1.     BIS

Meaning ‘double’. Something you will hear a lot around the dining table! When someone wants seconds they’ll say :

‘Faccio il bis’ – I’ll have seconds.

‘Bis’ can also be used at a concert if concert goers want a repeat of a song they love. They will simply yell out ‘Bis, bis…..!’

2.  LAPSUS

Used when you have a slip of the tongue…maybe saying something you shouldn’t have said! That’s called ‘avere un lapsus’

3.     IDEM

Meaning ‘the same’. When someone says something you feel the same about you can simply say ‘idem’.

EG. Person 1 : Adoro andare a ballare!  Person 2: Idem! (I love going dancing! Me too!)

4.     DE GUSTIBUS NON DISPUTANDUM EST

Meaning "In matters of taste, there can be no disputes" and is used in Italian when in discussion with someone who likes something that you make not like.

EG Person 1 – Non mi piace il colore del vestito che hai comprato.

      Person 2  - De gustibus non disputandum est

5.     Gratis

Meaning ‘free’. You will see this word written and hear it often regarding events that may be free or have free entry. You may read something like ‘musei gratis’ if you are searching the web for free entry to museums. Or if you are want to say something like ‘do you get in for free?’ you would say ‘si entra gratis?’.

6.     In Vino Veritas

 ‘In wine there is truth’ meaning when someone has has a little alcohol they are likely to speak more truthfully. This can be used if someone thinks maybe someone has said something they may not have said in a conversation without the odd glass of ‘vino’ or aperitivo.

7.     Verba volant, scripta manent 

Is a Latin proverb and literally translated, it means "spoken words fly away, written words remain". You could use this if you were having a bet with a friend and wanted to write it down just in case they forget .

8.     Carpe Diem

Meaning ‘Sieze the day’. Not only used in Italian but it is one of the most famous Latin saying used by people all over the world! You can use it whenever you want to ‘enjoy the moment’.

So many of us had to cancel our Italian summer holiday this year because of the pandemic and are feeling a little disappointed, but if you can try to imagine what life is like in Italy right now, you may not feel so bad.

Travel restrictions in Italy have been eased this month, and according to our family and friends life still feels so surreal. Travel restrictions between regions has been lifted but since the oubreak of Covid19 until now, travelling was not allowed unless it was for work. If you are travelling by car with a someone other than a family member you are limited to two people and both passengers need to wear face masks.

Since the 18th of May Cafés and Restaurants have been open with limited table service to help prevent large crowds. Cinemas and theatres will reopen on June the 15th with a limit of 200 people allowed at once inside, and facemasks worn by staff and patrons is a must. Social distancing applies in all public spaces at all times and everyone needs to avoid contact with people they don’t live with, including relatives and especially the elderly. Regions like Lombardia and Piemonte where the outbreak hit the worst are making it mandatory to wear masks even outdoors.

If you are sporting a temperature of over 37.5 degrees you need to stay home, and if venturing out to dine you may be asked to have your temperature taken and to register your personal information for tracking purposes. If you refuse you will find yourself sent on your merry little way.

So with social distancing including outdoor areas a must and wearing mandatory facemasks, it may be a blessing to be able to skip your travel plans this year to Italy and have a little extra time to put your dollars aside for a more relaxed holiday to our beautiful country in the near future.

Here is a very simple Italian custard recipe given to me by my ‘zia’ (aunty), and all you need is a tablespoon to measure!

Ecco qui… (here it is)…

1 litre full cream milk

3 eggs

6 tablespoon plain flour

6 tablespoon sugar

rind of one lemon (or two if you prefer it more tangy!)

(optional - I decided to make the custard because I had lots of lemons left with no rind from preparing limoncello. So I used a cup of lemon juice and put in an extra tablespoon of flour)

Step by step

Pour 3/4 milk into pan on very low to start warming up the milk (don’t bring to boil).

In a bowl pour the rest of the milk, eggs, flour and sugar and whisk all together.

If you have optioned to add a cup of lemon juice, add this also.

Once the milk in the pot is warm, pour in the mixture and keep whisking to avoid lumps.

Soon enough you will feel the custard start to thicken and once it gets thicker turn off the heat. Once it has cooled and been put in the fridge it will set more.

We use eggs from our own chooks hence the very yellow colour

I used the custard to fill a beautiful apple and custard crostata. The recipe for the crostata base is on my IGTV which you can head to and watch using by clicking here

Quantity for 2 loaves or 1 loaf and some mini brioche with leftover pastry

1 cup milk (luke warm)

1 teaspoon dry yeast

600gr flour 00

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

¾ cup sugar

1 egg

Bustina di vanillina (or some vanilla essence or lemon rind if preferred)

Filling – Fig Jam (or any jam of choice or chocolate spread)

Melt the yeast in the luke warm milk (set aside)

Beat the egg, vanilla and sugar in a bowl (large enough to slowly add the flour later)

Add evoo and beat

Add milk and yeast mixture and beat

Slowly add flour and knead until soft and elastic

Place dough in bowl covered and leave to rise for an hour to two, making sure it doubles in size or almost.

Now you will need a rolling pin and a rectangular bread tin. If you don’t have a bread tin you can use a ciambella tin.

Flour your board and place risen dough on top and knead it a little getting back to a ball shape.

Roll it out with a rolling pin, into a rectangular shape that once rolled into a log, will fit into a rectangle bread tin.

Spread your jam over it, leaving a little strip at the top of the rectangle you can wet a little with some water so it seals up when you roll it up to close the log shape.

Roll the dough into a log and place in tin lined wth baking paper or some flour

(optional – beat one egg and brush the dough with it before baking)

Oven 180 degrees Celsius and bake for about 40 minutes or if you like a crust leave a few minutes longer

My kids asked me to make these Girelle di Cannella, so Sunday morning I woke up early to enjoy the beautiful quiet and have a little bake. I also popped a picture up on my instagram story and was asked by a lot of ‘dolci’ (sweet) lovers for the recipe so ‘eccola qui’ ! (here it is). The difference between these ones and the traditional ‘Cinnamon Scroll’ is that this one is an instant dough using self raising flour, and doesn’t need time to rise. The ‘Girelle’ turn out a little more like a biscotto rather than a soft doughy bun. Traditionally these are not Italian, but like many other recipes, we tweak things and make them the way we like them. It’s fun to be creative ‘in cucina’ (in the kitchen). Our family love these with the morning glass of ‘latte e caffe`’, and we always make enough to put a few aside for nonna and bisnonna (great-grandmother) to enjoy.

For the dough

-2 cups self raising flour

-90gr chilled salted butter

-2/3 cup milk

Knead and roll into a rectangular (as best you can) thin layer (about half cm thick). You can rest it for 10-15 minutes if you like. It will be a little easier to roll out if you do.

Make the filling

-melt 60gr butter

-1 & ½ tablespoons cinnamon

-1/3 cup sugar

Spread it all over the rectangle you just made, then roll the long side of the dough inwards and all the way to the other side so you end up with a log.

Slice roll into pieces about 2cm thick. 

Bake in oven 175 degrees until brown and cooked. (approx 20-30 minutes)

Icing

-1 cup icing sugar

-dash of milk (and stir through. If you prefer more runny then add more milk, less runny add more icing sugar)

Italian Procession - Riccia, Molise

Easter in Italy is a huge celebration, and like many Italian events it is a deep rooted religious one. Like all of Italy’s traditional celebrations, ‘Pasqua’ (Easter) time comes with some delicious traditional foods that are made throughout the country’s twenty beautiful regions. The most well known are, ‘La Pastiera Napoletana’, which is an Easter pie made in Naples, and ‘La Colomba di Pasqua’ which is a sweet dry cake similar to the Christmas Panettone only shaped like a dove, representing the symbol of new life. In Molise and Abbruzzo we make sweet and savoury ‘Fiadoni’. Here is a blog I wrote last Easter with the recipe: click here

Here are some typical Italian sayings that either refer to Easter or are taken from an event that happened during the Easter period but can be used all year round.

Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi!

This means, ‘Christmas with your family, easter with whoever you like!’. While Easter Sunday is usually spent with family, Pasquetta (Easter Monday) is always spent with friends and usually by having a picnic.

Lungo come una Quaresima

A long as Lent -  With the lent period lasting 40 days, this saying speaks for itself! It’s used to describe someone or something that is boring or drawn out

Felice come una Pasqua

Happy as Easter. (Happy as Larry) - With Easter in Italy being a very religious celebration because of Christ rising on Easter Sunday, you can imagine the immense joyful energy in the air. New life brings a lot of happiness!

Portare la propria croce

'To carry one’s own cross’. The saying refers to the pain and suffering by Jesus Christ as he carried his own cross, so it used to express when someone is going through a hard time. 

Essere come San Tommaso

One of the Apostles named Thomas said he didn’t believe Jesus had died and risen and said, ‘If I don't see the marks left by the nails in his hands, nor pass my fingers through his ribs, I will not believe’, so this saying is used when a person won’t believe something until they see it with their own eyes.

BUONA PASQUA A TUTTI ! (HAPPY EASTER TO ALL)

Joy shared around the dinner table, love of food, wine and mother earth, closeness to family and friends and being warm and hospitable are just a few aspects of the Italian culture loved by many. I don’t think there is any other place in the world that has more songs written about ‘la mamma’ than Italy! Here are a few warm and fuzzy Italian sayings that will give you a better understanding of just how important ‘la familgia’ is to us

1.    La famiglia e` tutto – Family is everything

2.    Amor di madre, amor senza limiti – (Love of mother, love without limits) A mother’s love has no limit

3.    La mamma e` sempre la mamma – (The mum is always the mum) No matter what mamma does, she’s always my mamma

4.    Chi si volta, e chi si gira, sempre a casa va finire – (He who turns round and round, always ends up home) No matter where you go, you will always end up at home

5.    A ogni uccello il suo nido e` bello – (every bird loves his own nest) -Home sweet home

6.    Una buona mamma vale cento maestre – A good mother is worth a hundred teachers

7.    Un bimbo che non gioca, felicita` ne ha poca – A child who doesn’t play has little happiness

8.    Il sangue non e` acqua – (Blood is not water) – Blood is thicker than water

9.    L’affetto verso i genitori e` fondamento di ogni virtu`- love towards your parents is fundamentally the greatest virtue

10.  Non ricordiamo dei giorni, ci ricordiamo dei momenti – We don’t remember days, we remember moments

Napoli - Naples, Italy

Ahhhh Italia ! The country of ‘la dolce lingua’, Romeo and Juliet, dramatic opera’s and lovers in the streets showing affection like no-one is looking. Funnily enough, Valentine’s Day isn’t made a huge deal of in Italy like it is in other countries. Maybe because Italians show plentiful amounts of love and affection on a daily basis to their partners, friends and family. ‘La Festa di San Valentino’ is celebrated all around the world thanks to the ancient Roman festival Lupercalia. The festival celebrated the coming of spring and men and women being paired off by lottery. Thank goodness we now celebrate it with flowers, cards and love notes to a partner most of us have chosen ourselves.

Here are a few Italian love phrases you can use to woo your sweatheart this Valentines Day!

1.     Ti amo

‘I love you’

A phrase familiar to many ears, and one we use when we want to tell our partner we love them. Ti amo isn’t a phrase we would use to tell a family member or friend we love them…they may get the wrong idea!

2.     Ti voglio bene

‘ I love you / I care about you’

This is the phrase we use to tell family members, friends and partners we love them.

3.     Sono pazzo di te (If you are female you say ‘sono pazza di te’)

‘I am crazy for you’

4.     Sono innamorato di te (if you are female you say ‘sono innamorata di te’)

‘I am in love with you’

5.     Amore mio

‘ My love’

 Used as a term of endearment to your partner but mothers also call their  child ‘amore’ like English speakers say ‘darling’.

6.     Dammi un bacio

‘ Give me a kiss’

 You can use this for anyone really! But if you want to ask your child for a kiss you  would ask for a ‘bacetto’.

7.     Ti penso sempre

‘I think about you all the time’

This phrase can be used to sign off on a love letter or email, but can also be said in conversation.

8.     Sei bellissmo (or bellissima if you are saying it to a girl)

‘You are beautiful’

This can also be used to say to anyone.

9.     Sei sempre nel mio cuore

‘You are always in my heart’

When you just want to be a sweetheart to your partner and make them feel loved

10.  Amo solo te

‘I love only you’

Another phrase to melt the heart of your lover

Campobasso, Molise- Italy

When the mouth watering aroma of fried capsicum filled the air at nonna’s house you could pretty much bet she was making her ‘Pipi e Patati Friuti’ (calabrese dialect for Peperoni e Patate Fritte - Fried capsicum and Potato), and now every time I make it it takes me back to when I was a little girl. Nonna still makes it at 95 years of age! She really is pretty damn awesome. I got her to show me how to make it after I got married and moved out.

‘Quando mi viene voglia’ (when I get the craving) I will make it at home myself. Does it ever taste like nonna’s? Well, can anything ever taste like nonna’s? So if you have a spare couple of hours and want a dish true to the Italian ‘la cucina povera’ style (poor mans food), then give it a go. It’s great to eat hot or cold, with some ‘carne alla brace’ (barbecued meat), or even as is, in a nice crusty bread roll. Either way, you won’t regret the time spent preparing it. Fried food can be quite heavy and not something Italians eat on a daily basis. These kinds of dishes are like little treats.

Here is the recipe, as good as I could jot it down while I was making it, accompanied by a couple of snaps taken in the time that I had. It feeds about 8 people so just halve the quantities if you don’t have to cook for an army like I do. It is quite labour intensive so set aside at least 2 hours (prepare yourself a nice glass or two of vino before you start), or less time if you are making less. Trust me this dish is worth the time spent cooking it.

Ingredients:

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

8 lge potatoes

8 medium capsicum

1 tin Mutti Tomato Polpa

Dried Oregano

Clove of garlic

Method:

Use a large fry pan for all of these steps. You shouldn’t have to clean or change the pan.

Cut the capsicum into strips.

Peel and cut the potato into chip like shapes and par boil.

While they are boiling, using half cup of the EVO or a little less if you prefer, simply fry the capsicum until it softens. Don’t forget to salt them. Pop them aside in a bowl big enough to fit both capsicum and potato.

Strain the potato and in the other half cup of EVO lightly fry them bit by bit and as you remove them from the fry pan pop them in the bowl the fried capsicum are in, lightly salting them as you do.

Once you have finished frying the chips, fry a bit of garlic in the remaining oil, pour in one tin of Mutti Tomato Polpa in the pan, fill the empty can with water and pour it in the pan also. Add salt and oregano and simmer until cooked (say 40 minutes or so). If the water evaporates a lot and it’s really thick and still not cooked, just add a little more and simmer a little longer.

Once the sauce is cooked, pour it over the capsicum and potato and fold everything through gently.

Enjoy with loved ones.

Rustic as can be

So apparently pasta was brought to Italy from China by Marco Polo in the 13th century. They say it derives from noodles. Hats off to the Asian cuisine. What a blessing! Because what the Italians created with it after has gone down in history!

When I think of pasta, fresh or dry, I think of way more than just food. For us Italians it’s a part of life, it’s good for you, and we eat it every single day. Here are some of thine things I think of when I hear the word ‘pasta’…. 

Mamma helping out at the school for our Cavatelli class

Eavesdropping

As a child, making pasta brought us into the kitchen on Sundays when the women of the family were chit chatting while preparing family lunch, and we would eavesdrop. They’d be updating each other on their week or reminiscing about the past, and the stories I’d love most were the ones nonna told about things that happened back in her paese in Calabria. They’d giggle and talk loudly, or lower their voice if it was a bit of juicy gossip. The ‘ragu’ (meat sauce) would be simmering away and would fill the air with an aroma that would make even a full tummy rumble. If you told them you were hungry they’d get that look of distress on their face typical of an Italian mother, and dip a bit of Italian loaf into it, and hand it to you as a snack followed by the words ‘mangia figlia’ (eat child).

Ravioli with zucchini, eggplant and mushroom

Sunday lunch

Sundays were definitely the day of the week we’d look forward to. It’s when the extended family would gather at nonna & nonno’s and we’d eat, drink and laugh for hours. Either homemade potato gnocchi or ravioli with spinach and ricotta or meat filling were nonna’s favourite fresh pasta types to make, followed by a salad with the meat from the ragu sauce. Standard. The ragu was a treat (if you like meat) because during the week the pasta was usually made with vegetable based condiments.

Sunday lunch in tavernetta (Ripalimosani, Italy)

It’s easy, good for you & covers all food groups

It truly is one of the easiest and quickest meals you can make and it covers a lot of food groups in just one plate. You don’t have to make your pasta from scratch all of the time. There’s nothing wrong with a good packet pasta. Make a quick sauce with some greens, legumes, or meat you like and you’re done. Sauces don’t have to be heavy with cream or other rich ingredients. Extra virgin olive oil and water to simmer are usually the best.

Zia in Italy preparing the tagliatelle with the Sunday lunch meat sugo

Therapy

Just like sport, knitting, reading and other hobbies, making fresh pasta can be very therapeutic. It’s kind of like a ‘zone out’ time and at the same time you create something that can be shared with family or friends. We all love a family or friend gathering full of good food, good vino and good conversation.

Nonno in Italy serving up the tubettini pasta

Cheap

Absolutely. A nice plate of pasta feeds so many people at such a small cost. Quick, easy, simple and cheap. It’s definitely a win win.

Pasta e ceci

So how on earth could anyone say that pasta is ‘bad’ for you? How do Italians live longer and stay so trim while consuming daily portions of pasta? Because we know the difference between good food and bad and won’t let the marketers of fad diets persuade us into having it any other way, especially when nonna has told you otherwise.