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

Sanremo 2014 — I vincitori! (the winners)

Saturday, February 22 marked the final night of the 64th edition of the famous Sanremo Festival— and here are the winners!





In the Campione category….

Arisa

 Controvento | Against the wind

Arisa, la vincitrice! (feminine version of vincitore— winner)
Photo via sorrisi.com

My personal favorite for this category! I loved the musical arrangement and Arisa's clear and sweet singing style.  

I'll be covering the song meaning and lyrics of Controvento in a future post, so I won't give too much away now, but check out Arisa's final night performance of the song, as well as the other Campioni competitors at rai.tv:

Check out the video of all of the "Campioni", final night performances and see how they compare!

i video su rai.tv

But that's not all…



In the Nuove Proposte category…

Rocco Hunt 

 Nu Juorno buono* | A good day 
(in standard Italian: un giorno buono)

It's easy to see why this song won a large percentage of the popular or "at home" vote.  In the face of overwhelmingly negative news and stereotypes about Southern Italy, this song emerges as a sort of "love song" to the region— acknowledging some of the challenges while emphasizing its strengths and pride in a heartfelt way. 

Watch Rocco's emotional performance/celebration after he found out he won {here} and check out the official music video: (click "Read more" to continue)

Song meaning and lyrics: Tu sei lei

Back in December, I asked readers to vote in the poll "Ligabue's Mondovisione: Which song do you want to see next?"

Readers, in general, seemed to be in a romantic mood, overlooking many of the "political" or "rant" songs and opting instead for…

Tu sei lei  
(You are her)

The song itself is light and easy, not straying too far from many of Ligabue's previous offerings.

The video, too, is simple and sweet and shows two guys who stop various women along the streets of Rome and ask to take their pictures.  Watch it now (below) to see what happens (or just to admire the beautiful scenery and diversity of Rome!)

I've reproduced the original lyrics as well as provided an English translation to the right.  

For visual learners, it can be helpful to read along with the lyrics but I do suggest that everybody (regardless of their learning style) listen to the songs several times without looking at the written word. It gives your mind a chance to analyze what it hears and assimilate the sounds without getting bogged down by spelling and orthography "interference" and this will help reinforce the meaning when you learn it later (I promise!)

Dopo tutti questi anni	After all these years
io non smetto di guardarti	I never stop looking at you
qualche volta ancora a bocca aperta.	sometimes still with my mouth agape.
Non finisco di capire	I still don't understand
Non finisci di stupire	You never cease to amaze
come non dovesse mai finire	as if it were never ending.
Vuoi nascondermi i difetti	You want to hide your faults from me
mentre a me piacciono tutti	while I like them all
ma non te lo vuoi sentire dire	but you don't want to hear it.
E ti guardo mentre sogni	And I look at you while you dream
e mi tocca stare fuori	and I have to stay out
e mi tocca solo indovinare.	and I have to just guess.
Dopo tanti anni e un giorno	After many years and a day
quando il mare sembra calmo	when the sea seems calm
vieni fuori ancora tu	you also come out
con quel nome da straniera	with that foreign name
da chi è sempre stata sola	of someone who has always been alone
e da un pò non deve più	and for some time doesn't have to anymore
perché...	because...
Tu sei lei	You are her
Tu sei lei	You are her
fra così tanta gente	out of so many people
Tu sei lei	You are her
Tu sei lei	You are her
e lo sei stata sempre.	and you have always been.
E quegli occhi li conosco	And those eyes I know them
io li ho visti spesso nudi	I've seen them nude often
ma non si vedeva mai la fine	but I never saw the end.
il tuo cuore accelerato	Your accelerated heart
le pupille dilatate	the dilated pupils
e non mi restituisci il cuore.	and you won't give me back my heart.
Dopo tanti anni e un giorno	After so many years and a day
quando il vento sembra fermo	when the wind seems still
vieni fuori sempre tu	You always come out
con quel nome da straniera	with that foreign name
da chi riesce a stare sola	of someone who's able to be alone
ma da un pò non deve più	but for some time doesn't have to anymore
perché...	because…
Tu sei lei	You are her
Tu sei lei	You are her
fra così tanta gente.	out of so many people.
Tu sei lei	You are her
Tu sei lei	You are her
e lo sei stata sempre.	and you have always been.
Se l'universo intero	If the entire universe
ci ha fatto rincontrare	got us to meet again
qualcosa di sicuro vorrà dire.	surely that's saying something.
Tu sei lei	You are her
come sei	as you are
inesorabilmente.	without end.
E mi hai salvato tante volte	And you've saved me many times
da qualche tipo di altra morte	from different types of other death
andando dritta sulla verità	going straight to the truth
e mi regali un altro giorno	and you gift me another day
in cui sembra tutto fermo	in which everything seems still
ma tutto si trasforma	but everything is transformed
tutto si conferma	everything is confirmed
e lasci in giro il tuo profumo	and you leave behind your perfume
come a dirmi "io ci sono"	as if to say "I am here"
come a dirmi "sarò sempre qua"	as if to say "I will always be here"
perchè...	because...
Tu sei lei	You are her
Tu sei lei	You are her
fra così tanta gente.	out of so many people
Tu sei lei	You are her
Tu sei lei	You are her
e lo sei stata sempre.	and you have always been.
Se l'universo intero	If the entire universe
ci ha fatto rincontrare	got us to meet
qualcosa di sicuro vorrà dire.	surely that's saying something.
Tu sei lei	You are her
come sei	as you are
inevitabilmente	inevitably.

Keep listening to the song until the sounds become familiar, and if you can get to the point where you can sing along, that's even better!


Once you've become familiar with the sound and flow, then you can begin to try and understand the meaning.  Use my English translation as a guide to direct you if needed, but do try and decipher the meaning yourself as well.  

Here are some questions that you may find useful in guiding your study:

• What words do I recognize?  Does the translation provided match what I thought the definition was?  If not, is there anything in context which would explain the translation provided?

• Which words do I not recognize?  What part of speech are they? (Noun, verb, adjective, etc.)

• Which tense(s) does the song use?  Is all the action occurring in the present, so it uses the Simple Present?  Or does it change?  (Use the Word Reference Conjugator to look up any verb and it will tell you what tense it is and what the infinitive form of the verb is)

• Comparing the original text with the English translation, can you match words or phrases?  Which lines are translated word-for-word and which vary a bit more?  Can you think of an alternate translation?

These questions are a great start to your own study.. but if there's anything that's unclear or that you'd like explained further… Just ask! (Comment below or use the "Chiedimi" contact form in the righthand sidebar.)

Buon Ascolto!

-Alex

P.S.We'll be covering more songs from the album, so use this link to vote again on Facebook or explore the other song titles here.

---

 I already covered the album's first single 'Il Sale della Terra'…in case you missed it:

...

Ligabue- Il Sale della Terra

"Il sale della terra" music video, testo in italiano and lyrics in English.

---

Learning Italian from the streets: Cosa ti piace di più mangiare?

My favorite aspect of learning a new language is the opportunity to interact with new groups of people and learn about their culture and lives.  That's why I love the idea behind the Easy Languages series.  Originally developed as Easy German, its a series of free videos in which native speakers hit the streets and ask topic-based questions to people they meet.  Transcripts of the original dialogue as well as the English translation are included.  It's a great way to glean some insight about that particular culture as well as to hear how native speakers really speak and respond. 

In this first Easy Italian episode they take us to Matera, Italy and ask the question: 

Cosa ti piace di più mangiare?

(What is your favorite thing to eat?)

See how the people of Matera responded:

Did you notice how she asked questions in the informal "tu" form with some people, the formal "Lei" form with others, and the plural "Voi" for couples or groups of people?

Here are some of the questions asked in the video. (I've converted them all to the informal "tu" form) Try responding to them yourself (either on your own or in the comment section below.)

Cosa ti piace di più mangiare?

Cosa non deve mai mancare nel tuo frigo?

Sai cucinare?

Cosa sai cucinare meglio?

Qual'è il piatto che cucini peggio?

How do your food preferences compare to those expressed in the video?  Any similarities or differences?  Have you ever tried some of the dishes mentioned in the video?  If so, what did you think?

For additional grammar practice, try converting the above questions to the formal "Lei" or plural "Voi" forms. (Use the comment section below or email your answers for feedback.)

So far, I could only find this one Italian episode, but I'll keep you posted if I find any others.  If you're interested in other languages as well you can go to the Easy Languages site for Arabic, Malay, German, Spanish, French, and English.

Happy Studying!

-Alex

"Il sale della terra" by Ligabue: new single & video

New in Italian music:

Ligabue was one of the first Italian artists I discovered when I started learning Italian so I'm always eager to check out his newest releases.

The album Il sale della terra (The salt of the earth) releases November 26.  In the meantime, enjoy the title single which conveniently has the lyrics incorporated directly into the video for us language learners. You can also check out my (rough) English translation side-by-side with the original lyrics below the video.



(For more Liga news check out his official website)

Siamo la sorpresa dietro i vetri scuri  Siamo la risata dentro il tunnel degli orrori  Siamo la promessa che non costa niente  Siamo la chiarezza che voleva molta gente.  Siamo il capitano che vi fa l'inchino  Siamo la ragazza nel bel mezzo dell'inchino  Siamo i trucchi nuovi per i maghi vecchi  Siamo le ragazze nella sala degli specchi.  Siamo il culo sulla sedia, il dramma, la commedia,  il facile rimedio  Siamo l'arroganza che non ha paura  Siamo quelli a cui non devi chiedere fattura.  Siamo....... il sale della terra!  Siamo....... il sale della terra!  Siamo l'opinione sotto libro paga  Siamo le riunioni qui nel retro di bottega  Siamo le figure dietro le figure  Siamo la vergogna che fingiamo di provare.  Siamo il culo sulla sedia, la farsa, la tragedia,  il forte sotto assedio  Siamo la vittoria della tradizione  Siamo furbi che più furbi di così si muore.  Siamo....... il sale della terra!  Siamo....... il sale della terra!  Siamo la freddezza che non ha paura  Siamo quel tappeto steso sulla spazzatura  Siamo la Montblanc con cui ti faccio fuori*  Siamo la risata dentro il tunnel degli orrori.

We are the surprise behind the dark glass We are the laughter inside the tunnel of horrors We are the promise that doesn't cost a thing We are the clarity that many people want We are the captain that bows at you all We are the girl in the middle of a curtsy We are the new tricks for the old magicians We are the girls in the room of mirrors We are the ass in the chair, the drama, the comedy, the easy remedy We are the arrogance that has no fear We are the ones that you needn't ask an invoice from. We are……. the salt of the earth! We are……… the salt of the earth! We are the opinion that's on the payroll We are the meetings in the back room of the store We are the figures behind the figures We are the shame that we fake feeling. We are the ass in the chair, the farce, the tragedy, the fort under siege; We are the victory of tradition We are clever, any cleverer and you’d die. We are……. the salt of the earth! We are……… the salt of the earth! We are the coldness that has no fear We are the rug laid out over the trash We are the Mont Blanc pen with which we do you in* We are the laughter inside the tunnel of horrors.

*I'm not sure, but I think this refers to a Mont Blanc brand pen so I translated it as such.

Interested in hearing more Ligabue?  Listen to Il Sale della Terra and the rest of the album "Mondovisione" in the post here or check out the music player in the sidebar to the right!

Buon Ascolto!
Happy Listening!

-Alex

Fare domande — Asking questions in Italian

There are two types of questions, "yes or no" questions and all others.  

In English, yes or no questions require the use of an auxiliary verb.  If the sentence doesn't already have an auxiliary, then do/does is added.

Mary eats ice cream. ->  Does Mary eat ice cream?

In English, you can also simply change your intonation, but this usually implies a bit of
incredulity to the statement.

Mary eats ice cream. -> Mary eats ice cream? (I thought she was lactose intolerant!)

In Italian, however, there is no auxiliary for questions, and a rising intonation at the end is the only difference between a statement and a question. 

Mary mangia il gelato. ->  Mary mangia il gelato?

You can still be incredulous, but this requires exaggerating the rising tone.

Mary mangia il gelato. ->  Mary mangia il gelato???


For all other questions, it is necessary to use one of the "question words."  In English, they are known as "the five w's" plus how and how much.  In Italian, they are:

WHO?              CHI?                   (as in the word "key")
WHAT?           CHE (COSA)?*  (keh koh-za)
WHEN?           QUANDO?         (kwan-doh)
WHERE?          DOVE?              (doh-vay)
WHY?             PERCHÉ?          (per (as in pear) -kay)
HOW?             COME?              (koh-may)
HOW MUCH?    QUANTO?         (kwan-toh)

*Che is literally what and che cosa is literally what thing. Both forms are pretty much interchangeable.

The pronunciation guides in parentheses above are very rough approximations based on English words.  To get a feel for the native pronunciation of each word, listen and repeat along with the following:






Now that you're familiar with each word, let's listen to them in context.  

Now, without referring to the translations, can you fill in the blanks for each sentence from the video?

____ vuole andare a Firenze?

  Who wants to go to Florence?

____ c'è da fare a Firenze?

 What is there to do in Florence?

____ possiamo andare? 

  When can we go?

_________ costa il biglietto?

How much does the ticket cost?

____ si trova il Palazzo Vecchio?

  Where is the Palazzo Vecchio located?

____ costa così tanto il biglietto aereo?

  Why does the plane ticket cost so much?

____ si dice "let's go" in italiano?

  How do you say "let's go" in Italian?

Familiarizing yourself with key words in context as spoken by native speakers is a great way to learn new vocabulary and make sure you are able to recognize it as it is spoken.  So be sure to check out rhinospike.com for downloadable audio versions of various texts (or request your own recording if you need something specific!)

A chi piace studiare l'italiano?

Who likes studying Italian?
(I hope you!)

Happy Studying!

-A

A special thanks to Enzo at rhinospike.com who provided the native-speaker audio for both videos!