Having just returned from a fabulous culinary experience in the Piedmont region and then to Liguria and Tuscany, I picked up a few Italian expressions I would like to share with you.
- ‘Baci di Dama.’ ‘Lady’s Kiss’ is an almond cookie covered in chocolate and is a Piedmont specialty.
- ‘Alla Cacciatore’ really means ‘Hunter’s style’ and is usually meat or game in a sauce of tomato and wild mushrooms.
- A plate of ‘Marro’ is a specialty of L’Aquila in Abruzzo. It is a dish of lamb intestines with garlic, pancetta and rosemary.
- What a ‘Strozzapreti’ A form of tagliatelle that is twisted and thusly means ‘Priest stranglers.’
- What a ‘Stinchetti di Morto’ An Umbrian cookie meaning ‘Little bones of the dead.’ Usually made for All Souls Day.
- ‘Tonno di Coniglio’ is ‘Rabbit Tuna,’ a boneless rabbit, marinated and with a texture resembling tuna.
- What ‘Ragnosa’ A specialty from Piedmont, it is a frittata made with eggs, Parmigiano and salami and translated as ‘A Mess.’
- What a ‘Puddighinus’ A stuffing of a roasted ‘baby chicken’ with giblets, bread crumbs, egg and tomatoes from Sardinia.
- What a ‘Pupazze’ A Calabrian Easter bread called ‘Doll Babies,’ whose dough is braided around an egg.
- That ‘Ripieno’ means filled or stuffed.
- What a ‘Guastedde’ A specialty of Palermo, it is rolled bread containing caciocavallo cheese and spleen.
- The meaning of ‘Abboccato’ is a mouthful – filled to the brim.
- The meaning of ‘Al Mattone’ is ‘with a brick,’ the flattening of a chicken with a heavy brick or weight while cooking.
- ‘Mangiare Troppo’ means to overeat! What we did for two weeks.
