If you have and Italian American background, chances are that your
ancestors came from South Italy. If you remember hearing your
grandparents or great grandparents talk you know that they did not
"speak" Italian, they "sang" it. Italian phrases that I remember from
childhood are not distinguishable as individual words. They were a flow
of indistinguishable sounds, some highly musical, others peppery
expletives. I recall the phrase, "mah'lay-bonz" which I think meant;
"you're a pain in the stomach. " Similar to this phrase was "doo-zee-pots,"
which now, as an adult who speaks Italian, I have come to know is a
corruption of "Tu sei pozzo," "You are crazy." There was also the phrase
spoken to babies, "Doo - zee - pee-zhad," which meant, "You wet your
diaper." There was also the call "Aye... why-yoh," that was addressed to
any young man. I still have no idea what that means. One of the most
curious aspects of the Southern Italian dialect is the way it doubles
consonants at the beginning of words. This consonant doubling is not
just a question of spelling.
The double consonant is
characteristic of how Southern Italians sing their language. (Wikipedia
offers a very interesting look at the Neapolitan dialect.) And here is a
word and a food from the Amalfi area that offers a perfect example of
the Neapolitan dialect and food: "ndunderi." I came across the recipe
for ndunderi (doon-der-ee) when I was researching
gnocchi and cavatelli. "Ndunderi" were not something I had ever heard
of. Even though these gnocchi like pasta come from the Naples region, I
don't think this variety of dumpling ever came to America. I have never
heard the word among Italian American friends nor have I ever seen it on
the menus of any Italian American restaurant. In fact, I have never
even heard of them in Italy.
According to most Italian sites,
ndunderi are a most ancient form of pasta and are even recognized as
such by UNESCO. In Roman times, they were made from ground faro or other
grains. The liquid was originally sour milk. nduderi as they are known
today are, at least in most recipes, are made from a combination of
semolina and regular white flour. For the liquid, today's ndunderi use
ricotta cheese and eggs. According to one Italian site, "Virtual
Sorrento," the pre-columbian version of ndunderi were rather large
dumplings. They were garnished with various spices and olive oil. With
the discovery of America and the introduction of the tomato, the
dumpling became smaller and tomato sauce came into play.
No comments :
Post a Comment