Planning to Enjoy Italian Food at a San Diego Restaurant soon?
Are you Planning to Enjoy Italian Food at a San Diego restaurant soon? Here are some Italian Food terms that might come in handy! Plus, at Firenze Trattoria, we’ve been voted as having some of the most authentic Italian Food out of all the San Diego restaurants. So read up, and come in and practice your new authentic Italian food terms:
A
Abbacchio: lamb
Aceto: vinegar
Affumicato: smoked
Aglio: garlic
Aglio e olio: garlic and oil
Agnello: lamb
Agrodolce: sweet/sour
Al dente: firm (literally to the tooth)
Amaretti: crisp cookies made with bitter almonds
Amaretto: a sweet liqueur flavored with almonds
Anace/Anice: anise
Anguille: eel
Anisette: a colorless liqueur flavor with anise
Antipasto: literally ‘before the meal’
Arborio: a medium-grain rice used for making risotto
Arogosta: lobster
Arancia: orange
Arancine: fried rice balls with meat or other filling
Ardente: hot, piquant
Arrostito: roasted
Arrosto: a roast
Asparagi: asparagus
B
Baccala: salt cod
Bagno caldo: hot dip
Balsamico: an aged Italian vinegar
Basilico: basil
Bigne: fritters
Biscotti: literally ‘twice cooked,’ it refers to all kinds of cookies
Bistecca: beefsteak
Bollito misto: mixed boiled meats served with various sauces
Bottarga: preserved roe of tuna or mullet
Braciolette: small beef rolls
Braciole: stuffed meat rolls
Brodo: broth
Bruschetta: toasted bread served with various toppings
Budino: pudding
Buongustaio: gourmet
C
Cacciatore: hunter’s style
Calamari: squid
Calzone: pizza dough that is filled and baked or fried
Cannella: cinnamon
Cannellini: white kidney beans
Cannoli: filled pastry tubes
Capocollo: a hot spiced ham
Caponata: eggplant relish
Capozzelle: lamb’s head
Capperi: capers
Cappone: capon
Carciofi: artichokes
Carnaroli: a medium-grain rice used for making risotto
Carne: meat
Cassata: a Sicilian cream-filled layer cake
Cavolfiore: cauliflower
Cavolo: cabbage
Ceci: chick peas
Cioppino: shellfish stew
Cipolle: onions
Conserva: preserves
Cotolette: cutlets
Cotto: cooked
Cozze: mussels
Crema: cream
Crespelle: crepes
Crostata: a sweet or savory tart
Crudo: raw
D
Dolce: sweet
Dolci: sweets and pastries
F
Fagioli: beans
Farcita: stuffing or filling
Farro: an ancient grain similar to spelt
Fegato: liver
Festa: holiday
Fico: fig
Filetto: fillet
Finocchio: fennel
Focaccia: flatbread served plain or with various toppings
Formaggio: cheese
Fra diavolo: literally ‘of the devil’
Fragole: strawberries
Frittata: an open-faced omelet
Frittelle: fritters
Fritto: fried
Frutta: fruit
Frutti di mare: seafood
Funghi: mushrooms
G
Gamberetti: shrimp
Gardiniera: mixed pickled vegetables
Garofani: cloves
Gnocchi: dumplings eaten with a sauce or in broth
Grana Padano: a cow’s milk hard cheese
Granchio: crab
Grappa: liqueur made from the must of grapes
Griglia: grill
Grissini: breadsticks
I
Imbottire: to stuff
Imbottita: stuffed
L
Lauro: bayleaf
Lenticchie: lentils
Limone: lemon
M
Maiale: pork
Mandorle: almonds
Manicotti: baked pasta tubes with a filling
Manzo: beef
Marinara: a plain tomato sauce
Marinare: to marinate
Marsala: a rich brown fortified wine
Mascarpone: creamy, soft, mild cheese
Melanzane: eggplant
Minestra: soup (usually thick)
Minestrina: thin soup
Minestrone: thick mixed vegetable soup
Mortadella: a large cured and spiced pork sausage
Mosto Cotto: grape juice cooked to form a thick dark syrup
Mozzarella: a pure white soft cheese
N
Natale: Christmas
Nocciole: hazelnuts
Noce Moscata: nutmeg
Noci: walnuts
O
Olio: oil
Olio di oliva: olive oil
Origano: oregano
Orzo: small, seed-shaped pasta
Ostriche: oysters
P
Pancetta: salt-cured pork, unsmoked bacon
Pane: bread
Panella: fried chickpea bread
Panettone: a fruit-filled yeast bread
Pangrattato: bread crumbs
Panna: cream
Panna Cotta: literally ‘cooked cream,’ served for dessert
Panna montata: whipped cream
Parmigiano: a hard cow’s milk cheese
Pasqua: Easter
Pasta Frolla: pastry dough
Pasticcio: pie, pastry, or cake
Pecorino: sheep’s milk cheese
Peperoncini: dried red chiles
Pesto: a sauce from mashed ingredients, usually basil
Piccante: spicy
Pignoli: pine nuts
Piselli: peas
Pizelle: embossed wafer cookies
Pizza Dolce: cake or sweet bread
Polenta: a type of cornmeal
Polipi: octopus
Pollo: chicken
Polpette: meatballs
Pomodori: tomatoes
Porchetta: whole roast pig cooked with herbs and garlic
Porcini: meaty wild mushrooms
Primavera: springtime
Prosciutto: salt-cured, air-dried pork
Provolone: a straw-white cheese, sometimes smoked
R
Ragu: meat sauce for pasta
Rapini: another name for broccoli rabe
Ribollita: Tuscan bread and vegetable soup
Ricotta: a fresh, mild cheese
Ripieni: stuffed
Riso: rice
Risotto: rice cooked and stirred with broth until creamy
Rollatini: small stuffed meat rolls, sometimes in a sauce
Romano: a hard Pecorino cheese
Rosmarino: rosemary
Rustico: country-style
S
Salami: ground meat cured, seasoned and shaped like a sausage
Salsa: sauce
Salsiccia: sausage
Salso: salt
Saltari: sauteed
Salumi: collective name for salami and similar cured meats
Salvia: sage
Sambuca: a colorless liqueur made from anise
San Giuseppe: Saint Joseph
Sarde: sardines
Scaloppine: thinly sliced meat
Sedani: celery
Sfogliatelle: Neopolitan pastry filled with flavored ricotta
Sopressata: a type of salami
Spagna: sponge cake
Spiedini: anything cooked on a skewer
Spinaci: spinach
Stega: a yellow liqueur made from herbs
Stufato: stew
Sughi: sauces
Sugo di carne: meat sauce
T
Taralli: round sweet or savory biscuits
Tonno: tuna
Torrone: nougat-type candy
Torta: tart
U
Una festa: a saint’s day
Uove: eggs
Uva: grapes
V
Verdure: green vegetables
Vitello: veal (calf)
Vongole: clams
Z
Zabaglione: whipped egg custard serve as dessert or a sauce
Zafferano: saffron
Zampone: sausage-stuffed pig’s foot
Zenzero: ginger
Zeppole: a fried pastry
Zucca: squash
Zuppa: soup
