Pastitsio  (παστίτσιο)

I grew up in New Jersey, a stone’s throw from New York City.  So, I was accustomed to bilingual households.  As in our home, it was the norm among my friends to have grandparents and/or parents born outside the U.S.A.  America is a melting pot of cultures, and this was, and still is, particularly true in the New York City metropolitan area.  In part, this was due to the area’s proximity to Ellis Island*, the main immigrant conduit in the first half of the 20th century.   Greater than one third of the U.S. population (this includes me) can trace at least a portion of their ancestry to the 12 million people who landed here between the late 1800s and 1954. Continue reading →