“How to Summer like an Italian”
Bon Appétit
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one of the most well-known and respected food magazines circulated in the United States, published an article titled, “How to Summer like an Italian”. The writing style is personable and humorous with descriptive sense evoking paragraph regarding the food and drink consumed by the writers.
The article speaks of a quaint villa, which in reality looks more like a castle, placing the author’s perspective as slightly out of touch with readers. Particularly readers who may be more concerned with cost convenience and preparation convenience, over uniqueness of experience.
The food also follows this trend: more “luxury” liquors and foods, such as fresh shrimp cooked in pastry (similar to an empanada), or fine cheeses and wines serve as casual lunches or mid-afternoon snacks.
However, the author engages the identity of readers as an American audience. One may call it the “melting pot” background of Americans, others may suggest it is the need to explore and expand boundaries- physical and experiential. The variety of unique experiences does draw in American readers (hence the success of a magazine known for such articles as this). However, the variety is rooted in familiarity. The details of days spent swimming or laying on the dock or fishing likely serves as a familiar basis on which to build the story of unfamiliar and widely varied food, drinks, and experiences.
Most striking is the description of lunch by the lake, a meal of simple grilled fish and salad or bread and meats/cheeses. The story likely serves to evoke certain food memories of American audiences. While the exact recipes are different, the type of food served (salads, fish, etc.) parallel those of US readers. Even if they themselves have not consumed fresh fish on a lakeshore, the image is ingrained as a part of American summers, a memory/ideal of food formed from expectation, if not experience.
Ultimately, as staunchly upper-class centered and foreign as the authors’ adventures in foods may be, the article utilizes collective memories/ideals to link familiar with foreign