Date of Award
Summer 8-2019
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Program
Urban Studies
Department
Planning and Urban Studies
Major Professor
Dr. Connie Zeanah Atkinson
Second Advisor
Dr. David Gladstone
Third Advisor
Dr. Karen Leathem
Abstract
The influx of immigrant Sicilians into southeastern Louisiana in the nineteenth century resulted in a parallel rise of the French Quarter as a culinary destination. Through an analysis of menus, recipe books, city directories, newspapers and census rolls, this work maps the growing influence of Sicilian farmers, vendors, and restaurateurs on New Orleans foodways. The often-overlooked community of Sicilians already living in the city in the early nineteenth century set the stage for the mass migration from Sicily to New Orleans later in the century, when Sicilians gained control of the produce food market in southeast Louisiana. A comparison of local cookbooks and recipes from before the mass arrival of the Sicilians with those created after Sicilians began to dominate agricultural production in Louisiana reveals a subtle shift in the use of ingredients, as local cooks incorporated into local dishes the produce made available by Sicilian farmers and vendors.
Recommended Citation
Guccione, Laura A., "Sicilian Roots: How the Agricultural Pursuits of Immigrant Sicilians Shaped Modern New Orleans Cuisine" (2019). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 2667.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2667
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.