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Glossary
The Italian terms used across this site, defined briefly. Italian headwords are in italics. Where a term has an English equivalent that is widely understood, the English is given alongside.
- al dente
- 'To the tooth.' The residual firmness in cooked pasta, particularly dried pasta — a slight chalky resistance at the centre. Fresh egg pasta is judged on tenderness with structure, not on chalk; the term applies more cleanly to dried.
- besciamella
- Italian béchamel sauce: butter, flour, milk, salt, nutmeg. The white binding sauce of lasagne verdi alla bolognese, layered with ragù and Parmigiano.
- bietola
- Swiss chard. Substituted for spinach in some traditional Emilian doughs for green pasta.
- bottarga
- Cured fish roe, traditionally of grey mullet (bottarga di muggine, Sardinia) or tuna (bottarga di tonno, Sicily). Grated as a finish on coastal pasta dishes; not classical on tagliatelle.
- brodo
- Broth. Brodo di cappone is capon broth; brodo di carne, beef broth. The cooking medium for tagliolini at Christmas and the deglazing liquid for several ragù variants.
- cappone
- Capon — a castrated rooster, traditionally fattened over the autumn and slaughtered for Christmas. The basis of brodo di cappone.
- cartella
- The beef cut specified in the Accademia ragù classico bolognese: skirt steak, the diaphragmatic muscle. Hand-chopped or coarsely ground.
- chitarra
- 'Guitar.' An Abruzzese wooden frame strung with steel wires for cutting pasta dough into square-section strands — spaghetti alla chitarra. Not classically used for tagliatelle.
- cinghiale
- Wild boar. Hunted across central Italy; the basis of pappardelle al cinghiale, a Tuscan game ragù.
- concentrato
- Tomato paste — concentrated double or triple. Used in small amounts in ragù bolognese as a tint and a faint acidity.
- corzetti
- A Ligurian fresh egg pasta in the shape of a disc, pressed with a wooden mould carrying a family or village crest. Traditionally served with salsa di noci or pesto.
- DOC
- Denominazione di Origine Controllata. Italian appellation of controlled origin for wine. EU equivalent: PDO.
- DOCG
- Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita. The highest tier of Italian wine appellations, with stricter requirements than DOC.
- DOP
- Denominazione di Origine Protetta. The Italian and EU Protected Designation of Origin for food products. Parmigiano-Reggiano is the most famous example.
- fontana
- 'Fountain.' The well of flour into which eggs are broken when making fresh pasta on a board. See the fresh egg dough.
- fregolotti / nidi
- 'Nests.' The small coiled bundles in which cut tagliatelle are formed on a semola-dusted tray for storage.
- frumento tenero
- Soft wheat (Triticum aestivum). The wheat ground into tipo 00 flour for fresh egg pasta.
- frumento duro
- Hard wheat / durum wheat (Triticum durum). The wheat ground into semolina for dried pasta and for bread flour mixes.
- frutti di mare
- 'Fruits of the sea.' A mixed shellfish selection, typically clams, mussels, prawns, sometimes squid. See ai frutti di mare.
- gambero / gamberi
- Prawn(s). Often gambero rosso, the Mediterranean red prawn.
- grana
- 'Grain.' A category of hard, granular Italian cheeses, including Parmigiano-Reggiano and Grana Padano. The crystalline texture of well-aged wheels.
- guanciale
- Cured pork cheek, salt-cured and air-dried. The fat element in Roman carbonara, gricia, amatriciana. Not classical with tagliatelle.
- IGP
- Indicazione Geografica Protetta. The Italian and EU Protected Geographical Indication, a tier below DOP. Sorrento and Amalfi lemons are IGP.
- integrale
- Wholemeal. The coarsest Italian flour grade.
- lasagne
- Pasta sheets. In the singular (lasagna), one sheet; in the plural, the baked dish of stacked sheets with sauce and cheese. Lasagne verdi alla bolognese uses green pasta sheets layered with ragù and besciamella.
- lepre
- Hare. Hunted in the Tuscan and central Italian countryside; the basis of pappardelle al sugo di lepre.
- limoncello
- Lemon liqueur, traditionally made from Sorrento or Amalfi lemons, served chilled at the end of meals on the Campanian coast.
- maccheroni
- In modern Italian, a category of short tubular dried pasta. In older usage (Artusi, 1891), a general term covering many fresh and dried formats. Maccheroni al pettine is one of the canonical pairings for ragù bolognese.
- mantecare
- To emulsify cooked pasta or risotto with butter and/or cheese off the heat, working pasta water into the mixture to produce a glossy creamy sauce. The central technique of finishing Italian pasta. See burro e Parmigiano.
- mattarello
- The Italian rolling pin. 80–100 cm long, no handles, traditionally beech or maple.
- nido / nidi
- 'Nest(s).' Small coils of cut tagliatelle formed for storage; one nido is roughly one serving.
- pancetta
- Cured pork belly. Pancetta tesa is flat, salted, unsmoked, and the fat element of ragù bolognese; pancetta arrotolata is rolled and may be smoked.
- pansoti
- Triangular Ligurian stuffed pasta with a filling of ricotta and wild greens. Traditionally served with salsa di noci.
- passata
- Sieved uncooked tomato purée, sold in bottles. Used in small amounts in ragù bolognese.
- pasta all'uovo
- Egg pasta. The northern Italian fresh-pasta tradition: soft wheat plus whole eggs, no water.
- pasta di semola
- Durum-wheat semolina pasta: hard wheat plus water, no egg. The southern Italian dried-pasta tradition.
- pasta secca
- Dried pasta. Historically the durum-and-water tradition of southern Italy; now a wider category including industrially dried egg pasta.
- passata
- Sieved raw tomato purée.
- pestare
- To pound, in a mortar. The traditional method for pesto and walnut sauce.
- piselli
- Peas. Piselli freschi — fresh peas, peak April–June. See con prosciutto e piselli.
- porcino / porcini
- 'Little pig(s).' Italian common name for Boletus edulis, the cep or king bolete. See ai funghi porcini.
- prosciutto
- Cured ham. Prosciutto crudo is dry-cured raw ham (Parma DOP, San Daniele DOP); prosciutto cotto is cooked ham.
- ragù
- Meat sauce. Ragù bolognese is the Emilian standard, codified by the Accademia. Ragù napoletano is the Neapolitan version (whole cuts of meat in tomato).
- raschietto / tarocco
- Rectangular dough scraper, metal or plastic; the most-used small tool in the pasta kitchen.
- ricotta
- Fresh whey cheese, very mild and soft. Used in fillings; occasionally folded into pasta sauces.
- rotella
- Pastry wheel. Rotella dentellata, fluted; rotella liscia, smooth.
- salsa
- Sauce. Distinct from sugo, which usually implies a cooked sauce with meat or other principal ingredient.
- salsiccia
- Fresh Italian sausage, sold in casing or loose; the casing is removed and the meat crumbled into ragùs and boscaiola sauces.
- semola di grano duro
- Durum-wheat semolina. Rimacinata: twice-milled, finer; used for fresh-pasta dusting and as a small share of fresh-pasta dough in Bologna.
- sfoglia
- The rolled sheet of pasta dough.
- sfoglina / sfoglino
- A (traditionally female) maker of sfoglia by hand. The trade-name in Bologna for the home and professional pasta-sheet rollers.
- soffritto
- The foundation sauté of carrot, celery, and onion, in roughly equal weight. The aromatic base of ragù and many Italian soups and sauces.
- spianatoia
- The wooden pasta-rolling board, traditionally beech or chestnut.
- stendipasta
- Pasta drying rack, often a small wooden tree-form stand with horizontal arms.
- sugo
- Sauce, in the cooked sense; sugo d'arrosto is the dripping juices of a roast.
- tagliartufi / tagliatartufi
- Truffle slicer.
- tajarin
- The Piedmontese dialect for tagliolini, but with a specific yolks-only dough specification. See tajarin piemontesi.
- tagliolini
- Narrow fresh egg ribbon, 2–3 mm cooked. Whole-egg dough. See tagliolini.
- tartufo bianco
- White truffle (Tuber magnatum), the Alba truffle of Piedmont. See al tartufo bianco.
- tipo 00
- The finest Italian wheat-flour grade for fresh pasta. Soft wheat, protein typically 9–11 %.
- tortellini
- Small stuffed pasta of Bologna and Modena, traditionally served in capon broth at Christmas.
- vongole
- Clams. Vongole veraci (Ruditapes decussatus) is the standard Italian carpet-shell clam.