L'insalata caprese & Italian food prep terms

(or how to learn new words & eat them too!)

It's fun to study Italian.  

It's even more fun when you get to enjoy a delicious, and iconic, Insalata Caprese /in-sah-LA-ta kah-PREh-seh/ (Caprese Salad) as the fruit of your labor.

Read the transcript and review the ingredients and key terms before watching the video lesson: (Highlight in the spaces below to reveal the English translations)

Buongiorno amici di Ricette per Cucinare. Oggi siamo qui per parlare dell'insalata caprese. 
Greetings friends of Ricette per Cucinare.  Today we are hear to talk about the Caprese Salad.

Quest'insalata è facilissima da preparare ed è velocissima. 

This salad is super easy to prepare and super fast.

Vediamo di cosa abbiamo bisogno. Ci servirà: 
Let's see what we need.  We will need: 

una mozzarella di bufala campana

one buffalo mozzarella from Campania (d.o.c.)

un pomodoro ramato fresco

one fresh red tomato

del basilico fresco

some fresh basil

e dell'olio d'oliva.

and some olive oil.

~

Procediamo a preparare gli ingredienti.
Let's start by preparing the ingredients.

Tagliamo il pomodoro in due metà, e togliamo la parte del picciolo interno.
We cut the tomato in two halves, and we remove the interior part of the stalk.

Poi procediamo a tagliarlo a fette di media larghezza, in questo modo qua.
Then, let's proceed cutting it into slices of medium width, like this.

tagliare a fette

to cut into slices

Useremo solo metà mozzarella di bufala per una porzione, quindi adesso la tagliamo a fette.
We will use only half of the buffalo mozzarella for one serving, therefore now we cut it into slices.


In un bel piatto piano, disponiamo le nostre fette di pomodoro. 
In a nice flat dish, let's arrange our tomato slices,

e successivamente, mettiamo al centro le fette di mozzarella di bufala.
 and then, let's put in the center the slices of buffalo mozzarella.

mettere

to put

Facciamo a pezzettini il basilico, e lo mettiamo in modo irregolare sopra al pomodoro.
Let's tear into little pieces the basil, and let's put it here and there on the tomato.

Per guarnire, ci siamo tenuti una cima di basilico, e la possiamo utilizzare mettendola per esempio qua al lato. 
To garnish, we saved the top of the basil and we can use it putting it here on the side, for example.

Concludiamo il piatto, irrorando con un filo d'olio.
We finish the dish bathing (drizzling) a bit of oil.

Un saluto a tutti amici e amiche di Ricette per Cucinare, e arrivederci alla prossima.
Greetings to all the friends of Ricette per Cucinare, and see you next time.

Now, watch the video and see if you can pick out the terms and expressions without relying on the written transcript.  Notice the pronunciation and intonation— is anything said differently than you imagined?

Video & images via Ricette per Cucinare, check them out for more great recipes in Italian!

Now, the fun part! Get your ingredients and make the dish! You can do it! — I purposely chose one of the easiest recipes out there (and one of my favorites, too!) 

Practice saying aloud what you're doing, as you're doing it— as if you were on your own cooking show.  You can use the 1st person plural (we) as in the video...

Tagliamo il pomodoro.

We cut the tomato.

Or practice other conjugations, for example, the 1st person singular (I): 

Taglio il pomodoro.

I cut the tomato.

After you've cut, sliced, torn, arranged, and drizzled… it's finally time to...

Mangia! Mangia!
Eat! Eat!

Buon appetito!

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Potrebbe pure interessarti….

ITALIAN: Food Picture Dictionaries

VOL. 01

VOL. 02

VOL. 03

VOL. 04

ESSERE - to be

essere
to be

'ESSERE' is the most commonly used verb!  It is used to describe a plethora of people of places and also occurs in other verb tenses.

It is easy to remember its meaning because it's related to the English word essence — or the intrinsic nature of something— what something REALLY IS.

ESSERE in the Present Tense

It is an irregular verb— meaning it does not follow a predictable pattern of conjugation— but don't worry!  You'll use it so much that you'll have it memorized in no time.

As the number one verb, it's no surprise that it occurs in a multitude of contexts and expressions.  To start with, let's focus on its use in three areas: Describing what it is, what it's like, and where it is.


ESSERE - What it is
ESSERE can be used to describe what something is...

essere… to be…                          

un ragazzo

a boy

una ragazza

a girl

un animale

an animal

una rosa

a rose

È un ragazzo.

He's a boy.

Sei una ragazza.

You're a girl.

L'elefante è un animale.

The elephant is an animal.

Queste sono rose.

These are roses.

ESSERE - What it's like
ESSERE can also be used to describe the physical characteristics or personality traits of the thing in question, as well as it's nationality or place of origin.

essere… to be…                         

alto

tall

basso

short

Sono alta.

I am tall.

La mia amica è bassa.
My friend is short.

essere… to be…                         

intelligente

intelligent
stupido
stupid
ottimista
optimistic
pessimista
pessimistic

Siete stupidi!

You're all dumb!

Perché sei così pessimista?

Why are you so pessimistic?

essere… to be…                          

americano

American
inglese
English
italiano
Italian
spagnolo
Spanish
di Los Angeles
from Los Angeles

di Madrid 

from Spain

Maria e José sono di Madrid—sono spagnoli.

Maria and José are from Madrid, they are Spanish.

Lui è di San Francisco ed io sono di Los Angeles— siamo americani. 

He is from San Francisco and I am from Los Angeles, we are American.

For lots more adjectives and the verb "ESSERE" see: Adjectives of Personality 

For a very complete list of nationalities, see: Adjectives of Nationality 

ESSERE - Where it is
ESSERE can also be used to describe where something is…

essere… to be…  

a Roma.

in Rome.
in Italia.
in Italy.
all'angolo.
on the corner.
sul tavolo.
on the table.

Il Colosseo è a Roma.

The colosseum is in Rome.

Le pizzerie migliori sono in Italia.

The best pizzerias are in Italy.

Il bar è all'angolo.

The bar's on the corner.

Le chiavi sono sul tavolo.

The keys are on the table.

ESSERE vs. STARE
ESSERE is NOT used to describe your current mood… that's the verb STARE which sometimes is translated as "to stay".  Italian uses STARE and not ESSERE, because STARE describes temporary states and ESSERE is used to describe more permanent or lasting ways of being.

Come stai? (STARE)

How are you? (as in your current mood or state)

Come sei? (ESSERE)
What are you like? (as in your general characteristics— either physically or personality-wise)

IO SONO & LORO SONO

Did you notice that the IO (I) and LORO (they) forms are the same?  This might be confusing at first since Italian doesn't always include the pronouns and you'll often just see "SONO" alone, but you can use context to figure it out.

For example, the following nouns and adjectives will be in the SINGULAR for IO and in the PLURAL for LORO.

Sono una persona intelligente.

I am an intelligent person.

Sono intelligenti.

They are intelligent.

È and the subject "it"
In English, we use the pronoun "it" when the subject is an inanimate object or when the subject is an abstract concept:

It is red. (IT= The book)
It is strange that… (IT is abstract)

In both cases, Italian uses no pronoun.  Instead, è is used alone and the "it" is implied:

È rosso.

It's red.

È strano che...

It's strange that...

CI + ESSERE

As we covered in a previous lesson, ESSERE is combined with "CI" to talk about What there is/What there are.  

To review this concept, please see:  C'è & Ci sono.

REVIEW & PRACTICE

As I said, there are MANY ways to use the verb 'ESSERE', which we'll cover more in depth later.   In the meantime, get comfortable with the present tense conjugations and practice what you've learned by printing & completing the exercises on pages 16 & 17 of the Beginner's Italian Workbook*.  
*not currently available on mobile devices!

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Buono studio!

TIP: Open the workbook to the desired page(s),
then click the printer icon in the upper left!

All lessons in the Beginner's Italian series:

  (1) How Italian verbs work, (Intro to verbs & grammar terms)

  (2) Italian present tense: -ARE verbs

  (3) Italian present tense: -ERE verbs

  (4) Italian present tense: -IRE verbs

  (5) La negazione - Negation
  (6) Ogni quanto? Quante volte? (Adverbs of frequency)
  (7) C'è & Ci sono (There is & There are)
  (8) Essere - to be  — CURRENT PAGE

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Ogni quanto? Quante volte?

~the simple present tense & expressions of frequency~

As with English, the Italian simple present tense is often used to express repeat or habitual actions— what is generally or normally done.

Mangio la colazione.

I eat breakfast.

Non bevo il latte.

I don't drink milk. 

Often times, expressions of frequency are also used in these types of sentences:

Mangio la colazione ogni giorno.

I eat breakfast everyday.

Non bevo mai il latte.

I never drink milk. 

As the name suggests, these expressions not only tell you when but also how often.  They answer the following questions:

New to the present tense? Need to review conjugation and negation? You may want to start with...
  (1) How Italian verbs work, (Intro to verbs & grammar terms)
  (2) Italian present tense: -ARE verbs
  (3) Italian present tense: -ERE verbs
  (4) Italian present tense: -IRE verbs
  (5) La negazione - Negation

In practicing and using the simple present tense, you'll find you frequently need an expression of frequency… so print pages 12 & 13 of the digital Beginner's Workbook and let's go over some of the most common ones, and see how they fit into sentences:

ogni…

           (every…)

...giorno, settimana, mese, anno

(day, week, month, year)

Mangio la colazione ogni giorno.

I eat breakfast every day.

If you want to say a specific day, you can say it in one of three ways:

Mangiamo la lasagna ogni domenica.

We eat lasagna every Sunday.

-or-

Non mangiamo la carne il venerdì.
We do not eat meat on Fridays.

Mangiamo la lasagna la domenica.

We eat lasagna on Sundays.

Sunday is feminine: "la domenica"; all the other days of the week are masculine and take  "il"

-or-

Mangiamo fuori casa tutti i venerdì.

We eat out every Friday.

Mangiamo la lasagna tutte le domeniche.

We eat lasagna every Sunday.

---

una volta, due volte… 

(once, twice...)

...al giorno, alla settimana, al mese, all'anno

(a day, a week, a month, a year)

Mangio il gelato due volte alla settimana.

I eat ice cream two times a week.

Paghiamo le tasse una volta all'anno.

We pay taxes once a year.

---

Avverbi (adverbs)

 sempre<--->mai

always <---> never

Many actions fall somewhere on this continuum of frequency:

 

[This is a non-exhaustive list- there are other adverbs of frequency: normalmente (normally); ogni tanto (every once in awhile); raramente (rarely) etc. but the above continuum is a good place to start!]

sempre

always

Mangio sempre la colazione.

I always eat breakfast.

Notice how the adverb "sempre" is after the verb "mangio"?  That is the standard position for adverbs in an Italian sentence… another option is at the start of the sentence — but this depends a bit on the adverb itself and the emphasis.  

Sempre mangio la colazione.

I always eat breakfast.

---

quasi sempre

almost always

Mangi quasi sempre la stessa cosa.

You almost always eat the the same thing.

---

spesso

often

Lei mangia spesso lo yogurt.

She often eats yogurt.

---

di solito

usually

-Cosa mangiate di solito?

What do you all usually eat?

-Di solito, mangiamo il pesce.

Usually, we eat fish.

By nature, the question puts emphasis on the adverb, so it sounds natural to respond with the adverb at the beginning...

---

a volte

sometimes

A volte, mangiano fuori.

Sometimes, they eat out.

"A volte" as an adverb is often found at the beginning of the sentence.

---

quasi mai

almost never

Non mangio quasi mai il riso.

I almost never eat rice.

Remember, as discussed in La negazione - Negation Italian requires double negatives!  So if the adverb is negative, like "quasi mai" or "mai", you must also use the negating word "non" before the verb.  

---

mai

never

Non mangi mai l'insalata.

You never eat salad.

---

Hai capito? (Did you understand?)  

If you haven't done so already, print pages 12 & 13 of the Ogni Quanto? Quante volte? Worksheet in Beginner's Italian Workbook* and fill-in both the "notes" section and the quick exercises that follow! 

*not available on mobile devices, please try on a regular computer! (Submit your answers by email for free corrections!)

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Happy Studying!

All lessons in the Beginner's Italian series:

  (1) How Italian verbs work, (Intro to verbs & grammar terms)

  (2) Italian present tense: -ARE verbs

  (3) Italian present tense: -ERE verbs

  (4) Italian present tense: -IRE verbs — CURRENT PAGE

  (5) La negazione - Negation
  (6) Ogni quanto? Quante volte? (Adverbs of frequency)
  (7) C'è & Ci sono (There is & There are)

 Potrebbe pure interessarti….

ITALIAN: The Basics Series, starting with:
(01) Indefinite Articles (How to say "A/AN" in Italian