You Say Pepperoni...
Monday April 30, 2007
...and I say peperoni. It's one of the most common mistakes Americans make when referring to food in Italy, and it happened again in The New York Times last week. The article, Savoring Tuscany a Glass at a Time, opened with this (un) appetizing line: "If the idea of wandering through a village dating back to Etruscan times before stopping off at a family-run restaurant for a plate of pollo con pepperoni (chicken with peppers) and a glass of Chianti sounds good to you.."
Well, no, in fact, that doesn't sound good to me! Pepperoni is a spicy Italian-American variety of dry salami usually made of pork and beef, and is frequently used as a pizza topping in American pizzerias. Peperoni, on the other hand, is what Americans recognize as peppers, and what the recipe calls for. Chicken surrounded by those large circles of pepperoni one normally associates with take-out pizza on a Friday night? No thanks!
For those traveling to Italy who want to sample authentic pepperoni, ask for salame piccante, salamino piccante (spicy salami, generally typical of Calabria), or salsiccia Napoletana piccante, a spicy dry sausage from Naples.
Well, no, in fact, that doesn't sound good to me! Pepperoni is a spicy Italian-American variety of dry salami usually made of pork and beef, and is frequently used as a pizza topping in American pizzerias. Peperoni, on the other hand, is what Americans recognize as peppers, and what the recipe calls for. Chicken surrounded by those large circles of pepperoni one normally associates with take-out pizza on a Friday night? No thanks!
For those traveling to Italy who want to sample authentic pepperoni, ask for salame piccante, salamino piccante (spicy salami, generally typical of Calabria), or salsiccia Napoletana piccante, a spicy dry sausage from Naples.
Comments
Wow! Thanks for the tips. My great grandparents spoke mostly Italian, but they never passed it on to me…I really want to learn it! So far, I really like this website; I may never get to go to Italy, but I’m still learning alot!
It is a common misunderstanding indeed. I am an Lecturer at Western CT State University and it’s always a surprise for my students when they find out that …if the ask for “pepperoni pizza” in Italy…all they will be served is a pizza with green peppers on top…!!
Last time I visited Italy, when you wanted American style “Pepperoni”, you asked for “Pizza al diabalo”, like you said if you asked for pepperoni you got it with green peppers on it.
“Pizza al diavolo” is not common in Italy, but if it is available, typically it would include hot, spicy ingredients such as salami piccante, chillies, and even tabasco sauce (this from a pizzeria in Bucharest).
Un salutone,
-Michael
Michael P. San Filippo
About.com Guide to Italian Language
http://italian.about.com
italian.guide@about.com
I had the opposite experience. I grew up in England with an Italian mother who always referred to green peppers as peperoni, I thought that’s what they were called. However, when I came to North America and asked for pizza with peperoni I could not figure out why I kept getting pizza with some sort of sausage on it. It didn’t take too long to figure out I should be asking for green peppers instead of peperoni.