I wasn’t surprised to learn that many of the English words used in the kitchen are of Italian origin: pasta al dente, marinara, parmesan, espresso, biscotti… no big shockers there. However, I recently came across a few that made me think, “Mamma mia! I didn’t know that word came from Italian!”
Eat your frutta e verdura!
Tutti-frutti - from tutti frutti, meaning ‘all fruits’
Artichoke – from North Italian articiocco (originally from Arabic al-ẖaršúf)
Arugula - from the Neapolian dialect rugula
Broccoli - from plural of broccolo, meaning ‘cabbage-sprout or top’
Cauliflower - from cavolfiore
Zucchini – from plural of zucchina, meaning ‘small gourd’
Got a sweet tooth?
Soda – from soda
Candy – from the Old Italian zucchero candi
Sugar – from zucchero (originally from Arabic)
Of course, these are just a sampling. But it really gave me an appetite for learning Italian!
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