about a “Guappo”:
“It is a historical figure in the Neapolitan area, distinguishable by his smart or overdressed dandy-like appearance, his unusual pose that serves to draw attention to him, and the particular care he lavishes on his body and face” Remember this definition, it is very important.
Since the late 1880’s and the early part of the 1900’s Italians and particularly Neapolitans came to this country in droves. They lived in what we could call Italian ghettos. These areas were full of “guaps”. In fact, they came to define the Italian/American culture. I came of age in the 1950’s and although I did not live in the Italian section of town I knew many people who did. It was full of this type of individual, both male and female. Every non Italian that I knew thought that this was “Italian”. Many times I was told that I was not like “them”. I remember my mother telling me very clearly, “I don’ta care who you marry, but no bringa homa one of thosa types” I knew just what she meant. They were “Wops”, I was Italian.
In the 70’s and 80’s a new name was given to this ever shrinking, but overtly visible group, “Guidos”. The above mentioned definition remained the same only the name was changed. Watch “Saturday Night Fever”, “My Cousin Vinny” or “True Love”, these were the quintessential Guidos. That is until “Jersey Shore” came along. This show gave Guidos a new dimension. These are Guidos on steroids, both figuratively and literally. Also, in egalitarian America the female version of Guidos were introduced, “Guidettes”.
What’s the big fuss? This group has been with us since the first Neapolitans landed on these shores. This is just the line from Guappo to Guido. Well the big fuss is that we Italian/Americans thought we had made it in this country, that we had arrived, and in many ways we have. Two on the Supreme Court, The Speaker of the House, plus many, many others in high places. This was supposed to be a Post Guap/Guido period in our history. But no, with the general dumbing down of America, television producers had to tap into the very lowest rung of our society, hence “Jersey Shore”. Just like the mafia image, they are a subpart of our culture and we will have to accept it, but not glorify it.
As in most things Italian/American there is a direct connection to Italy. Anyone who thinks that “Guidos” and “Guidettes” are an American phenomenon has never been to Naples. The only difference is the language, as the above definition is true for both groups.
How does one differentiate a Guido from a normal Italian/American? The first give away is the leather jacket, then the open collared shirt (even in winter), the chains around the neck, the jelled hair and of course the ever present Cadillac Escalade. If you ever run across one give them a fist pump for me.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
La Mafia
Now, I’m going to write you a blog that you can’t refuse to read. There are many truths and myths about the above captioned organization, most of which are perpetuated by the media. Yes there is a Mafia, but very few Italians are actually involved. There are many different crime families throughout Italy and the US and the media, both in Italy and in the US, paint all crime organizations with the same brush. They are all referred to as La Mafia. The truth is La Mafia only exists in Sicily.
Let’s use another term when referring to these organizations, “Organized Crime”. La Mafia exists in Sicily and all members are blood Sicilian. La Mafia is a hierarchical society. That is, there is a organization with “ lesser capos” both on the bottom and the higher rungs of the organization. However, there is also a “Capo de Tutti Capi” and he is the supreme head of all. It is a pyramidal organization.
In Naples there is a completely different organization called “La Camorra”. La Camorra is a loosely knit group of gangs that do not necessarily work together all the time. They in some ways are more dangerous than La Mafia in Sicily. They are always fighting one another for control of whatever it is that they want to control--the docks, drugs, garbage, you name it. Actually, I would say that La Camorra controls much more of Italy than does La Mafia. If you have any interest in La Camorra, there is a book by Roberto Saviano called “Gomorrah”. There is also a subtitled movie of the same name that points out the brutality of this group. Roberto has been under protection of the Italian government for several years now because of the threats on his life. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camorra
Further down the peninsula from Naples in Calabria there is another brutal group called the “Ndrangheta”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/'Ndrangheta. I would say that this group is more like the Neapolitan Camorra than the Sicilian Mafia. All of these organizations are equally dangerous and grew out of the extreme poverty of the South.
Of course in the United States we are fortunate :) enough to have our own group, "La Cosa Nostra”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Mafia Again, as I previously mentioned , there are very few Italians that actually belong to these organizations, but there are a lot of “wantabes”, people that act as if they are Mafiosi but are what we call “”Guidos and Guidettes or Cugines”. To be sure not all Guidos, Guidettes and Cugines are Mafia wantabees. I’m going to leave this for another blog.
What we have is the following:
1. Mafia Sicilana
2. Camorra Napolitana
3. Ndgrangheta Calabrese
4. La Cosa Nostra Americana
I don’t know how many of you have come across anyone from the organized crime world, but as a teacher in a Prep School in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn in the late 70‘s and early 80‘s, I came across many relatives of such mobsters. I know this to be true because some of the parents of the students that I taught were convicted and sent to jail. In fact, I had a student who was a great nephew of the famous Paul “Big Paulie” Castellano http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Castellano who was murdered by John Gotti. To be sure all of these kids were very intelligent and did not go into a life of crime.
I have a funny story concerning wantabes or actual mobsters, I don’t know which. But before we get into the story I want to give you some important terms and their definitions. First and foremost is the word “Cafone” or in dialect “cafon” or “gafone”. This is a very important word that in Italian means a bumpkin, as in country. We here in America have refined the meaning and it can be used in several ways. As a noun as in a lowlife uneducated person usually with money, which is a bad combination. As a verb as in “he gafoned his food down”. You can imagine what that means. Also, an adjective describing something, as in “a gafone house or a gafone car”, meaning something over the top, ostentatious.
The next word is a great one also, “Citrullo” or in dialect “gitrul”. This means dim wit in Italian and in dialect it is a cucumber or cetriolo. My father used to call me a gitrul all the time, but who cares.
Now we can continue with the story. For some years in the 80’ and 90’s I was the Director of Real Estate for Carnegie Hall. In that capacity I had many men and women that worked for me. Also around that time and actually for the last 110 years or so there was a famous Italian/American restaurant in Harlem called Raos. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raos It was famous for not being able to get into. They once turned down Madonna and that made a big splash in the New York papers.
As I said before, in my capacity at Carnegie hall I had many people working for me. One of these was a doorman who happened to be very interested in food and restaurants and we would speak often about such things often. One day in November I walked in the building and he asked me if I had ever heard of Raos. Of course I said its famous but you can’t get in. He comes back with this statement, “Do you and your wife want to go sometime? I can set it up” Flabbergasted, I said of course. The next day when I came into the office he says that it’s all set up for February 20th. That was four months in advance but I said I would take it. I rushed home to tell my wife Sharyn the news and she, being a restaurant maven, pissed her pants in excitement. I think that was the longest 4 months in her life but the day finally came, we were going to Raos.
I was told by my doorman to go in, ask for Frankie and tell him that Joey sent me and that I was supposed to see Nickie the Vest. We went in and we were approached immediately by two cafones in suits looking menacingly at us, as if to say what the hell are you doing here. I meekly told them exactly what the doorman had told me and one of them yelled over to the bartender, “ Nicky, there’s someone here that said Joey sent em”. Nickie, thinks for what was the longest 30 seconds in my life, and then says, “Oh yeah they’re ok let em in”. Phew, we made it and from that moment on they treated us as if we were family. The deal in the restaurant is that every table is reserved forever and the only way you can get a seat is if the reservee is not coming that particular evening.
Frankie Junior, who is Frankie Senior’s* nephew, took charge of us and explained how they do it at Raos. The table is yours for the night so you can sit any time you want. Usually what people do is go to the bar, get a Manhattan and smoke a cigar. (This was when smoking was allowed) As I looked around I noticed that this place was full of CAFONES, cafoning their food down. I swear they filmed the Godfather there. There were no menus. Frankie tells you what they have for the night. Basic Italian/American food, which was no better or no worse than any good place in Brooklyn or Queens.
However, they do not take credit cards and I only had $200 in cash with me. I was sweating it out fantasizing that I wouldn’t have enough to pay and they would string me up on a rack in the back room . Fortunately the bill was $164.00 with tip. I was home free. Did I mention that you could park your car right in front of the restaurant and leave the keys in it. Keep in mind this was Harlem in the 1980’s. Were they gangsters or what? I don’t know.
We went back several times after that and I remember one of the times we brought a very attractive woman with us. She caused quite a stir with the cafones at the bar, each vying for her attention. She loved the flirting with them and asked one of them for his “Business Card” which he promptly gave to her. The problem was that it only contained his name, nothing else. She demurely asked what business he was in and he answered, “In Raos you never ask anyone their business”.
Some years later, splashed all over the New York Papers was the story of a murder at Raos. It seems that one of the cafones at the bar who was also a citrul, got into an altercation with another cafone and killed him. One of the regulars, I guess with one too many Manhattans in him, decided to serenade the patrons with opera. The person who was killed didn’t like the singing and let it be known in a loud manner. The killer took umbrage with this person’s remarks and when the guy went to leave he shot him in the back and killed him, much to the chagrin of all the workers and patrons. The killer calmly walked out of bar and told some policemen who were outside that there had been a killing inside. One of the workers alerted the police who this person was and the guy was arrested. He’s in jail now and Raos is even more famous.
Now this cafone who did the killing is the classic definition of a citrullo. He was 66 years old at the time and still stupid enough to pull off such a crime. I can truly assert that there are no cafones or citrullos in my family, at least I hope not.
Although the Italian culture is one of the greatest in the world, we do own, for better or worse these groups. Although a minority, they sometimes define us, which is unfortunate. But to deny that they exist is also unfortunate, it makes them harder to weed out. Ridding Italy of organized crime is a tremendous problem, as it is in the Unted States. They are entrenched in the culture. Read Saviano's book.
* Frank Pellegrino Sr. is also an actor and played one of the FBI lawyers in "The Sopranos"
Let’s use another term when referring to these organizations, “Organized Crime”. La Mafia exists in Sicily and all members are blood Sicilian. La Mafia is a hierarchical society. That is, there is a organization with “ lesser capos” both on the bottom and the higher rungs of the organization. However, there is also a “Capo de Tutti Capi” and he is the supreme head of all. It is a pyramidal organization.
In Naples there is a completely different organization called “La Camorra”. La Camorra is a loosely knit group of gangs that do not necessarily work together all the time. They in some ways are more dangerous than La Mafia in Sicily. They are always fighting one another for control of whatever it is that they want to control--the docks, drugs, garbage, you name it. Actually, I would say that La Camorra controls much more of Italy than does La Mafia. If you have any interest in La Camorra, there is a book by Roberto Saviano called “Gomorrah”. There is also a subtitled movie of the same name that points out the brutality of this group. Roberto has been under protection of the Italian government for several years now because of the threats on his life. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camorra
Further down the peninsula from Naples in Calabria there is another brutal group called the “Ndrangheta”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/'Ndrangheta. I would say that this group is more like the Neapolitan Camorra than the Sicilian Mafia. All of these organizations are equally dangerous and grew out of the extreme poverty of the South.
Of course in the United States we are fortunate :) enough to have our own group, "La Cosa Nostra”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Mafia Again, as I previously mentioned , there are very few Italians that actually belong to these organizations, but there are a lot of “wantabes”, people that act as if they are Mafiosi but are what we call “”Guidos and Guidettes or Cugines”. To be sure not all Guidos, Guidettes and Cugines are Mafia wantabees. I’m going to leave this for another blog.
What we have is the following:
1. Mafia Sicilana
2. Camorra Napolitana
3. Ndgrangheta Calabrese
4. La Cosa Nostra Americana
I don’t know how many of you have come across anyone from the organized crime world, but as a teacher in a Prep School in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn in the late 70‘s and early 80‘s, I came across many relatives of such mobsters. I know this to be true because some of the parents of the students that I taught were convicted and sent to jail. In fact, I had a student who was a great nephew of the famous Paul “Big Paulie” Castellano http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Castellano who was murdered by John Gotti. To be sure all of these kids were very intelligent and did not go into a life of crime.
I have a funny story concerning wantabes or actual mobsters, I don’t know which. But before we get into the story I want to give you some important terms and their definitions. First and foremost is the word “Cafone” or in dialect “cafon” or “gafone”. This is a very important word that in Italian means a bumpkin, as in country. We here in America have refined the meaning and it can be used in several ways. As a noun as in a lowlife uneducated person usually with money, which is a bad combination. As a verb as in “he gafoned his food down”. You can imagine what that means. Also, an adjective describing something, as in “a gafone house or a gafone car”, meaning something over the top, ostentatious.
The next word is a great one also, “Citrullo” or in dialect “gitrul”. This means dim wit in Italian and in dialect it is a cucumber or cetriolo. My father used to call me a gitrul all the time, but who cares.
Now we can continue with the story. For some years in the 80’ and 90’s I was the Director of Real Estate for Carnegie Hall. In that capacity I had many men and women that worked for me. Also around that time and actually for the last 110 years or so there was a famous Italian/American restaurant in Harlem called Raos. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raos It was famous for not being able to get into. They once turned down Madonna and that made a big splash in the New York papers.
As I said before, in my capacity at Carnegie hall I had many people working for me. One of these was a doorman who happened to be very interested in food and restaurants and we would speak often about such things often. One day in November I walked in the building and he asked me if I had ever heard of Raos. Of course I said its famous but you can’t get in. He comes back with this statement, “Do you and your wife want to go sometime? I can set it up” Flabbergasted, I said of course. The next day when I came into the office he says that it’s all set up for February 20th. That was four months in advance but I said I would take it. I rushed home to tell my wife Sharyn the news and she, being a restaurant maven, pissed her pants in excitement. I think that was the longest 4 months in her life but the day finally came, we were going to Raos.
I was told by my doorman to go in, ask for Frankie and tell him that Joey sent me and that I was supposed to see Nickie the Vest. We went in and we were approached immediately by two cafones in suits looking menacingly at us, as if to say what the hell are you doing here. I meekly told them exactly what the doorman had told me and one of them yelled over to the bartender, “ Nicky, there’s someone here that said Joey sent em”. Nickie, thinks for what was the longest 30 seconds in my life, and then says, “Oh yeah they’re ok let em in”. Phew, we made it and from that moment on they treated us as if we were family. The deal in the restaurant is that every table is reserved forever and the only way you can get a seat is if the reservee is not coming that particular evening.
Frankie Junior, who is Frankie Senior’s* nephew, took charge of us and explained how they do it at Raos. The table is yours for the night so you can sit any time you want. Usually what people do is go to the bar, get a Manhattan and smoke a cigar. (This was when smoking was allowed) As I looked around I noticed that this place was full of CAFONES, cafoning their food down. I swear they filmed the Godfather there. There were no menus. Frankie tells you what they have for the night. Basic Italian/American food, which was no better or no worse than any good place in Brooklyn or Queens.
However, they do not take credit cards and I only had $200 in cash with me. I was sweating it out fantasizing that I wouldn’t have enough to pay and they would string me up on a rack in the back room . Fortunately the bill was $164.00 with tip. I was home free. Did I mention that you could park your car right in front of the restaurant and leave the keys in it. Keep in mind this was Harlem in the 1980’s. Were they gangsters or what? I don’t know.
We went back several times after that and I remember one of the times we brought a very attractive woman with us. She caused quite a stir with the cafones at the bar, each vying for her attention. She loved the flirting with them and asked one of them for his “Business Card” which he promptly gave to her. The problem was that it only contained his name, nothing else. She demurely asked what business he was in and he answered, “In Raos you never ask anyone their business”.
Some years later, splashed all over the New York Papers was the story of a murder at Raos. It seems that one of the cafones at the bar who was also a citrul, got into an altercation with another cafone and killed him. One of the regulars, I guess with one too many Manhattans in him, decided to serenade the patrons with opera. The person who was killed didn’t like the singing and let it be known in a loud manner. The killer took umbrage with this person’s remarks and when the guy went to leave he shot him in the back and killed him, much to the chagrin of all the workers and patrons. The killer calmly walked out of bar and told some policemen who were outside that there had been a killing inside. One of the workers alerted the police who this person was and the guy was arrested. He’s in jail now and Raos is even more famous.
Now this cafone who did the killing is the classic definition of a citrullo. He was 66 years old at the time and still stupid enough to pull off such a crime. I can truly assert that there are no cafones or citrullos in my family, at least I hope not.
Although the Italian culture is one of the greatest in the world, we do own, for better or worse these groups. Although a minority, they sometimes define us, which is unfortunate. But to deny that they exist is also unfortunate, it makes them harder to weed out. Ridding Italy of organized crime is a tremendous problem, as it is in the Unted States. They are entrenched in the culture. Read Saviano's book.
* Frank Pellegrino Sr. is also an actor and played one of the FBI lawyers in "The Sopranos"
Saturday, September 4, 2010
La Bella Lingua, Why don't we speak it?
The fact is that only about 5% of Italian/Americans speak Italian. Then again you have to define Italian. I like to use the term "Standard Italian". For example, did my parents speak Standard Italian? Certainly not to each other. They spoke a form of Neapolitan, a language that was not understood out of that area. Now their friends the Roses, were Sicilian and that's what they spoke, a language barely understood by the Neapolitans and certainly not understood by the Northern Italians. With the Roses they spoke English.
So what were my parents and others like them to do? Should they have taught us their language, a language that was certainly useful in the house or with other folks from their region or should they have taught us Standard Italian, a language that they barely knew? They could have sent us to Italian language school, however any such school would teach only Standard Italian. That would have helped us with the wider educated Italian world, but not in our communications with them. In fact, I think it would have been an embarrassment to them, to have their children speak the language of the educated class while they spoke the local dialect indicating their lack of education.
To be sure, they did know some Standard Italian, after all they did have three years of compulsory education and they did know how to read and write in Standard Italian. Dialects are usually not written nor do they have rules, Standard Italian does.* I remember my father speaking to his cousin who was a professor of Italian at Princeton University on the phone. This cousin, Arturo Mancini, only spoke Standard Italian, so my father had to respond in kind. He spoke, but it was halting and clearly not his mother tongue.
This sort of explains why only 5% of Italian/Americans speak the Standard Italian language. In Italy today, according to the national statistics bureau, 55% of Italians still use dialect some or most of the time when they are with family or friends.** When my parents came to the United States the users of dialect must have been near 90%. Thank god for Italian television, as now almost everyone on TV speaks standard Italian. In fact, everyone that graduates from High School in Italy speaks Standard Italian. If a person in Italy does not speak Standard Italian you know he or she is uneducated.
So how did Italy get into this language conundrum? Think of the Italian peninsula 2500 years ago. There were a bunch of Italic tribes all speaking their own languages. For sure some of these were similar but the further apart the tribes were the less alike were their languages. Tribes in Sicily spoke very differently from tribes in northern Italy. However, around 300 or 200 BCA, one of these tribes became dominant over the others; the Romans who spoke Latin. As their influence evolved so did their language. They developed the Roman alphabet, the same one we use today.
Since they conquered and ruled the entire Italian peninsula and Sicily, the official language was Latin. That does not mean that the people on the street spoke Latin, but that all the official offices spoke in Latin and all official documents were in Latin. We know that the Catholic Masses were celebrated in Latin up until the early 1960‘s. Throughout the years the language of the people became infused with Latin words or the local languages became Latinized, however they differed according to the region of the country you lived in.
This sort of mishmash went on for many years after the Roman Empire ended. The populace spoke their dialect and the official documents were written in Latin or whatever language one of the many conquerors chose to use in whatever region they controlled.
In the 14th century there was a movement on the Italian peninsula and Sicily to standardize a language other than Latin that could be used as the “official” Italian language. During this period there were about 13 major dialects in Italy, two of the most dominant were the Tuscan and Sicilian.
It was during this period that Dante Alighieri, a Tuscan from Florence, began writing in his local dialect. What he did was to use the Roman alphabet sounds and write his Tuscan dialect according these sounds. This is why Standard Italian is a phonetic language. There is no such thing as spelling in Italian. Words are written exactly how they are sounded. For example, take my surname FUMO. Fu is pronounced as in Fu-Man -Chu--and Mo as in “Mo Money”.
This guy was a prolific writer. As we all know he wrote the “Divine Comedy”. All his writings, in his Tuscan dialect, formed the basis for the Standard Italian language of today. Also in the running as Standard Italian was the Sicilian dialect. During this period it was a well developed language with written poetry and stories. If, by chance of geography, Dante had been born in Sicily, Standard Italian could be Sicilian.
The Tuscan dialect is Standard Italian. If a person is speaking in the Sicilian dialect, he or she is not speaking “bad Italian”, they are speaking another language. If a person cannot speak Standard Italian it means that they are not formally educated. Mussolini, for whatever his faults were, made sure that all schools taught Standard Italian, the Tuscan dialect.
So if you have to learn Italian, make sure it is Standard Italian, that way you can converse with most of the populace on the peninsula and on the islands.
Caio Guaglioni (Napolitano)
Caio Ragazzi (Standard Italian)
Later Homies (Homeboy English)
Goodbye Boys and Girls (Standard English)
* Sicilian is certainly one of the exceptions
** “La Bella Lingua---Dianne Hales”
So what were my parents and others like them to do? Should they have taught us their language, a language that was certainly useful in the house or with other folks from their region or should they have taught us Standard Italian, a language that they barely knew? They could have sent us to Italian language school, however any such school would teach only Standard Italian. That would have helped us with the wider educated Italian world, but not in our communications with them. In fact, I think it would have been an embarrassment to them, to have their children speak the language of the educated class while they spoke the local dialect indicating their lack of education.
To be sure, they did know some Standard Italian, after all they did have three years of compulsory education and they did know how to read and write in Standard Italian. Dialects are usually not written nor do they have rules, Standard Italian does.* I remember my father speaking to his cousin who was a professor of Italian at Princeton University on the phone. This cousin, Arturo Mancini, only spoke Standard Italian, so my father had to respond in kind. He spoke, but it was halting and clearly not his mother tongue.
This sort of explains why only 5% of Italian/Americans speak the Standard Italian language. In Italy today, according to the national statistics bureau, 55% of Italians still use dialect some or most of the time when they are with family or friends.** When my parents came to the United States the users of dialect must have been near 90%. Thank god for Italian television, as now almost everyone on TV speaks standard Italian. In fact, everyone that graduates from High School in Italy speaks Standard Italian. If a person in Italy does not speak Standard Italian you know he or she is uneducated.
So how did Italy get into this language conundrum? Think of the Italian peninsula 2500 years ago. There were a bunch of Italic tribes all speaking their own languages. For sure some of these were similar but the further apart the tribes were the less alike were their languages. Tribes in Sicily spoke very differently from tribes in northern Italy. However, around 300 or 200 BCA, one of these tribes became dominant over the others; the Romans who spoke Latin. As their influence evolved so did their language. They developed the Roman alphabet, the same one we use today.
Since they conquered and ruled the entire Italian peninsula and Sicily, the official language was Latin. That does not mean that the people on the street spoke Latin, but that all the official offices spoke in Latin and all official documents were in Latin. We know that the Catholic Masses were celebrated in Latin up until the early 1960‘s. Throughout the years the language of the people became infused with Latin words or the local languages became Latinized, however they differed according to the region of the country you lived in.
This sort of mishmash went on for many years after the Roman Empire ended. The populace spoke their dialect and the official documents were written in Latin or whatever language one of the many conquerors chose to use in whatever region they controlled.
In the 14th century there was a movement on the Italian peninsula and Sicily to standardize a language other than Latin that could be used as the “official” Italian language. During this period there were about 13 major dialects in Italy, two of the most dominant were the Tuscan and Sicilian.
It was during this period that Dante Alighieri, a Tuscan from Florence, began writing in his local dialect. What he did was to use the Roman alphabet sounds and write his Tuscan dialect according these sounds. This is why Standard Italian is a phonetic language. There is no such thing as spelling in Italian. Words are written exactly how they are sounded. For example, take my surname FUMO. Fu is pronounced as in Fu-Man -Chu--and Mo as in “Mo Money”.
This guy was a prolific writer. As we all know he wrote the “Divine Comedy”. All his writings, in his Tuscan dialect, formed the basis for the Standard Italian language of today. Also in the running as Standard Italian was the Sicilian dialect. During this period it was a well developed language with written poetry and stories. If, by chance of geography, Dante had been born in Sicily, Standard Italian could be Sicilian.
The Tuscan dialect is Standard Italian. If a person is speaking in the Sicilian dialect, he or she is not speaking “bad Italian”, they are speaking another language. If a person cannot speak Standard Italian it means that they are not formally educated. Mussolini, for whatever his faults were, made sure that all schools taught Standard Italian, the Tuscan dialect.
So if you have to learn Italian, make sure it is Standard Italian, that way you can converse with most of the populace on the peninsula and on the islands.
Caio Guaglioni (Napolitano)
Caio Ragazzi (Standard Italian)
Later Homies (Homeboy English)
Goodbye Boys and Girls (Standard English)
* Sicilian is certainly one of the exceptions
** “La Bella Lingua---Dianne Hales”
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