Capicola became gabagool
“Capicola, capocollo, and gabagool” are three terms that are often used interchangeably when referring to Italian cured meats. Though they are not the same, they all share the same basic characteristics. They are both cured meats made from the neck of a pig. They are commonly served along with other Italian meats such as salami or prosciutto. While many Americans have probably never had capicola, many have had it in their lifetime.
Italian-Americans often speak Italian in a unique way, and capicola is no exception. It is pronounced like capicola, mortadella, and Coca-Cola, according to Bobby Bottleservice, a Mike Sorrentino-type. While capicola is made most famous on the Sopranos, it has also made its way into American slang thanks to shows like The Office.
The origin of this word’s name is uncertain, but the Italian dialect is very varied. But it’s clear that some regions have more accents than others. For example, capicola is pronounced as gabagool in Southern Italy. The accent is on the “ooh” sound, whereas the “g” sound is silent. So, what makes capicola so distinctive? Apparently, it’s a cross between a sausage and prosciutto.
Sicilian is Arabic
In Sicily, the Arabs left the most enduring mark on the language, culture, and cuisine. They arrived in the early 9th century and ruled the island for 250 years, leaving their mark on all aspects of life. The name “Kalsa” comes from the Arabic word al-khalisah, which means “pure.” The island was once the home of a small Arab quarter. Today, its Arabic influence is evident in many words and phrases.
The Arabs were a major part of the history of Sicily, spreading the religion across the Mediterranean. But they were slow to conquer the island. Panormos fell to the Arabs in 832, eventually becoming Bal’harm. Messina and Enna were conquered in 843 and eight years later, while Taormina lasted only a few more years. This time period was particularly important because of the importance of Sicily in the Islamic world.
Arabs conquered Sicily in the 10th century, and made it the ‘Bride of the Mediterranean’. It became a center for Islamic civilization and a showplace for Europe in many fields. However, the Arabs didn’t dominate the island for long. By the 13th century, the Arabs were expelled from Sicily, and it became the home of the Ottomans, who dominated it for fifty years.
Piedmontese is French-ish
The Piedmontese is a distinct breed, very European in its looks. They are unlike Angus or any other continental or British breed. This unique trait is a result of breeding for more than a century. Piedmontese cows have fine bones, thin skin, and great length. They are also genetically distinct from other breeds because of a cysteine to threonine substitution at the carboxyl region of the protein myostatin.
There are a variety of dialects of Piedmontese. The language is deviated from standard Piedmontese in many ways, including literary grammar. Even today, Piedmontese dialects contain words from various North African languages, including French. Before the Second World War, many Piedmontese Jews spoke Judeo-Piedmontese, a dialect of French-ish that preserved many of the nuances of the language.
As of 2011, over two million people in the Italian region of Piedmont speak Piedmontese. Despite its limited geographic range, Piedmontese is recognized as a distinct language by many European linguists. It has official status with the Piedmont regional government, although it is often considered a dialect in Italy. It was originally spoken by people from the region of Piedmont and Liguria, but now has official status throughout the province of Pavia.
The Fassone cattle breed is one of Italy’s greatest culinary treasures. It is tender and can be cooked in various ways. Some connoisseurs prefer raw Fassone beef while others prefer it knife-minced and served with extra virgin olive oil. This breed of beef developed along the salt road. Eventually, Piedmont was incorporated into Sardinia. Its farming practices developed along this road, making it a prime source of meat for various Italian dishes.
Apizza is an identity marker for Italian-Americans
For the first time, Italian-Americans can now call themselves “Italian” because of the ubiquitous pizza restaurants throughout the city. Italian-Americans first started opening pizzerias in the 1930s, and New Jersey’s large Italian-American community is no exception. One of the first pizzerias in the city was opened by Ike Sewell in Chicago, who created Chicago-style pizza. Despite the fact that many Italian-Americans in the city of Chicago were Italian, pizza was still considered a low-class dish for poor working-class men.
After World War II, Italian Americans sought greater opportunity and resisted the rise of the Communist Party. The Italian-American community enrolled in the G.I. Bill and sent their children to college. By the 1970s, Italian-Americans had an average of twelve years of formal education, slightly more than the national average of twelve. Despite their low-income status, Italian-Americans in New Jersey made up for their low-income status by advancing into the professional and managerial ranks.
Despite these stereotypes, Italian-Americans began to move into politics. Increasingly educated and rich, they were well-represented in local and state government positions. Their influence in the state legislatures and the federal government began to grow. In the 1930s, only four Italian-Americans held elected office in the United States. By the 1980s, however, more than 30 people of Italian descent served in the state legislature and three served in the U.S. Senate.
It’s hard to understand
An Italian new Jersey accent is difficult to decipher because people do not always sound like they are from the state. Interestingly, the northern Jersey region sounds more like New York City than it does like other New Jersey areas. This is because both areas received waves of immigrants from southern Italy, which impacted their linguistics. Words like capicola and mozzarella became mutz-ah-dell and gabagool, respectively. This resulting idiosyncratic slang gave rise to a distinctive accent, and “goom-bah” talk is typical.
The Italian New Jersey accent is quite unique, with a sound derived from the region they came from. For instance, water is pronounced “wudder” or “wooder,” and hog is pronounced like a “lawg.” In addition, 50% of the population pronounces roof with the same vowel sound as ‘put’, while push and pull are a bit less distinctive. In addition to being hard to understand, it’s also impossible to make out words such as ‘goo’ and “take.”
Another characteristic of the Italian New Jersey accent is the doubling of vowels. The diphthong OI becomes ER in Italian and earl becomes terlet. However, this doubling of vowels also creates an unintentional variation of the word “eat.” This is due to the fact that non-native speakers usually don’t pronounce the H correctly. Ben Lee, who is Italian, describes the accent he heard growing up on Staten Island in the 1970s.
Traceable to region of Italy
In November 2011, the DOC Sicilia was created, bringing with it mandatory government-minted labels on all bottles of the region’s wines. The only DOCG wine in Sicily is Cerasuolo di Vittoria. Each bottle of the region’s wine carries a unique alphanumeric code that traces the wine’s entire production process, guaranteeing its provenance and ensuring its traceability.
Prior to this change, the regions of Italy were just statistical districts of the central state. However, the Italian Constitution of 1948 gave each region some degree of political autonomy. The initial draft listed the regions of Salento, Apulia, Friuli, Veneto Giulia, Lucania, and Marche. While Molise and Abruzzo were initially separate regions, they later merged to form the region of Abruzzi e Molise.
Genetic analysis of modern Southern Italian and Southern Balkan populations revealed that their DNA is genetically similar to those of their Mediterranean neighbours. Some researchers hypothesized that this was the result of extensive admixture events or the cultural transmission of Greek languages to these populations. However, most recent syntheses tend to hypothesize that the Greek presence in Southern Italy began during the classical period and continued to the medieval period. This suggests that there were continuous genetic and cultural interactions between Southern Italian and Southern Balkan populations.
