My mother and grandmother lived in a part of Brooklyn that was all recently immigrated Irish and Italian, back before WWII.
They each knew THEIR kind of food and considered it the ONLY kind. But an Italian neighbor really liked our seven kids, (my aunts and uncles) so she would periodically make a big dish of lasagna and bring it over for us. Nana was so suspicious of that strange-looking stuff that she would always throw it away secretly and thank the neighbor profusely.
I don't know what Nana sent back in return, but I hope it was better received!
