Indeed, the Italian verb for both dressing a salad and saucing pasta is condire.Ĭontorno: A vegetable side dish served with the secondo (q.v.)Ĭrema: The term for soups made of puréed vegetables, such as crema di cannellini (pictured bel0w) or crema di zucca. It has a broader meaning referring to anything that can dress another ingredient for flavor, including the dressing on a salad or the sauce for a pasta. A battuto is usually cooked in oil or butter as the first step in many dishes, after which it is referred to as a soffritto (q.v.)Ĭondimento: A bit of a ‘false friend’ since it does not really correspond to the English word ‘condiment’. One of the most well-known of these ‘double dishes’ is pasta alle vongole, which can be made either with tomatoes or in bianco.īattuto: One or more aromatic vegetables, typically onion, celery and carrot, and sometimes including garlic, parsley or pancetta, that is finely chopped. Lasagne in bianco means lasagne made with béchamel sauce (and, usually, a vegetable) but not ragù. A pizza bianca, for example, is a pizza made only with cheese. Terms used to describe the tomato-less version of a dish that can be made with or without tomatoes. Antipasti are always served at table, just before the primo piatto (q.v), while stuzzichini (q.v.) can be eaten standing up.īianco or in bianco: literally, ‘white’ or ‘in white’.
The corresponding English terms could be baked, oven-baked, roasted, oven-roasted or gratinéed, depending on the context, although Italians also use the terms arrosto and gratinato if they wish to be more specific.Īntipasto: Literally ‘before the meal’, the Italian word for appetizer or hors d’oeuvre. See our page on “ Italian Food Culture” for more details about this slippery concept.Īl forno: Literally, ‘in the oven’, this refers to a dish that is (obviously) cooked in the oven. Unlike pot roasting, however, the braising is accomplished by adding only a small amount of liquid at a time, repeated as needed to keep the meat moist.Īll’agro: A term that described a dish that features an ingredient, usually a vegetable such as green beans (pictured below), that is blanched and then dressed with olive oil and fresh lemon juice or, less often, vinegar.Īl dente: Literally, ‘to the tooth’, a term used to describe the point at which pasta is properly cooked: firm to the bite but not chalky. The meat is initially browned in oil or butter, then braised in liquid. A synonym, more or less, of al forno (q.v.)Īrrosto morto: A typical pan roasting technique for meats combining dry and wet cooking.
Can be used as an invariable adjective, as in patate arrosto, or roast potatoes, or a noun, as in arrosto di maiale, roast pork.
For the most common ingredients used in Italian cooking, see “ The Italian Pantry“.Īrrosto: A roast. To help you navigate the posts on this blog and Italian recipes you may find anywhere, this Glossary explains for you the most common Italian cooking terms. To really understand Italian cookery, you need to know its essential vocabulary.
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