NOTES
(from Duolingo)

INGREDIENTS
Italian has three ways to express the presence of an ingredient in the name of a dish:

  • Dish di ingredient: The ingredient is the main or only component of the dish, e.g. “succo di limone” (lemon juice). In this case the article is never used before the ingredient.
  • Dish con ingredient: The ingredient is a visible component of the dish or used as garnish, e.g. “fragole con panna” (strawberries with cream). In this case a definite article can be used before the ingredient.
  • Dish a ingredient: The dish has been flavored with the ingredient, or tastes like the ingredient, e.g. “gelato al cioccolato” (chocolate ice cream). In this case the definite article is mandatory before the ingredient, forming an articulated preposition with a.

When there is no room for confusion the three can occasionally be mixed up, e.g. “panino al salame” is as common as “panino con salame“; however, in many cases using one instead of the other can give hints on the dish’s composition.

QUESTIONS
In this section you’ll meet the first proper questions. In Italian word order doesn’t change in a question, meaning that the question mark at the end and the raising tone of voice are usually the only differences between a question and a statement.

TIP: It’s important to keep in mind that the English idiom of “having food” being synonymous with “eating food” doesn’t apply to Italian, where “avere cibo” simply means owning food.

NOTES
(by DuoItalian)

BACON vs PANCETTA
While bacon is a widely popular breakfast food in America, pancetta is considered “Italian bacon” and far more commonplace in Italy. These two meats are very similar in that both are typically made from pork belly, both are cured for a particular length of time, and both need to be cooked before eating.

The only difference is that bacon is smoked after it is cured, with a wide range of woods (from apple to maple) which provide unique flavors to the meat. If you wish to have “bacon” with your breakfast in Italy, you will more than likely need to order “pancetta”.

TIP: Along with ciotola (learned in this lesson), the Italian scodella is also commonly used for “bowl”.

VOCABULARY
(from Duolingo)
il caffècoffee
il lattemilk
la cremacream
il cioccolatochocolate
il biscottocookie
la tazzacup
il gelatoice cream
il cibofood
la fruttafruit
la bananabanana
la caramellacandy
la carotacarrot
il piattoplate
il fagiolobean
il manzobeef
la birrabeer
la bottigliabottle
la ciotolabowl
la colazionebreakfast
il burrobutter
la tortacake
il formaggiocheese
il pollochicken
il cuococook
la cenadinner
la bevandabeverage
il pranzolunch
l'uovoegg
la pancettabacon
il pescefish
la forchettafork
il frittofried
l'agliogarlic
il bicchiereglass
l'uvagrapes
bollireto boil
cucinareto cook
tagliareto cut

 

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