Italian Festival Features Famous Scampi, Community Love

Now that’s Italian!

Those three words accompany many European traditions, but the slogan fits Buona Fortuna Lodge #2835 Shrimp Scampi Napoletano best.

Locals and visitors will swamp Seville Square next weekend for the 16th Annual Festa Italiana, lining up for the famous dish and lots of family fund. Sons and Daughters of Italy National 2nd Vice President Mark DeNunzio said the recipe has become something of a local legend.

(Photo: Buona Fortuna Lodge #2835)

“But the recipe is really about much more than the ingredients,” DeNunzio told PensacolaCitizen.org. “It represents the Italian tradition of taking simple, quality ingredients and turning them into something special.”

One bite of the dish gives all patrons a taste of Italy. According to DeNunzio, being Italian is much more than having an Italian name or ancestry.

“It is about family, traditions, food, faith, community, and a deep appreciation for where you came from,” DeNunzio said. “It means remembering the sacrifices and accomplishments of the generations who came before us and making sure that their traditions don't disappear.”

(Photo: Buona Fortuna Lodge #2835)

DeNunzio said he was fortunate to learn more about his family's Italian roots by traveling to Italy and visiting the communities his kin came from.

“I fatefully reconnected with my Italian relatives after a hundred years of separation,” DeNunzio said. “Those experiences gave me an even greater appreciation for the connection between Italian Americans and Italy.”

While ingredients remain secret, DeNunzio does disclose that the scampi served at Festa Italiana is not the traditional version of shrimp scampi.

(Photo: Buona Fortuna Lodge #2835)

“We add tomatoes as a tribute to our family's roots in Campania, the region of southern Italy where our family lived for centuries,” DeNunzio said. “The tomato gives the dish a distinctly Neapolitan character and is our way of honoring that heritage while creating something that has become uniquely our own.”

DeNunzio said his inspiration comes from the Italian cooks in his family, specifically his son Michael, who started the evolution of the recipe, “and from the generations of Italian Americans who learned to cook by watching their parents and grandparents.”

“In many Italian families, recipes weren't written down—they were learned by watching, tasting, and being told, 'a little more of this' or that's enough,’” DeNunzio said.

(Photo: Buona Fortuna Lodge #2835)

“That's part of what makes these recipes so special; they're not simply instructions on a piece of paper; they carry memories, family traditions, and a connection to the places our ancestors came from.”

Bringing a taste of Italy to the Panhandle means a lot to the lodge.

“One of the things I am most proud of about Festa Italiana is that it has grown into much more than a food festival,” DeNunzio said. “It has become a way for us to preserve and share Italian culture while bringing the Pensacola community together.”

(Photo: Buona Fortuna Lodge #2835)

Pensacola has a wonderfully diverse history and culture, and the Italian-American community is an important part of that story, DeNunzio said, adding, “Learning about Italian culture helps people understand the contributions that Italian immigrants and Italian Americans have made to our community and to America as a whole.”

Unlike DeNunzio, Andy Fricano was born and raised in Palermo, Sicily, Italy.

“I am Italian American and proud of it,” Fricano said. “I joined the lodge to be with people of my same heritage and interests.”

(Photo: Andy Fracino)

The lodge and festival may mean more to Fricano than anyone, who said: “It's a reminder of everything that I grew up with and that I miss a lot.”

When it comes to his fondest memories of home, Fricano answers with love.

“Eating all together for dinner every night, having pasta dishes no matter what, being a family,” Fricano said.

Though the local Italian is thousands of miles from home, Fricano said: “Being part of this lodge is a privilege; we have our discussions and differences, but ultimately we are just family.”

And isn’t that what it is all about?

For more information on the festival, visit BuonaFortunaLodge.org.