Stefania Barzini

Stefania Barzini is an incredible woman.  She has written a wide variety of books revealing the connection between food and italian culture.  She has also made many films on the subject.  However, what I found most revealing about her presentation was how her family attempted to assimilate when they came to America.  I found her story regarding her son and his friends particularly interesting.  She described a scene in which she invited her son's new friends to dinner and they seemed confused and astounded by the traditional italian dinner she was accustomed to.  However, they quickly fell in love with her cooking and missed it dearly whenever her family would return to Italy for the summer.  What I also found interesting was how she described the changes she found in italian meals when she arrived in the United States.  She mentioned how eggplant parmesan was transformed into veal parmesan because the price of meat in the United States was much cheaper than that of vegetables to the poor italian community.  Her stories offered us a unique perspective of an italian in America that we would not have otherwise been able to see.  It was a fantastic experience to be able to meet her.

Italian Commercial: Pubblicità Completa Parmigiano Reggiano

This series of commercials appeals to me for a variety of reasons.  The commercials clearly make the most out of a small budget. but they seem to use the low budget look to enhance the commercial and make it more appealing through humor.  Although I don't understand what the characters in the commercial are singing, it is clear that the tone of the commercials is lighthearted and fun, and those adjectives are then applied to the product in the viewer's mind.  I also enjoyed the use of the shredded parmigiano reggiano as snow in the last commercial.  It gave a fitting holiday feel to the commercial while utilizing the product.  These commercials are vaguely reminiscent of the Fruit of the Loom commericals in the United States, which have been met with a good level of success because of their appeal to humor to sell something that would otherwise be unremarkable; namely, underwear.  These commercials use the same idea and apply it to parmigiano reggiano.  The cheese is very popular in Italy and may be seen by the average Italian as something unremarkable, but these commercials change the viewer's perception and make the cheese something interesting and fun.  Although this particular commerical is slightly is more emotionally engaging than some others, I have included a Fruit of the Loom commercial below for your comparison.