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traits of being Italian...
Hello everybody!
Maybe I can help to solve this misterious word "scarpette". I am Italian, I still live in Italy (Florence) and this word is still used in the Italian dialect but in its singular form "scarpetta" or better still the correct expression is "fare la scarpetta".
"Fare la scarpetta" in food-related words&phrases means to mop up the sauce from a plate of food with a piece of bread. It is the highest compliment one can pay to a home cook.
Hope this help
Maybe I can help to solve this misterious word "scarpette". I am Italian, I still live in Italy (Florence) and this word is still used in the Italian dialect but in its singular form "scarpetta" or better still the correct expression is "fare la scarpetta".
"Fare la scarpetta" in food-related words&phrases means to mop up the sauce from a plate of food with a piece of bread. It is the highest compliment one can pay to a home cook.
Hope this help
I have one Italian grandparent. I try not to speak of it but drats genetics will out because so much of that list was me and mine growing up.
I remember the first time I sat with my class during 9am mass - in kindergarten.
My father , brother, nephew and sister are all named Tony. We also had two Frankies and 4 versions of Angelo. And yes my grandmother was the yardstick by which we were all measured. She was a force to be reckoned with all 4'10" of her.
I remember the first time I sat with my class during 9am mass - in kindergarten.
My father , brother, nephew and sister are all named Tony. We also had two Frankies and 4 versions of Angelo. And yes my grandmother was the yardstick by which we were all measured. She was a force to be reckoned with all 4'10" of her.
Hello everybody!
Maybe I can help to solve this misterious word "scarpette". I am Italian, I still live in Italy (Florence) and this word is still used in the Italian dialect but in its singular form "scarpetta" or better still the correct expression is "fare la scarpetta".
"Fare la scarpetta" in food-related words&phrases means to mop up the sauce from a plate of food with a piece of bread. It is the highest compliment one can pay to a home cook.
Hope this help
Thanks so much, I had been wondering about that for the last 6 1/2 years!
Hi.
I'm Italian, from the North of Italy. May I comment on this list? I uderstand most points apply to Italo-americans, more attached to traditions, the Southern ones in particular. In Italy it's different. Let's see...
1- you've had at least one relative who wore a
black dress every day for an entire year after a
funeral
-- This was in the 50s maybe!
4- every Sunday afternoon of your childhood was
spent visiting your grandparents
-- Some
5- you've experienced the scientific phenomenon of
150 people fitting into 50 square feet of yard for
a family cookout
-- No more big families here...
6- you were surprised to discover that the FDA
recommends that you eat three balanced meals a
day, not seven
-- I don't get it. In Italy breakfast is light, then there are lunch and dinner. 3!
7- you ate macaroni (pasta for the non-Italians)
for dinner at least four times a week
-- It's maccheroni... anyway, we don't eat pasta so often.
8- you grew up thinking that no fruit or
vegetables had a fixed price at the
market................everything was negotiable
through haggling
-- Haggling?? Nobody does it anymore.
9- you were forced to watch Lawrence Welk and Ed
Sullivan every weekend
-- Yes, this is definitely for Italoamericans
12- you thought that black nylons were supposed to
be worn rolled up to the knees
-- ?
13- you were surprised to find out that wine was
actually sold in stores
-- ?
14- you never ate meat on Christmas Eve or any
Friday
-- not everybody is Catholic!
15- you thought that Catholicism was the only
religion in the world
-- ditto
17- you were hit at least once with a wooden spoon
-- ...
19- you learned to play bocci before entering grade school
-- Bocce is for 70 yr olds ;-)
32- you thought that cookie cakes and the
tarantella were all common at all weddings
-- Tarantella is danced in the region called Puglie.
35- there was a crucifix in every room of the
house
-- Eh, no.
36- sons never had to wash dishes because it was
considered women's work !
-- My bf is better than me at housework and cooking
37- you weren't comfortable dating a boy unless
your father and brother approved
-- Ha ha!
39- you know what real "black" coffee is
-- This is true.
41- meatball sandwiches were a standard lunch item
-- This obsession with meatballs...
42- you never knew you could buy pizza from a store
-- ?
43- eating out usually meant going to a relatives house
-- Nooo. The restaurants in Italy are ace, are you kidding?
47- tomato sauce made with chicken wings was the best
-- Blech.
48- you had coffee with lots of milk (latte cafe)
for breakfast by the time you were three years old
-- Coffee to 3 yr old??
51- every girl was "make-able" except your sisters
and girl cousins
-- ...
64- a trip to the beach required at least three
days of food preparation
-- This still happens in the South.
71- at least one relative threw themselves on the
coffin at the cemetery
-- Oh dear, no. Sicilian widows??
72- you wondered, why didn't everybody wear a
cross, miraculous medal, or a scapular
around their necks
-- Not everybody... etc
73- you told everyone your mother was the best
cook in the whole world
-- No. ;-)
I'm Italian, from the North of Italy. May I comment on this list? I uderstand most points apply to Italo-americans, more attached to traditions, the Southern ones in particular. In Italy it's different. Let's see...
1- you've had at least one relative who wore a
black dress every day for an entire year after a
funeral
-- This was in the 50s maybe!
4- every Sunday afternoon of your childhood was
spent visiting your grandparents
-- Some
5- you've experienced the scientific phenomenon of
150 people fitting into 50 square feet of yard for
a family cookout
-- No more big families here...
6- you were surprised to discover that the FDA
recommends that you eat three balanced meals a
day, not seven
-- I don't get it. In Italy breakfast is light, then there are lunch and dinner. 3!
7- you ate macaroni (pasta for the non-Italians)
for dinner at least four times a week
-- It's maccheroni... anyway, we don't eat pasta so often.
8- you grew up thinking that no fruit or
vegetables had a fixed price at the
market................everything was negotiable
through haggling
-- Haggling?? Nobody does it anymore.
9- you were forced to watch Lawrence Welk and Ed
Sullivan every weekend
-- Yes, this is definitely for Italoamericans
12- you thought that black nylons were supposed to
be worn rolled up to the knees
-- ?
13- you were surprised to find out that wine was
actually sold in stores
-- ?
14- you never ate meat on Christmas Eve or any
Friday
-- not everybody is Catholic!
15- you thought that Catholicism was the only
religion in the world
-- ditto
17- you were hit at least once with a wooden spoon
-- ...
19- you learned to play bocci before entering grade school
-- Bocce is for 70 yr olds ;-)
32- you thought that cookie cakes and the
tarantella were all common at all weddings
-- Tarantella is danced in the region called Puglie.
35- there was a crucifix in every room of the
house
-- Eh, no.
36- sons never had to wash dishes because it was
considered women's work !
-- My bf is better than me at housework and cooking
37- you weren't comfortable dating a boy unless
your father and brother approved
-- Ha ha!
39- you know what real "black" coffee is
-- This is true.
41- meatball sandwiches were a standard lunch item
-- This obsession with meatballs...
42- you never knew you could buy pizza from a store
-- ?
43- eating out usually meant going to a relatives house
-- Nooo. The restaurants in Italy are ace, are you kidding?
47- tomato sauce made with chicken wings was the best
-- Blech.
48- you had coffee with lots of milk (latte cafe)
for breakfast by the time you were three years old
-- Coffee to 3 yr old??
51- every girl was "make-able" except your sisters
and girl cousins
-- ...
64- a trip to the beach required at least three
days of food preparation
-- This still happens in the South.
71- at least one relative threw themselves on the
coffin at the cemetery
-- Oh dear, no. Sicilian widows??
72- you wondered, why didn't everybody wear a
cross, miraculous medal, or a scapular
around their necks
-- Not everybody... etc
73- you told everyone your mother was the best
cook in the whole world
-- No. ;-)
pretty much all true I am a bit young for welk and sullivan and some stuff and in my experience 8 and 16 are when you are in Italy but you got it all down to the communion suit I am going to try to think of some more from my experiences being mezzo italo