CACCIAGIONE: Game

CACCIATORINO: Small, finely ground pork and beef salame weighing 31/2 –10 oz. It is aged for a short time and is suitable for snacks.

CACCIUCCO: Thick, Tuscan fish stew made with several types of fish and shellfish, vegetables and garlic, and served over sliced bread.

CACIOTTA: This name is given to a wide range of cheeses produced both industrially and in dairies. Made of sheep’s or cow’s milk or a mixture of both, it is sold in round wheels weighing less than 2.2oz. and only slightly ripened. This cheese is white or yellowish, with a few or no holes, and generally has a delicate flavor. The crust is thin and anges from light to darker yellow.

CAFFE VALDOSTANO: Coffee served in the typical style of the Valle d’Aosta mountaineers. It is brewed in a special, squat and short pot with at least four spouts. It is then poured into the pot with lemon peel and grappa, and flamed. It is drunk very hot straight from the spouts.

CAGNONE (IN): Term used to describe palin boiled rice served with butter and Parmigiano.

CALCIONI: Little cookies with fresh pecorino filling. The dough is cut on the top so that some of the cheese seeps out during cooking.

CALDARROSTA: Hot, roasted chestnut cooked in a special pan, preferably over coals. Before roasting, the curved side of the chestnut is cut into so that it does not burst.

CALZONE: One of the most famous Neapolitan specialties, calzone is a disk of pizza dough filled with Prosciutto, mozzarella, ricotta and Parmigiano, folded over into a crescent shape.

CANNELLINI: Small, white beans, slightly elongated and arched in form. They are very common in Tuscany, where they are prepared al fiasco (see above).

CANNELLONI: Cylindrical rolls of fresh egg pasta. They are boiled, stuffed with meat, vegetables and/or cheese, and then baked. Today’s industrially produced cannelloni do not need boiling before stuffing.

CANNOLO: Sicilian crunchy pastry shell filled with ricotta, sugar and candied fruit.

CANTUCCI: Crunchy Tuscan cookies made with flour, sugar, eggs, almonds and pine nuts. They are eaten dipped in wine.

CAPELLI d’ANGELO: (literally, “angel’s hair”). Very thin spaghetti, usually cooked in broth. Fried and sweetened with honey, they are a Sicilian dessert.

CAPITONE: A term used in the south of Italy for a large freshwater eel.

CAPOCOLLO: see COPPA.

CAPONATA: Combination of cooked vegetables, capers, olives and anchovies drizzled with oil and vinegar. It is a Sicilian specialty, ser­ved cold as an antipasto.

CAPPELLACCI: Large ravioli filled with vegetables.

CAPPELLETTI: Fresh egg pasta filled with meat or a mix of cheese, eggs and spices. They are rather small and shaped like alpine hats.

CAPPELLO DA PRETE: (literally, “priest’s hat”). A kind of sausage made of pork, skin, lard and spices stuffed into the lower part of the pig’s foot, then sewn into a triangle. It must be cooked before eating. This term is also used for a second choice cut of beef.

CAPPON MAGRO: Elaborate Ligurian seafood and vegetable salad.

CAPPONADA: Simplified version of cappon magro.

CAPPONE: (capon). Fattened, castrated male chicken.

CAPRESE: Salad made of tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and olive oil.

CAPRINO: Cylinder-shaped, goat’s and cow’s milk fresh cheese.

CARBONARA (ALLA): Spaghetti sauce made of browned pancetta and raw egg yolks mixed with Parmigiano, and cream.

CARPACCIO: Very thin slices of lean, raw beef seasoned with oil, lemon, salt and pepper or other sauces. This dish was served for the first time at Harry’s Bar in Venice and named after a Venetian painter.

CARPIONE (IN): Said of fried fish marinated in vinegar, oil, herbs and spices.

CARRETTIERA (ALLA): Spaghetti served with a sauce made of brow­ned parsley, onions, garlic and breadcrumbs.

CARROZZA (MOZZARELLA IN): Slices of mozzarella between two slices of bread. It is floured, dipped in egg, and fried.

CARTA DA MUSICA: (literally, “music sheets”). Sardinian bread made of very thin, crunchy dough disks. It can be kept a long time.

CASALINGA (ALLA): Home-style cooking.

CASARECCIO: (pane casareccio). Traditional large country bread.

CASATIELLO: An Easter bread from Naples made with lard and plenty of black pepper.

CASONSEI: Ravioli filled with sweet-and-sour stuffing. They are typical of the Bergamo area.

CASSATA: Ice-cream cake made with two or more flavors, sometimes filled with custard, cream or ricotta.

CASSOEULA: Pork ribs, small salame and other parts of the pig cooked with cabbage.

CASTAGNACCIO: Traditional Tuscan dessert made of chestnut flour, raisins, and pine nuts, and served with whipped cream.

CAVOLO NERO: Black cabbage with long, dark, narrow leaves. It is very common in Tuscany, where it is used for ribollita and other soups.

CECI: (chickpeas). These are round, slightly dented, beige seeds only sold dried. Ceci can be used for soup, either whole or mashed as a side dish for pork, or simply boiled and seasoned with oil. CENCI: Another name for chiacchiere.

CEPPATELLI: (also known as orecchiette). Often found growing on tree stumps, these mushrooms are light gray in color with broad, fla­ring caps and slender stems. Those found on the market are often cul­tivated in hothouses.

CHIACCHIERE: Typical Carnevale preparation made of strips of sweet dough cut into various shapes and fried in oil. Chiacchiere are eaten as a dessert or a sweet snack.

CHIODINI: Common variety of small, brown mushrooms that grow in clusters. Chiodini means “little nails”, as they have tiny round caps and very thin stems.

CHISOLINI: Rhomboid-shaped pastry dough made with flour, strutto and baking powder. They are fried and served with salame.

CHITARRA: (literally, “guitar”). A rectangular, wooden frame with evenly spaced wires stretched across, used for cutting sheets of pasta dough into thick spaghetti.

CHIZZE: Pasta similar to chisolini, but the dough is cut and folded like ravioli and filled with slices of Parmigiano.

CIACCI: Fritters made of ricotta, flour and baking powder, made by using a utensil similar to a waffle iron. They are served with salame.

CIALZONE: Typical ravioli made in Friuli. The simple version is made with meat, egg and a cheese filling, whereas the sweet-and-sour version has raisins, chocolate and candied fruit.

CIAMBELLA: Baked, round mold of sweet or savory dough.

CIBREO: Scalded chicken giblets, browned in butter and blended together with flour, lemon juice and broth.

CICCIOLI: The bits of fried pork meat left over when making strut-to. Either fresh or dried, they are eaten with bread or polenta.

CICERCHIATA: Dessert from Umbria similar to struffoli.

CICORIA: (chicory). Long, thin green lettuce with a large white vein, chicory is known variously in Italy as catalogna, cicoria cimata or cicoriella.

CIECHE: Just-spawned eels, found in Versilia (the coastline from Forte dei Marmi to Viareggio, Tuscany) and Spain. They are usually floured and fried.

CIMA: Stuffed veal breast. It is served cold.

CIME DI RAPA: See BROCCOLETTI DI RAPE. CIPOLLA CI: See LAMPASCIONI.

CIRIOLA: A term used in Lazio for a small eel. Ciriole are also taglia­telle served with browned garlic, oil and peperoncino.

CIVET: Piedmontese stew made of game marinated in its own blood, with red wine, herbs and spices.

COLOMBA: (literally, “dove”). Leavened Easter cake baked in the shape of a dove and covered with sugar and almonds.

COLTELLO PER TARTUFO: Truffle slicer. A cutting utensil similar to a spatula; it has an adjustable blade to vary the slices’ thickness.

CONCIA: Another word for “marinade”. The name concia is also used to describe a kind of polenta dressed with cheese such as toma and Fontina. Melted butter is poured on just before serving.

CONSERVA DI POMODORO: Dried and purded tomatoes. This very concentrated mixture is used in small amounts to flavor many a dish.

CONSERVARE: To save, to preserve.

COPPA: Sausage made from de-boned pork neck salted and marina­ted in wine. It is aged, though not allowed to harden.

CORALLO: Red shellfish eggs. They are used to color and flavor hot or cold sauces and to make buttery garnishes for fish courses.

CORATELLA: A mixture of the innards of a slaughtered lamb or goat.

COSTOLETTA: Chop pounded flat with the bone still attached.

COTECHINO: Fresh pork sausage.

COTENNA: Pork rind. Before it is cooked, it is scorched, scraped and scalded to remove the bristles and some of the fat.

COTOGNATA: Quince preserve.

COTOLETTA: Boneless cutlet of veal or pork, usually taken from the leg, pounded flat, breaded and sautéed in butter or a combination of butter and oil. Cotolette can also be prepared to make involtini. COZZE: Mussels.

CREMOLATA: A kind of granita made like a sherbet.

CREMONA: Lombard town where one of the best fruit mustard is produced.

CREN: See RAFANO.

CRESCENZA: White, uncooked cheese with a buttery consistency, soft in texture and high in fat, made from whole, pasteurized cow’s milk and ripened for 15 days. It has a rectangular shape with no crust and no holes. A typical produce of Lombardy

CRESPELLE: Thin pancakes made with flour, milk and egg. They are prepared like crêpes.

CRISCO: Commercial vegetable fat product.

CROCCANTE: Caramel with almonds and hazelnuts, made by sprea­ding the candy out onto a cold greased work surface and cutting it before it hardens.

CROSETTI or CORZETTI: Ligurian fresh pasta made with flour and many eggs. The dough is cut, pressed into little molds with figures carved into them and dried, and then served with a meat or cheese sauce.

CROSTINO or CROSTONE: A slice of bread, cut into different shapes depending on what it is meant for, and fried in either olive oil or butte, or toasted in the oven.

CRUMIRI: Dry cookies made of flour and cornmeal.

CUCCIA: Sicilian dish that can be either sweet or savory. The sweet version is made of wheat kernels, softened, boiled and then mixed with ricotta, sugar, candied squash and chocolate. The savory version is simply wheat seasoned with oil.

CULATELLO: Highly prized salume. It is made like prosciutto but aged in a casing. Only the best part of the hog’s leg is used. See “Salame and Salumi” chapter.

CUMINO: Typical Mediterranean plant. Cumin’s aromatic seeds are used both to enrich the flavor of cakes and bread and to produce a liqueur called kummel.