Louisiana Eats: Sicily, Louisiana Style

Dagostino Pasta and the Creole-Italian Culinary Traditions of Louisiana

Dagostino Pasta is part of the long history of Creole-Italian cuisine in Louisiana that started with imported Sicilian lemons in the 1900s and continues today with restaurants like Pascal's Menale in New Orleans. 

In this edition of Louisiana Eats, host Poppy Tooker digs into the traditions of Creole-Italian culture with Loyola history professor and author of Creole Italian: Sicilian Immigrants and the Shaping of New Orleans Food Culture Justin Nystrom, and Dagostino CEO Vince Hayward. Chris Jay highlights the Gullo family of Shreveport as they keep Italian traditions alive at Gullo's Fresh Produce & Classic Bake Shop.

"If you're a Louisiana native with a distinctly Italian last name, you've got lots of company here. Since the late nineteenth century, more families of Sicilian descent have called Louisiana home than anywhere else in the world except Sicily."