Cooking & Baking

orangecrush

(29,585 posts) Mon Feb 9, 2026, 06:34 PM Feb 9

Italian Depression Era Food

I've eaten about a third of these.

My Mom was 2nd generation Italian, and grew up in South Philly during the depression.

This is pure love turning scraps into heaven.

?si=xF19vhnU0eWZhri-

3 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Italian Depression Era Food (Original Post) orangecrush Feb 9 OP

Mountain Food JustAnotherGen Feb 9 #1

My fondest memories orangecrush Feb 9 #2

In the 1950s, we had many a peasant meal as dad's income was not that much. Being of Italian Wonder Why Feb 10 #3

JustAnotherGen

(37,859 posts)

1. Mountain Food

Reply to orangecrush (Original post)

Mon Feb 9, 2026, 09:42 PM

Feb 9

People think.when you marry a man from Italy it's pasta every night.

Greens and Beans, lentil soup, homemade soppresata sausage with preserved peppers and tomatoes.

Italian Americas brought peasant food and Mountain food with them.

orangecrush

(29,585 posts)

2. My fondest memories

Reply to JustAnotherGen (Reply #1)

Mon Feb 9, 2026, 10:32 PM

Feb 9

Of my Mom.

Sunday was sauce day.

Wonder Why

(6,716 posts)

3. In the 1950s, we had many a peasant meal as dad's income was not that much. Being of Italian

Reply to orangecrush (Original post)

Tue Feb 10, 2026, 10:25 AM

Feb 10

descent, we had, quite often:

peas & pasta (UGH!)

pasta fazoole (aka pasta e fagioli aka beans and pasta) - even worse! No sausage. Just beans and pasta.

Many a meatless/fishless day. And not just on Fridays or during Lent.

A pound of chop meat fed the six of us when made into meatloaf and half of it was saved for another day. I hated mom's meatloaf, too. Now I think back and realize it was like having less than a 2 oz burger!

I guess the depression lasted longer than I thought.

Reply to this discussion