St. Patrick’s Day (all’italiana)
This St. Patrick’s Day we had a big celebration. The plan was simple enough: invite a few friends and neighbors for Irish Coffee. Along the way I managed to spend half a day shopping and two days cooking. Not a single Irish dish, but almost everything was green or had some green in it, other than the apple Sharlotka and the orange-almond cake.
Among the various savory and sweet dishes, the green hummus was a big hit. Best in show, though, went to the homemade salame.
The half that didn't get consumed on St. Patrick's Day
When I brought it to the table, someone asked if I really made my own salame.
Looks like the real thing, doesn’t it? And it even has some green it it, courtesy of the pistacchi.
Only after cutting a few slices it became clear that it was a vegetarian salame. :)
By the way, I’ve been thinking about those Italian lessons, but haven’t had any time to get started. Mostly it’s that I want to figure out a plan of attack and I am not sure how to proceed. In the meantime I leave you with a few Italian words:
• salame al cioccolato = chocolate salami
• pistacchi = pistachios
• all’italiana = Italian style
In Italian we say salame, not salami, when we talk about one item. Salami in Italy means more than one salame. Several Italian words that have made it into English have been modified and often Americans use the singular where Italians use the plural and viceversa.
We say lasagne (plural) and Americans say lasagna (singular). Just so you know.
Happy Spring!
Posted by Francesca | 8 comments
Lydia Lee
Ah, I never realized that about lasagna/e. You’d think my Italian grandmother or my dad (her son) would have set be straight on that, esp. because she insisted on speaking Italian around me, even though I didn’t understand 90% of what she or my grandfather said. But then, from what I recall, she never made lasagne, so it probably never came up, although she did make some wonderful homemade mini salami (plural), and pasta, and….
Francesca
@Annie: I’ll write the recipe next time I make the salame so I can take some pictures and check amounts, cause I’ve been eyeballing things, you know. :)
@Rosie: the green hummus is a simple modification on a recipe by Alice Waters. You can find the original recipe here:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/hummus-with-whole-wheat-flatbreads
I replaced the preserved lemon with lemon zest (easier to have lying around in the kitchen) and I chopped a lot of parsley to make it green. Very tasty!
@Ben: Good job on the phonetics! You missed an “a” in “maialino”. I know, diphthongs…
Rosie
That looks so scrumptious. What went into the green hummus? I get together with a couple of friends for lunch and a “crafternoon” a few times each year and as one friend is vegan and the other vegetarian I’m always looking for good ideas for food. It’s my turn to do the salads today!
Zita
Mi viene acqualina in bocca… :-)
lawheezer
Most certainly “gnam”!
A treat for the eyes too which means so much with food.
I’ve given it all up for lent so I was just lusting after it!
Annie
Brilliant, and I need a ‘like’ for Ben’s comment. Please can we have the recipe, pretty please :D
Ben
Even after I *know* it’s a log of chocolate, out of the corner of my eye I still see a salame al mialino. :D
I think the words that are almost the same can be both the easiest and most difficult. “Cioccolato” is *almost* pronounced like “chocolate oh!” But “pistah-SHEE-o’s” is only barely similar to “pis-TACK-key”.
Although we all say “yum,” even if you do spell it “gnam”!
Lucia
Grande Ben!!
e brava dada!
il salame è biutiful!!