Thanks to Ita-Sicily.Com

This says it all:
Alfred M. Zappala of AllThingsSicilian:  “We have had a number of old-timers who have come into the Lawrence store, stand in the doorway,
look around and then burst into tears,”
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FIGHTING A STEREOTYPE

The Telegraph
By Eileen Kennedy
Telegraph Staff
Thursday, June 05, 2003

Alfred M. Zappala finds the stereotypes of Italian people, specifically Sicilians, who are showcased on television shows such as “The Sopranos,” repugnant and he wanted to do something that would show people the beauty of Sicilian culture.

Pride in his heritage and a number of trips to the island, where he sampled many of the foods he offers, helped him decide to open All Things Sicilian in Lawrence, Mass.

That store opened roughly a year ago, and has done so well, Zappala decided to expand his business by opening a second store, at 433 Amherst St. in Nashua.

“I wanted to do something to fight against the stereotype of Italian-Americans these programs have created,” Zappala said. “They do an enormous disservice to Italian-Americans and they make being Sicilian a stigma. They portray them as thugs and that is totally not the case. I wanted to counteract that.”

[Photo]Alfred Zappala, owner of All Things Sicilian on Amherst Street in Nashua, displays traditional puppets at his new store. The store specializes in gourmet Sicilian foods and cultural items.

Zappala, an Andover, Mass.-based lawyer for many years, approached a number of his friends once he hit upon the idea of opening a store offering Sicilian products.

Many of the friends were doctors and lawyers, who along with Zappala, wanted to invest in something tangible after the losses all experienced investing in the stock market.

Zappala said it was a chance for him to showcase Sicily’s culture.

“It is a place that is rich with tradition, and we have not just food from Sicily, but many cultural artifacts, cookbooks and collectibles.”

Most of the store, indeed, is filled with table after table of a wide variety of food products – bread, olive oil, vegetable spreads, pasta and spaghetti sauce to name a few. The store also carries Sicilian cookbooks and travel books, puppets and lava from Mount Etna, still an active volcano.

In Sicily, puppets are popular and have been for hundreds of years because puppets could say things, particularly political commentary, Zappala said. “Puppets are free to say things and they can’t get in trouble,” he said.

At All Things Sicilian, the puppets are replicas of knights in medieval times. In Sicily, he said, some people collect highly detailed puppets that go for as much as $2,000 and $3,000 apiece.

Because the store has all these products in one place, he has found that its overall effect on immigrants from Sicily can sometimes be overwhelming.

“We have had a number of old-timers who have come into the Lawrence store, stand in the doorway, look around and then burst into tears,” he said. After all, there are 30 million Americans of Italian descent in the United States, and 12 million are of Sicilian ancestry, Zappala said.

He makes sure the interior of the stores evokes a rustic, Italian feel. In the Nashua store, one wall has a hand-painted map of Sicily, with key cities and towns, and another wall has rolling hills of the Sicilian countryside.

Zappala, who now has dual citizenship in the United States and Italy, spends a number of months in Sicily, working with companies that make the products his stores carry.

He has taken a three-year leave of absence from his law practice to launch his new business, although he is practicing law in conjunction with an Italian partner in Sicily.

Zappala works with about 15 Italian companies that make Sicilian products, and is helped by the Italian government in finding good suppliers.

“We’re helping their economy through buying products from all over the island,” Zappala said.

kennedye@telegraph-nh.com
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All Things Sicilian - award winning olive oil, gourmet foods and gifts from Sicily, Italy
http://www.allthingssicilian.com/index.htm

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ALL THINGS SICILIAN  have a long list of Sicilian and Italian specialties food and gifts including:
Gift baskets, Sicilian extra virgin olive oils, Italian gourmet tableware, unique gifts for men and women, vegetable preserves, pestos, pates, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms, jams, maramalades, honeys, gift baskets, gifts from sicily, italy, imported food, italian ceramics, award winning Olive oil, gourmet food, Sicilian specialty foods, Italian specialties food, and hand crafted ceramics.
They also are Italian coffee importers and import the finest Sicilian Coffee.
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