Many Americans ethnically identify themselves as Italian. Interestingly, a majority of these people also share similar customs, beliefs and traditions. Whether your parents or grandparents were "straight off the boat" Italians or your family has simply adopted the traditions of your foreign ancestors, here are customs that most Italian families will recognize.
1. You need to greet everyone with a hug and a kiss at family parties.
Nothing angers the aunts, uncles and grandparents more than when one of their disrespectful preteen relatives meanders into a party and disregards this golden rule.
2. Your family is forever growing.
Just when you thought you would not welcome any more baby cousins into the world, one of your aunts announces that she's pregnant. Furthermore, branching off No. 1, your list of relatives never ends. You spend a solid 20 minutes greeting every family member at parties. Additionally, you have a love/hate relationship with your birthday... You are thrilled by the amount of gifts you receive, but you despise having to fill out personalized thank you cards for each relative who gave you a present.
3. Each person in your family has a stomach that can hold an endless amount of food.
Whenever they come over, it's like they have never been fed before... At parties, each host must prepare appetizers, loads of options for the main course, a vast amount of dessert, and plenty of hamburgers and hotdogs for the post-dessert meal. Hosts should also expect to have a limited amount of leftovers (if any!). If I had to bet who could eat more, my Italian family or the football players on the New York Giants, my money would be placed on my relatives, hands down.
4. You drop the final vowels when you pronounce some of your favorite Italian foods.
I am not entirely sure why this custom has been passed down from generation to generation, but I just follow the lead of my older kin. It's not mozzarella, it's "mootzarell." Manicotti is pronounced "manigot." Prosciutto becomes "proshoot." It's pretty simple.
5. Dessert is your favorite part of the party.
Cannolis, lobster tails (sfogliatella), tiramisu, zeppoles, etc. You name it, we have it.
6. Nobody makes pasta quite like Grandma.
Her raviolis are out of this world. Her homemade meals are the closest you'll get to authentic Italian cuisine. She truly has the magical cooking touch! We get a taste of Italy by consuming her home-cooked meals.
7. Serving sizes are massive; therefore, you will never leave hungry.
Guests of other ethnicities are often flustered by the amount of food that is placed onto their plates at dinner time. Even if you say you are full, more food will be thrown your way, and you will feel pressured to eat it. It is basically unheard of for a guest to leave the house of an Italian with a growling stomach.
8. Family parties occur almost every weekend.
There's always a birthday, holiday, or random occasion to celebrate! Tons of cousins = tons of parties! This can be a blessing and a curse...
9. All of your family members talk with their hands.
...and you thought this was normal until someone outside of your large Italian family called you out for doing it.
10. Most of your relatives call Spaghetti sauce "gravy."
...and you don't question it... you simply go with the flow.
11. There's no such thing as enough cheese.
If it doesn't look like a blizzard touched base in your bowl of pasta, then you're doing it wrong.
12. You love your huge, crazy Italian family, despite their flaws.
Despite all of the family feuds, stubborn personalities, and the fact that it takes you 20 minutes to say hello and goodbye to everyone, you wouldn't trade a single member for the world!
