Il Dolce Far Niente http://sweetlydoingnothing.posterous.com the sweetness of doing nothing posterous.com Tue, 21 Dec 2010 19:03:04 -0800 Risotto con Cime di rape http://sweetlydoingnothing.posterous.com/risotto-con-cime-di-rape http://sweetlydoingnothing.posterous.com/risotto-con-cime-di-rape One of the most delicious dishes that I tried in Italy was made by my host family.  Risotto con cime di rape is Risotto with "turnip tops."  I am going to attempt to make it this Christmas for my own family with a recipe I found on the internet.  However to find the recipe I needed to find out how to say "turnip tops" in Italian first.... for any of you who may have tried to translate food terms into another language, the literal translation is not always (or usually) the best one.  I am going to link to a website that translates names of Italian dishes and ingredients into English, French, Spanish and German. http://www.todine.net/dizionario.html Also just a fyi... the page is in Italian so if you need some help getting into the right section, here are the translations:  Antipasti: Appetizers Primi: First Course (Including Soups, Pasta, Rice, etc) Verdure: Vegetables Preparazione: Preparation (link is broken) Carni: Meat Pesci: Fish Salse: Sauces Uova: Eggs Salumi: Cold Cuts Formaggi: Cheese Dolci: Sweets Frutta: Fruit Burri e Salse: Butter & Sauces Erbe, Spezie e Aromi: Herbs & Spices Altri Ingredienti: Other Ingredients Bevande: Drinks Another very useful tool when translating recipes is a conversion calculator.  This conversion calculator converts from grams to volume, which is much more helpful than from grams to ounces: http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/cooking-conversions/cooking-conversions-calculator.aspx

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]>
http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1635961/me21.jpg http://posterous.com/users/cQczTF0uxH1vc Maryjane sweetlydoingnothing Maryjane
Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:08:09 -0700 Ciao! http://sweetlydoingnothing.posterous.com/ciao http://sweetlydoingnothing.posterous.com/ciao Even if you don't know Italian, certainly you are familiar with the phrase "Ciao!" (pronounced: chou) which is used as an informal greeting or way of saying goodbye.  Typically we use ciao when saying hello or goodbye to our friends or greeting people that you are acquaintances with. Typically you do not use "ciao," when you are greeting people you do not know... for example at the bank or in stores, it is more polite to say Buongiorno (good day) - use this in the morning or anytime before 3 or 4 PM. Buonasera (good afternoon/goodevening) - used in the afternoon, and always after sunset. I have also heard people use the term: "Salve," which means "hello," however is more formal than ciao. When answering the phone, most Italians say "Pronto," (go ahead) or "Si" (which means yes). However, back to the word Ciao! I recently discovered that this term was used during the Middle Ages.  During the middle ages, it was common to greet someone by saying "Sono vostro schiavo," which was shortened to "ciau." ("Ciau," is from the Ventetian dialect - coming from Venice.  It is important to remember that different dialects are spoken in different areas of Italy.  Some of them are so different from Italian that it is impossible to understand what exactly is being said if you are not familiar with that dialect.) "Ciao first appears in English in 1929 in Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, which is set in northeast Italy during World War I."  (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ciao)

Permalink | Leave a comment  »

]]>
http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/1635961/me21.jpg http://posterous.com/users/cQczTF0uxH1vc Maryjane sweetlydoingnothing Maryjane