Suggestions
by Joseph Sciorra
Eating alone in a new city, the waitress suggests that I try her favorite sake, junmai nama.
Piquant shishito peppers—fried and sprinkled with rock salt—seize me with possibilities.
Dumplings—butterfly wings filled with minced ginger and pork—surrender to my tongue’s
inquiry. A second glass of rice wine indulges intent and the crispy pork belly sizzles
an aspirant’s desire.
She hands me the check, saying, “I hope you enjoyed everything, Joseph.” I turn to decipher her
eyes. “I read your name on your credit card. My name is Soojin.”
On the way to the airport the next morning, an email.
Joseph Sciorra is Director of Academic and Cultural Programs at Queens College’s John D. Calandra Italian American Institute. As a trained folklorist, Sciorra has conducted ethnographic research with numerous New York City communities, publishing on religious practices, material culture, and vernacular music, among other topics. He is the editor of the social science and cultural studies journal Italian American Review and Italian Folk: Vernacular Culture in Italian-American Lives, co-editor of Embroidered Stories: Interpreting Women’s Domestic Needlework from the Italian Diaspora and the author of R.I.P: Memorial Wall Art and Built with Faith: Italian-American Imagination and Catholic Material Culture in New York City. He is an invited blogger at i-italy. His creative works have appeared in Up the Staircase Quarterly and the Paterson Literary Review, among other publications. The papercut portrait is by Ming Liang Lu
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