BBC: What and where is little Italy?

If I told you'd been for a walk to see Big Ben and Buckingham Place, you'd know straight away I was in London. 

But what if my walk went past cafes selling mozzarella and ricotta where I smelled freshly made cannolis and facaccia...Where would I be then?

Focaccia and mozzarella... you'd be in Italy, right?

Yes, Italy, or 'Little Italy' to be exact- the neighbourhood in some cities where Italian communities settled and made their home. 

These Italian arrivals opened shops and cafes selling food to their own communites. Soo dishes like spaghetti and meatballs attracted the attention of local people , and gradually Italian food became famous around the world. In this programme, we'll be taking a walk through two Little Italys, one in Argentian, the other in New York, and, as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well. But before that, I have a question for you, Georgie. According to a recent YouGov poll, which Italian food is most popular with Brithish diners? Is it:

a) pizza    b) lasagne     or    c) garlic bread?

I think it must be pizza. 

Okay, Georgie. I'll reveal the answer at the end of the programme. One country Italians moved to was Argentian. In 1898, Giuseppe Banchero arrived in the neighbourhood of La Boca, the Little Italy of Buenos Aires, where many Italian immigrants started restaurants. Here, Hugo Banchero, grandson of Giuseppe, tells his story to Veronica Smink, reporter for BBC World Service programme, The Food Chain:

Well, my grandfather came from Italy, from Genoa, from Liguria. He was born in the center of Genoa and arrived here in 1898 at the age of seven and half, and this pizzeria where we are was found on March 28, 1972. We have been here for 91 years. 

So what culinary traditions did they bring with them?

Well, oru culinary tradition is pizza, and we incorporated the faina from genoa, which is a pizza whit chickpea flour...

In 1898, Giuseppe founded his pizzeria- a restaurant selling pizza. When a business is founded, it's established-someone starts it, or sets it up.

Giuseppe brought the culinary traditions from his home iN Liguria in northern Italy, including regional pizzas like faina and fugazzetta. The adjective culinary describes anything connected with cooking. 

But probably the best-known Little Italy in the world is an area of Manhattan's Lower East side in New York. Ninety percent of Italian immigrants who arrived in the US at the turn of the century came through this neighbourhood. 

De Palos, one of the original shops selling Italian food in Little Italy, has been serving customers for 113 years. Here, Lou De Palo, co-owner and great-grandson of the original owner. Salvino, explains more about his family history to BBC World Service programme, The Food Chain:

1925,,,when my grandmother, Concetta, and my grandfather, Luigi, got married, they open their own shop...it's teh shop we continue today being the fourth generation working alongside my sister, Maria, my brother, Sal, and our children, the fifth generation. Our business has expanded: expanded to represent the full food culture of the 20 regions of Italy. Little Italy is the stepping stone of the Italian immigrant. This is where many of the Italians first came through Ellis Island, and then settled here, and then eventually moved into mainstream American throughout the rest of the country.

Lou De Palo si the fourth generation of his family to run the shop, and his children will be the fifth. Phrases like fourth of fifth generation describe the children of people whose parents immigrated to a particular country.