It’s time for some more food vocabulary.  As with previous food vocabulary entries, my goal is to help you familiarize yourself with some of Italian fine dining terms you may run across.  You never know when you’ll be able to use it or who you’ll be able to impress with your knowledge of the Italian language at least when it comes to food.

After you are done reading up on these, why don’t try out one of my gourmet marinara sauces to try on a few of these dishes!

 Integrale:  whole wheat.

 Marinara:  (as in Casericco, hehe): a tomato sauce with garlic, olive oil and Italian seasonings.

 Mascarpone: a fresh Italian cream cheese with a very soft, creamy texture and buttery flavor.  Mascarpone is used in both sweet and savory dishes.

 Al mattone:  a technique by which an ingredient is cooked under a brick so that it lies flat for sautéing or grilling.

 Minestra:  (like minestrone) soup.

 Mozzarella di bufala:  cheese made from the milk of water buffalo.  Mozzarella is also made from cow’s milk (much more commonly found here in the states), in which case it is called fiore di latte.  Both spoil quickly and should be used as soon as possible after purchase.

 Nicciola: hazelnut, widely used in Italian cuisine in both sweet and savory dishes.

 Olio di oliva:  extra-virgin oil, made from the first pressing of the olives, is the highest quality.  (As in Casericco)

 Panzanella:  a traditional salad made with stale bread, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and olive oil.

 Parmigiano-reggiano:  an excellent hard, cow’s milk cheese originally produced in and around parma.  If you’re in doubt, true pamigiano-reggiano will have those words stenciled on the rind.

 Pecorino:  a hard sheep’s milk cheese made in the area around Rome (called pecorino Romano), as well as in Tuscany, Sardinia and Sicily.

 Peperoncino:  a hot chili pepper used in Italian cuisine.

 Pesto:  a famous green sauce from Genoa, made with basil, olive oil, pine nuts and pecorino, traditionally mashed together.

 Pignoli:  pine nuts.

 Pizza:  (tough one) open-faced pie made with yeast dough topped with savory toppings, originally from Naples.

 Pizzailo:  fresh tomato sauce from Naples often used in pizza-making.

 Polenta:  both an ingredient – cornmeal – and a porridge made from cornmeal.  Try some heated up with my sauces on top. 

 Polpetta:  meatball.

 Polpo:  octopus. 

 Pomodoro:  tomato. (Like me, the ponodoro queen, hehe, or saucy lady).

 Porchetta:  split-roasted, whole suckling pig (lots of garlic and pepper)

 Porcini:  a meaty mushroom used both fresh and dried in Italian cuisine.

 Primo:  the first course of a traditional Italian meal. 

 Prosciutto:  although in America we think of prosciutto as a raw ham, in Italy the word simply means ham:  prosciutto cotto is cooked, prosciutto crudo is raw.

 Provolone:  a sharp cow’s milk cheese.

 See you soon with more helpful translations.  Hopefully, my new video will be ready soon.  Don’t forget to come back and check it out.

If there is a recipe that you see on my website that you might want to see prepared in a video, let me know.