This is a handwritten recipe for wedding soup (minestra maritata), by my grandma for a woman my dad worked with. He made a copy of the recipe to give away, and kept this version.

From the 1890s to the 1920s, a large amount of Italians immigrated to America in what's known as the Great Arrival. They usually settled down in enclaves—as many as a third never left New York, and the community I know formed in Youngstown, OH, where my dad grew up. Family recipes and home cooking are a central part of Italian-American culture, and the style of wedding soup in this recipe is specially important to Youngstown.

Despite the name, it’s not actually served at weddings. Maritata refers to the “marriage” of meat and vegetables in the soup. The Italian-American version of the dish has been adapted from its origins in Italy, and every family’s wedding soup recipe is a little different than the next. My grandma’s calls for chicken and ground beef (made into meatballs), broth, spinach, and cheese as a topping. My grandpa’s family recipe adds fried dumplings, their twist on the usual pastini. My family combines these two.

Making wedding soup together is as much of a familial experience as eating it—it’s an involved process taking several hours. My family has made our recipe numerous times for holidays and celebrations. I never got to meet my grandma, but to Italians, a recipe is as individual as the person writing it, and eating the same meals she did gives me a connection to her that I wouldn’t have if my dad hadn’t kept this copy.

– GF

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more