BABÀ: Neapolitan dessert made from leavened dough, soaked in syrup and liquer and topped with candied or fresh fruits.

BACCALÀ: Large cod fillets preserved in salt and air-dried.

BACA DI DAMA: (literally, “lady’s kisses”). Cookies made with two cookies stuck together with a filling of chocolate or cream.

BAGNA CAUDA: (in Piedmontese dialect, “warm dip”). Typical Piedmontese sauce made of oil, garlic and anchovies, offered hot as a dip for raw vegetables.

BAGNET VERD: The Piedmontese name for salsa verde. A sauce for boiled meats made of parsley, garlic, anchovies, crustless bread and oil. It is used also for bollito misto.

BAGNOMARIA: (bain marie). A double boiler.

BAICOLI: Dry, crumbly cookeis; a Venetian specialty to dip in wine or hot chocolate.

BALLOTTA: Chestnut boiled in its peel, flavored with bay laves or fennel seeds. Ballotte are eaten plain or with wine as a snack.

BAMBORINO: Beef flank.

BARBA DE ’FRATI: (literally, “monk’s bear”). Slightly acidic, long, thin string of a grass-like vegetable.

BARBAFORTE: See Rafano.

BARBAGLIATA: Milanese beverage made of milk and chocolate.

BATTUTO: Herbs (most often parsley) and raw garlic finely minced together to be added to a finished dish (such as Ossobuco). When sautéed in oil, it can also be called soffritto.

BATÙ D’OCA: Boned and salted goose preserved in its own fat.

BAVA (ALLA): In dishes prepared alla bava, the cheese in the recipe melts to form this elastic strings when eaten.

BENSONE: Unfilled sponge cake covered with ground almonds.

BERLINGOZZO: Sweet, ring-shaped anise-flavored cake, a Tuscan specialty made during the Carnival Festival.

BIANCHETTI: Sardine and anchovy spawn.

BIANCHI DI SPAGNA or SPAGNONI: Large, white, kidney-shaped beans (much like Great Northerns in the U.S.)

BIANCO\(IN): A term that generally indicates a boiled dish with no or very little condiment.

BIGOLI: Large, rustic fresh spaghetti originally made with a torchio.

BISATO: Term used for anguilla (eel) in Veneto.

BISCOTTATO: Said of bread re-baked to a crunchy consistency throughout. It may also refer to a cookie being baked the same way.

BISTECCA ALLA FIORENTINA: Thick slice of young beef cut from the rib with the fillet still attached. Similar to a T-bone steak, it should be at least 1-in. thick and large enough for 2-3 people. It is usually broiled without fat.

BITTO: soft, flavorful cheese from Valtellina. If aged, it can be grated.

BOCCONOTTO: A kind of puff pastry stuffed with chicken liver, sweetbreads and truffles. It is served as an antipasto.

BOERO: Liqueur-filled chocolate with a cherry in the center

BOLLITO MISTO: A mix of boiled meats such as beef, veal, pork and fowl. It is traditionally served with salsa verde or mostarda di frutta.

BOMBA: Dome-shaped ice-cream mold filled with two or more flavors

BONDIOLA: See COPPA

BORIOTTI: Fat, pulpy medium-sized beans, light brown in color, speckled with darker brown. The nearest US equivalent is cranberry or pinto beans.

BOTTARGA: The ovary sack of either tuna or gray mullet. After removal from fish, the sack is placed under a weight to allow the discharge of its liquids. It is then hung and air-dried. The finished bottarga is coated with wax for better preservation. Gray mullet bottarga is considered much better than tuna. Bottarga is eaten thinly sliced, coated with extra-virgin olive oil with greens or tomatoes, as an antipasto, or grated or chopped with pasta.

BRACIOLA or BRACIOLINA: Pork involtino stuffed with pine nuts and raisins, used for ragu napoletano.

BRASATO: Marinated cur of meat browned and braised in its own marinade.

BRESAOLA: Cured meat from Valtellina made of very lean cured dried beef. It is served very thinly sliced with lemon, oil and freshly ground pepper as an antipasto.

BROCCOLETTI DI RAPE: Bitter winter freen that grows in clusters on long, slender elaves with firm stems. This vegetable becomes cime di rapa when small yellow flowers or tiny green buds grow in the center of he leaf clusters.

BRODETTO: Fish stew from Venice and the upper Adriatic, made by cooking larger fish in a broth made with small fish.

BROSS: Fresh Piedmontese cheese preserved in a jar and fermented in vinegar, grappa or other spirits.

BRUSCHETTA: Slices of a large crusty loaf of toast, rubbed with garlic cloves and seasoned with extra-virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Chopped tomatoes may be added.

BRUTTI MA BUONI: (literally, “ugly but good”). Very simple, flat cookies made with almonds, sugar and egg whites.

BUCATINI: Thick spaghetti with a hole through the middle.

BUCCELLATO: Leavened cake shaped like a round mold

BUFALA: The female buffalo, a breed that has been in Italy since the Roman Empire. Today it is bred according to the most advanced technology to maximize milk production for mozzarella di bufala.

BURRIDA: Typical fish soup from Genoa.

BURRATA: Fresh cheese from Puglia. On the outside, it is stringy like mozzarella, but inside it is filled with a mixture of creamy butter. In Andria (Bari) the outside is like caciocavallo.

BURRIDA: Sardinian dish made from boiled Mediterranean catfish and covered with a walnut sauce. It should be prepared with a couple of hours before serving.

BUSECCA: Milanese term for a typical tripe recipe made with Spanish while beans and plenty of celery and carrots.

BUSECCHINA: Milanese dessert of pureed fresh chestnuts, combined with white wine and heavy cream and then baked.

BUSSOLA: Traditional leavened sweet bread made with liqueur. A richer version has candied fruit, almonds, chocolate and spices.