A recent article in the New York Post reports that all of the eating contests at the San Gennaro Festival in New York’s Little Italy have been canceled by event organizers, stating: “Those contests are good for carnivals and Coney Island…Having these contestants stuffing their faces with cream and sauce is not that pleasant to watch.”
The news was met with both praise and disappointment. Upon reading this, I started to wonder about two things: do eating contests dishonor the traditions of an Italian American feast? And does the fact that it’s presumably a religious festival matter in any way?
A generation after The Sopranos (which was simultaneously illuminating and problematic), Italian American culture is seeing an upswing in the hive mind through a variety of performers and podcasts across all of the various media. That being said, these are not all positive reflections of Italian American culture.
While there are many personalities that strive to show all of the great qualities of our people, you’ll of course find others that thrive on the stereotypes and still others that basically engage in what I equate to a form of IA minstrelsy (“How ya doin’?” should be a flippant New York greeting, not an exaggerated catch phrase).
Given the abundance of bakeries, restaurants, and pizzerias in the Metropolitan area, it’s no surprise that one of the qualities associated with IAs is the relationship with food—in quality, in variety, and for some of us, the ability to consume vast amounts of it. But despite the fact that there is always plenty of food in an Italian American household, does it mean that this should be “honored” with an eating contest? Shall we be reduced to gluttons? Whenever you reduce something down to a stereotype, you reduce the dignity of the people the stereotype is attached to.
This leads to the next question: does the fact that this is a religious festival matter in any way? In the year 2023, I’m going to say it doesn’t. While the feast was established by Neapolitan immigrants in 1926 in honor of the patron saint of Napoli, the influence of the Catholic nature of both the feast and in society at large has waned significantly over the decades, concurrent with the decline in Church attendance. The festival is a religious one only in the fact that it is named after San Gennaro and that there is a Mass said in his honor and a procession of his statue through the streets.
All of these festivals are simply remembrances of Festas past and are done to honor the tradition of a Festa and to raise money for vendors and for local Churches. Ostensibly, they’re places where you can get a nice Sausage and Peppers sandwich and a bag of still hot, freshly fried Zeppole. If you have little kids, you can expect to buy a bunch of junky, poor quality items that usually light up and will probably break before you get back to the car. I’m pretty sure the founders of the Festa weren’t looking for this when they wanted to honor their Saint.
Despite this, Festas are an enjoyable way to immerse oneself in what can be a very enjoyable and respectful part of Italian American culture. But an eating contest? Save it for Nathan’s Hot Dogs in Coney Island on the 4th of July.
Italian American food should be savored, not scarfed down.
