Kate's Global Kitchen: An Italian Menu

An Italian Menu

Dear Kate,

Where can I find the Italian names for different courses (i.e. second course=secondi). I was hoping to find it online if possible.

Thank you,

Jennifer Moak
Jmoak74516@(removed)

Dear Jennifer,

I haven't done an online search but I did live in Italy, where I had my restaurant. Here's a rundown of the basic courses, along with some general food categories you are likely to see on an Italian menu:

antipasto—appetizer

antipasti misto—assorted appetizers

primi or primi piatti—first courses

secondi—second or main courses

verdure—vegetables

insalata—salad

zuppa—soup

dolce—sweets or dessert

colazione or prima colazione—breakfast

pranzo—lunch

cena—dinner

Now, all this talk about Italian food has me hungry. Here's one of my favorite recipes for pranzo o cena. In fact, as it uses bacon and eggs, it even makes una colazione perfetto.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara from the Global Gourmet's Italy page.

Buon appetito!

Kate Heyhoe
The Global Gourmet

This page originally published as a Global Gourmet Today column in 1998.

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