Visiting Catania? Guide to common foods & their pronunciation

 

 

So, you’re coming to Catania and you want to eat. Bravo!

 

This is a great place to be a foodie – food is cheap, plentiful and really, really good.

However, it can take some time to work out what you want to order. With that in mind, in the first part of a 2 part series on cheap eats in Catania, guest cheap foodie Kate Bailward gives us a quick guide (along with pronunciation) to some of the most common foods that you might see on menus or hear mentioned when you’re visiting here.

In the second part coming up on Thursday, Kate will share her favourite cheap eats from Catania. Stay tuned!

 

Snacks:

Arancino (ah-ran-chee-no) = breaded, fried rice ball filled with …

– ragu (rah-goo) = meat sauce (plus mozzarella)

– spinaci (spee-nah-chee) = spinach (plus mozzarella and often ham – not guaranteed vege-friendly)

 

 

Starters (antipasti):

Caponata (kah-poh-nah-tah) = sweet and sour aubergines

 

Pasta:

Alla Norma: with aubergines, tomatoes and salted ricotta (a bit like feta) cheese

 

Pizza:

Bianca (bee-an-ka) = white (without tomato sauce)

Rossa (ross-ah) = red (with tomato sauce)

Formaggio (for-madge-oh) = cheese

Tuma (too-mah) = type of melty cheese, a bit like a mild raclette

Acciughe (ah-chew-ghey) = anchovies

Peperoni (pep-eh-row-nay) = peppers, NOT salami

Salsiccia piccante (sal-see-cha pee-kan-tay) = spicy sausage (closest equivalent to peperoni sausage)

 

 

Meat (carne):

Maiale (my-ah-lay) = pork

Cavallo (ka-val-low) = horse

Vitello (vee-tel-low) = veal

Cipollata (chee-pol-lah-tah) = spring onion wrapped in pancetta

Polpetta (pol-pet-tah) = burger

Cotoletta (cot-oh-let-tah) = cutlet

Salsiccia (sal-see-cha) = sausage

Grigliata mista di carne (gree-lyee-ah-tah mees-tah) = mixed grill (will definitely include horse)

Involtini  (een-vol-tee-nee) thin slices of  pork or veal rolled around a central filling, skewered and barbecued

 

 

Fish (pesce):

Sarde (sar-day) = sardines

Vongole (von-goh-lay) = clams

Cozze (cot-say) = mussels

Fritto misto (free-toe mees-toe) = selection of breaded, fried fish

Grigliata mista di pesce = mixed grilled fish

Pesce spada (peh-shay spa-dah) = swordfish

 

 

Vegetables (verdure / contorni):

Melanzana (mel-an-zah-nah) = aubergine / eggplant

Zucchini (zoo-kee-nee) = courgette

Cipolla (chee-pol-la) = onion

Patate (pah-tah-tay) = potatoes

Patatine fritte (pah-tah-tee-ney free-tay) = chips

Insalata (een-sah-lah-tah) = salad

Pomodoro (poh-moh-dor-oh) = tomato

Involtini – as for meat above, but the outer layers are usually zucchini or melanzane rather than meat

 

 

Sweet stuff (dolci):

Cornetto (cor-net-toe) = croissant

– Crema (cray-mah) = cream

– Marmellata (mar-may-lah-tah) = jam (apricot in croissants)

– Vuoto (vwo-toe) = plain

Gelato (jel-ah-toe) = ice cream

Granita (grah-nee-tah) = sorbet

– Cioccolata (cho-koh-lah-tah) = chocolate

– Limone (lee-moh-nay) = lemon

– Mandorla (man-dor-lah) = almond

– Pistacchio (pee-stak-ee-oh) = pistachio

 

Biography

Kate Bailward (aka Katja) is a cat-loving, trifle-hating, maniac driver, writing and eating her way through life in Sicily as a straniera.

You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+