Al dente: Literally, “to the tooth”; refers to pasta, rice, beans and vegetables that have been cooked until tender though still firm, not soft.
Blanch: To plunge into a boiling liquid and cook 10 to 20 percent. This can also be used to remove the outer covering or skins from nuts, fruits, and some vegetables.
Boil: The process of bringing water or liquid to a boiling point; its surface is normally very agitated and rolling.
Bottarga: A dried salted roe from tuna or grey mullet (sometimes called the poor man’s caviar), which can be obtained at most specialty food stores.
Capicollo: A salami made from pork shoulder or neck, and dry-cured whole.
Carpione: A style of cooking that uses vinegar and wine; also a marinating process.
Chiffonade: Any leaf vegetables or herbs cut into fine shreds and bunched together.
Chop: To divide into fine or rough pieces with a knife or other sharp tool.
Cube: To make a cube-shaped cut ½ to 1 inch.
Dice: A cube-shaped cut but smaller approximately ¼ inch.
Dredge: Refers to coating an item of food with flour, breadcrumbs, cornmeal, ground nuts, ...etc prior to cooking it.
Eggplant: Always buy eggplants that are firm and feel heavy for their size. There are two standard ways that are used to remove bitterness from eggplants after they have been sliced. One is to sprinkle salt on both sides and set in a colander for approx. 20 minutes. The other involves setting the eggplants in a bowl of salted water and allowing them to sit for approx. 30 minutes. After both methods, rinse off eggplants and thoroughly pat dry before using.
Farro (Spelt): After Julius Caesar’s invasion of Egypt in 47 B.C., farro (emmer or spelt) came to Italy, the only country today where it is cultivated on a large scale. This nutritious grain became a staple in Roman society, sustaining the Roman Legions and even providing the root of the Italian word for flour: farina. Delicious and high in protein, over time farro saw its place at the table usurped by higher-yield, easily-harvested wheat. In recent years, farro has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity among gourmets and the health-conscious, who sing the grain’s praises for its high nutritional value and adore the hearty, flavourful taste of the “Pharaoh’s wheat.”
Flour: In Italy, flour is classified either as 1, 0, or 00, which refers to the fineness of the grind and the bran and germ content. Doppio zero (00) is the most highly refined and is talcum-powder soft. Frittata: The Italian version of an omelette. Using egg as a base, together with a precooked vegetables, pastas, and meats, almost anything can be incorporated into it. This is normally turned, flipped or oven-baked and then cut into wedges.
Julienne: The process of cutting vegetables, potatoes, or other items into thin strips, 1/8 x 2- 3 inches.
Mortadella: An Italian cured sausage made of ground pork studded with pork fat. It can be spiced with black pepper, myrtle berries or coriander. Most mortadella that comes from Italy is studded with the pistachios or pine nuts native to its city of origin (Bologna); however those with flavours other than ground pepper and myrtle are not the original Bologna recipe. The best way to enjoy Mortadella is sliced very thin.
Pesto: Originating in Genoa, Italy, pesto is a sauce traditionally made of crushed garlic, basil and pine nuts blended with extra-virgin olive oil. There are many variants, and experimenting with your favourite herbs and spices can make your pesto personal and more exciting.
Ossobuco: Italian for “bone with a hole,” a reference to the marrow hole at the centre of cross-cut veal.
Parmesan: This is often thought of as an English version of the word Parmigiano-Reggiano, but if a cheese is labelled “Parmesan,” it merely imitates the recipe for Parmigiano-Reggiano without following D.O.C. laws. Typically a cheese labelled “Parmesan” has not been made in Italy. Within Italy, cheeses that imitate Parmigiano-Reggiano are called Grana (which means “granular” and refers to the texture). An example is Grana Padano.
Parmigiano-Reggiano: A cheese that follows Italian D.O.C. laws, which protect the names and recipes of certain cheeses. A cheese cannot be called Parmigiano-Reggiano unless it is made using a specific recipe and production method (normally within the provinces of Parma, Reggio-Emilia, Modena, and specific regions in the provinces of Bologna and Mantua). The D.O.C laws are meant to preserve the integrity of traditional cheeses, therefore, any cheese made outside of these regions with a slightly different recipe or production method cannot be called Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Parsley: There are only two types of parsley: curly and flat-leaf. Curly parsley has a pleasant grassy flavour and decorative ruffled leaves that make it the perfect garnish. When a stronger flavour is desired, recipes usually call for flat-leaf or Italian parsley, which features broad, serrated leaves.
Passatelli: A pasta formed of breadcrumbs, eggs, grated cheese, and nutmeg, cooked in chicken broth.
Passatutto: A food mill which is used for mashing and sieving soft foods. A passatutto typically consists of three parts: a bowl, a bottom plate with holes like those in a colander, and a crank fitted with a bent metal blade which crushes the food (forcing it through the holes in the bottom plate as the crank is turned).
Prosciutto Cotto: A delicately flavoured dry-cured ham, originating in Italy, made from the meat of the hindquarters of the hog. It is boiled prior to use.
Reduce: Refers to the continued cooking of a liquid until it reaches a smaller volume through evaporation. When this occurs, the liquid has a greater concentration of flavour. Adding starch allows it to become thicker.
Sauté: A method of cooking food quickly that uses a small amount of fat or oil in a shallow pan over medium to high heat.
Sculpit: A herb harvested from April to October, bordering cultivated land or found in the woods and in mountain pastures. The sprigs are harvested before blooming and used in cooking, mainly for pasta, meat, vegetables and salads.
Simmer: Cooking in a submerged liquid just below a boil. A simmering liquid has bubbles floating slowly from the bottom.
Skillet and Saucepan: Recognizing the differences between a frying pan (skillet) and a sauté pan (saucepan) isn’t so tough. Both have flat bottoms and long handles. A skillet, with its low, sloping sides, is for food that needs to be stirred, scrambled, or flipped over, and a small amount of butter or oil is often used. A saucepan is for cooking the same food in the same keep-it-moving manner, but often with more liquid. It therefore often has deeper, steeper sides.
Speck: A flavoured ham originally from Tyrol, a historical region that since 1918 partially lies in Italy. Like prosciutto and other hams, speck is made from the hind leg of the pig, but, unlike other prosciutti, speck is deboned before curing, usually through a combination of salt-curing and smoking.
Translucent: When cooking onions translucent, the onion should be sort of clear at the edges but still a bit whitish in the centre. The onion should be soft. This usually this takes between 5 to 8 minutes, depending on the quantity.
Trippa: Edible organ meats from the stomachs of various farm animals.