Celebrating La Divina Comedia and La Vera Pizza Italiana.

With a warm and resonant “Buon Giorno!” Professor Tom Means of the Modern Languages Department welcomed attendees to BMCC’s Italian-American Heritage Month festivities on October 17.

The annual celebration of all things Italian featured a dramatic reading of Dante’s Inferno, the 13th-century epic poem, by New York City actor Alessio Bordoni; a demonstration of the art of pizza-making from chef Pasquale Cozzolino, founder of the landmark Manhattan eatery, Ribalta; and a performance of Sicilian and American folk songs by blues guitarist Mario Gialcone, of the BMCC/Tribeca Performing Arts Center.

A gathering of many cultures

“We have a long history of celebrating Italian Heritage Month at BMCC,” says Modern Languages professor Kristina Varade, who co-hosted the multifaceted program with Means.

The success of the program owes much to BMCC’s cultural diversity, she adds: “It’s wonderful to be able to come together to celebrate Italian music, art, film, food—and the beauty of the Italian language. It doesn’t matter what your background is.”

But the day’s activities transcended traditional definitions of culture and heritage. “This is also an occasion to take note of the contributions Italians have made, in the U.S. and around the world,” Means told attendees.

The geography of pizza

In his presentation, chef Cozzolino paid homage to Naples, his hometown and the modern birthplace of pizza. “Neapolitan pizza is ‘la vera pizza Italiana’—the real Italian pizza,” he said. But over the decades, as Italians emigrated to countries far removed from their native land, pizza has become a truly international delicacy. (According to a survey cited in Wikipedia, Norwegians eat the most pizza, followed Germans.)

In point of fact, the flour used in his demonstration was a mix of Canadian, Italian and North African varieties. “The Canadian flour is gluten-free,” Cozzolino explained, as he vigorously rolled, pounded, and flattened the dough—“like washing clothes,” he quipped. The North African flour added color to the mix. And the Italian flour? “That’s for taste.”

Bigger and better

The demonstration was followed, appropriately, by an Italian lunch. The afternoon program featured a screening of the Italian film, The Spider’s Patience, followed by a discussion led by Professors Varade and Means. (The 2011 film Terraferma was shown on October 21.) There was also a discussion of traditional Italian values within a contemporary American context, led by Donna Chirico, of the John D. Calandra Italian-American Institute at York College.

“Our Italian-American Heritage program seems to get a little bigger and better every year,” says Varade. “I don’t think anyone who attended any of the events came away disappointed—or hungry.”