Lindsay Marie Morris

I was born in Milwaukee, a place known for beer and bratwurst. But starting in the 1890s, it was also home to significant numbers of Italian immigrants, particularly from Sicily.

 

My nonna and her family settled in Milwaukee in the late 1930s. She and my nonno, who arrived after World War II, shopped at Sicilian-owned Glorioso's and Peter Sciortino's Bakery. 

In later years, Nonno would meet us at Milwaukee's Festa Italiana, the city's longest-running ethnic festival, where we'd eat arancini and cannoli, watch folk singers and dancers, and stay for the Bartolotta fireworks. 

 

I recently stumbled upon Storia Italia: Milwaukee, a documentary that aired on Milwaukee Public Television. While broadcast in 2015, the themes remain relevant, and it was a joy to see familiar names, faces, and storefronts. This was the Milwaukee that my family knew.

 

The documentary not only highlights Milwaukee's historically Italian neighborhoods—the Third Ward, Brady Street on Milwaukee's lower east side, and Bayview—but also shares personal stories of what these immigrants had to overcome, the contributions of Italians to Brew City, and reflections on what it means to be Italian in Milwaukee today. 

 

I reached out to producer Maryann Lazarski to learn more about the making of this important documentary.

 

A veteran broadcast journalist, television producer, and educator, Maryann produced and managed Milwaukee's ABC affiliate, WISN-TV, for 20 years. More recently, she retired after a decade at Milwaukee PBS, where she produced a newsmagazine program and documentaries for broadcast and digital. Maryann has taught broadcast journalism and communications at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Cardinal Stritch University. She currently teaches a multimedia news storytelling class at her alma mater (and mine), Marquette University. She also serves as president of the Milwaukee Press Club, the oldest continuously operating press club in North America.

 

 

What inspired the creation of Storia Italia: Milwaukee?

This was the first documentary I produced for Milwaukee PBS (Milwaukee Public Television, MPTV, at the time). National PBS was airing a series called The Italian Americans, and the station wanted to have a local documentary to tie into the national broadcast.

So, I decided to visit Milwaukee's Italian Community Center, which displays hundreds of photographs of local Italian immigrants. At the time, I met with the center's historian, who was a wealth of information.

 

Milwaukee's Central Library. Carol M. Highsmith Photography

 

How did Italian immigrants contribute to the development of Milwaukee?

Many of the immigrants were artisans/sculptors who helped beautify the city's grandest buildings, including Central Library along Wisconsin Avenue, with Italian marble and tile. The immigrant men worked in factories and on the railroads, and others became entrepreneurs, primarily in the grocery business.

 

What challenges did the first Italian immigrants face when they arrived in Milwaukee?

As mentioned in the documentary, the language was a challenge for the immigrants. Even among the different "groups," they had different dialects, so it was often hard for them to communicate with each other. They didn't know how to read and write.

Housing was limited. Some lived with relatives who already arrived in Milwaukee.

Many were unskilled, so they learned trades or worked in the factories or on the railroads.

 

Tell us about the core neighborhoods where Italians settled and some of the businesses that reflect that history.

In Milwaukee's Third Ward—as mentioned in the documentary—was an area called Commission Row, where fruits and vegetables would be delivered. Other small Italian meat and grocery markets popped up there. Other Italians migrated to Brady Street on the lower east side of Milwaukee. 

 

 
Blessed Virgin of Pompeii Church. Photo courtesy of Pompeii Men's Club.

 

You mention the Blessed Virgin of Pompeii Church. What role did the so-called Little Pink Church have in the community? 

The Little Pink Church was a sacred space for the Italian immigrants to gather and share their Catholic faith. During this time, they also had church street festivals and honored Mary. The Italians were heartbroken when the church was bulldozed to expand the highway. There's still a marker commemorating where it once stood. That's when many moved to Brady Street and attended St. Rita of Casia church on the east side of Milwaukee.

The developer of the senior community center and housing is also Italian. He wanted to bring back the Little Pink Church, so he incorporated a new Little Pink Church into the complex.

 

Fest Italiana mass. Photo courtesy of Pompeii Men's Club.

 

How have Italian-Americans preserved and celebrated their heritage in Milwaukee?

Festa Italiana is a popular summer festival along the lakefront on the Henry Maier Festival Grounds. Milwaukee is known for its ethnic festivals throughout the summer.  

 

Along Brady Street—where Italian immigrants once settled—there is an iconic Italian market called Glorioso's that's celebrating nearly 80 years. They just sold to new owners but will keep the traditions there intact. 

On another part of town, in an area called Bay View, there's another iconic Italian corner market called Groppi's. 

 

What do you hope viewers will take away from Storia Italia: Milwaukee?

Storia Italia is a story about immigrants and community. I would like viewers to listen carefully and appreciate what these immigrants went through to seek better lives and contribute to a city like Milwaukee. Their dedication to their faith is something to be admired and respected. Those of us who live here certainly appreciate the Italian and Sicilian culture and what they brought to our community, including a strong work ethic, camaraderie, Italian art, and, of course, great food! 

 

 

 

 

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Mangia was one of the first Italian words Solae' Riddle learned from her mother, Silvana Phillips. For her, to this day, it means so much more than its literal translation, "eat." 

 

"If you know anything about the Italian culture, food is their love language, and there is no better time spent than around the table," says Solae'.

Food has been Mamma Silvana's way of sharing her culture as someone who had emigrated to the U.S. from Sommatino, Sicily, as a young girl. Her passion inspired Solae' to seek to preserve her mother's recipes along with the memories they carried. 

What started as a pet project led to the ladies launching Mamma Mangia, a destination for people who love to eat, a digital brand that feeds the soul.

Solae' recently shared with me how Mamma Mangia started, their recipe method, ways they engage with their audience, their most celebrated achievement, future plans, advice for new bloggers, and more.

 

 

What inspired you to start Mamma Mangia?

In our family, recipes have been passed down only through stories and lessons in the kitchen. If you are lucky, you may be able to find a list of ingredients (without measurements or instructions), but that would be a rarity. 

As a new mom, I felt a push to preserve our family recipes, memories, and culture. So, in 2017, I approached Mamma Silvana with the wild idea that we should write down all of our Italian family recipes. At first, she was taken aback by the idea of writing down these sacred recipes. To her, they are so much more than just a list of ingredients and directions. They are memories of her mother and father, who have long since passed away, memories of a life that is tangible only through our food. The thought that someone else may have access to these sacred recipes felt scary to Mamma Silvana. 

After much convincing at the benefit this would bring to our future posterity, Mamma Silvana agreed to join me in making a family cookbook. We gathered recipes from as many of her eight siblings as we could and pieced together recipes from her mother and father. It quickly became so much more than just another cookbook. We decided to include pedigree charts, our family's immigration story, pictures, and details about the lives of this generation that have never before been written down. Each member of the family had a page dedicated to the details of their lives so that one day when my children make a recipe from this book, they can know who these people are and connect to a part of their own history. 

It took five years to finish our family heirloom cookbook. It was an experience we could never fully put into words. For me, it changed me. It filled a void in my soul that I didn't realize was there. It created a connection to a group of people I didn't know in this life, but somehow they were a part of me. Each recipe brought a memory for Mamma Silvana that also connected her to her own past and ancestors. It was a reminder that although she is now an American citizen, she will always be Sicilian. That her immigration changed her life and the life of her posterity, but her past is just as influential. We often talk about having roots in Sicily, and those roots have become deeper and stronger than ever before. 

After we finished the cookbook, we had an overwhelming feeling that this wasn't the end of our journey. We knew we needed to share this experience with others and encourage them to connect to their own "roots." In August of 2020, we decided to launch a little page on Instagram we called Mamma Mangia. Here, we share our family recipes and culture, but our true hope is that it will encourage others to start a similar journey of their own.

 

 

Mamma Silvana shares her memories.

Describe your recipe development process.

Many of the recipes we share are not "new" but rather family recipes that we have been making for generations. That being said, when Mamma Silvana moved to Utah, there were not a lot of options for Italian food items that were available in Sicily or even on the East Coast. So, she started making her own versions so that she could continue to enjoy the food she loved so much. 

Mamma Silvana has an impeccable sense of taste and smell and can dissect nearly any food simply by eating and smelling it. It is like a superpower. When creating recipes, she always knows what she wants and how it should taste and, therefore, does not usually require much testing or perfecting. 

As for me, I love to create new recipes, and though I have been gifted with the ability to create recipes, my powers are not nearly as refined as hers. When I create a new recipe, I always send it to Mamma Silvana for her stamp of approval! 

 

Mamma Mangia's sourdough pasta

 

Your recipes often include unique twists, like sourdough pasta. How do you balance innovation with tradition?

Our sourdough pasta recipe was the first recipe to really go "viral." It was during the pandemic when everyone was experimenting with sourdough. 

The reason we created the recipe was for personal reasons. Both Mamma Silvana and I have dealt with different health issues that have required adjustments in our diet. As Italians, giving up pasta is always the hardest. In our journey, we learned that if we were to make sourdough pasta and ferment it with an active sourdough starter for 72 hours, it would reduce the gluten content by nearly 90% and also add nutritional benefits. So we ran with it, creating a "healthier," more digestible, and yet completely delicious version of homemade Italian pasta. 

We recognize it is not "traditional," but sometimes, you have to move from tradition slightly in order to continue to eat the things you love. Many recipes that we have shared with a unique twist are born from needing a "better-for-you" option.

 

How do you engage with your audience?

We are truly blessed with the best audience that only gives us positivity and encouragement. Many of our followers are looking to us for inspiration and recipes to connect to their culture and ancestors. Though we have been hesitant at times to share our family recipes that feel so special to us, we are often reminded by our audience about the way in which our recipes have blessed their lives. We have received dozens of messages from people who have searched for lost recipes from their parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents with no luck, only to find that our recipes are almost identical. This type of feedback helps to remind us of our "why."  

 

Can you share a particular achievement you are especially proud of?

The biggest achievement for us isn't the number of followers or sales received but rather the connections that have been made. Mamma Mangia has brought us closer together as a family as we cook and create together and has introduced us to many members of our audience who have become real-life friends. 

 

What are your future plans?

The first family heirloom cookbook we made was our inspiration for Mamma Mangia, but it is not something we can sell to the public as it contains a lot of personal information and recipes that aren't ours to share. That being said, we have had such a demand from our audience for a similar product that they can purchase. We are currently working on a cookbook with all of Mamma Silvana's recipes. It will include over 150 recipes, high-quality photos, personal stories, and hundreds of cooking tips and tricks throughout. We are hoping to launch the cookbook in the spring of 2025.

 

An heirloom cookbook project started the journey.

 

What advice would you give someone looking to start their own food blog or recipe website?

Understand your "why!" Why are you doing it? What are you hoping the outcome will be? Who do you want to connect with or inspire? People love real life and real people. If you know your "why" and have a fire within you, others will want to follow along and learn from you. Be genuine, be yourself, and remember your "why." 

 

What do you hope your audience takes away?

We have always wanted to inspire others to start their own journey in connecting with their family and loved ones through food. It doesn't matter what your ethnicity and/or background is. Your family has a story to tell. 

Food and recipes have a unique way of telling their story through smell, taste, and tradition that can not be found in any other form. It is our hope that we will influence others to have a desire to gather their family and loved ones around their table and share their love and traditions through food. 

 

 

Mamma Silvana and Solae' enjoy a pizza.

 

 

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