How Italian are you really?
It’s easy to claim that you are a real Italian,
just because your great grandparents came to America a decade ago. Isn’t it?
At Piccolo Cafe, we take being an authentic Italian very seriously.
Our two founder partners are born and raised Italians from Emilia Romagna (from the Bologna region). They decided to bring the real taste of their country in the tri-state area and never settle for anything that is less then genuine and authentic.
So what makes a real Italian? For sure the knowledge about Italian food. That is an easy one, right?
Let’s test YOUR KNOWLEDGE!
WHAT IS THE AUTHENTIC NAME OF THE BOLOGNESE SAUCE?
In the United States, most people call it bolognese sauce, but in Italy we don’t.
Do you know what it is the correct name of this sauce?
Bolognese sauce is a very tasty and popular pasta sauce in Italy, mostly made for the Sunday luncheons or special family gatherings. It is prepared with ground beef, pancetta, tomato sauce, broth and a mixture of vegetables. Then it is cooked with a long and gradual process of stirriring that brings out the mixed and rich flavors of this traditional recipe.
As we say in Italy: the best things take time! (Keep reading and test your knowledge for the answers.)
At all three of our Piccolo Cafe locations, we are proud to serve you the real ____ sauce. Try to order it with the real name, we will know you are a real Italian!
WHAT IS THE VERY PRECIOUS ITALIAN TARTUFO?
You can find it in black or white. They can be very small or very big. You can pay it even $3,600 a pound.
In 2016, a 4.16-pound (1.88-kilogram) white truffle — the world's largest — has been sold at a Sotheby's auction for $61,250. They are some breed of dogs’ best friends.
People that want to find them spend a lot of time in the woods with a lot of patience. You can enjoy it in on the pasta, with a steak, with some mozzarella on a warm toast, and as a spread or as oil for your pizza night.
So what is, in reality, the tartufo?
At all three of our Piccolo Cafe locations, we are proud to serve you the real tartufo sauce with warm and tasty potatoes gnocchi. Try to order it with the Italian name - tartufo - and no the American way “truffle”, we will know you are a real Italian!
Keep reading and test your knowledge for the answers.
3. WHAT IS THE difference between prosciutto cotto AND PROSCIUTTO crudo?
In Italy, as you know, we take our food talk a little bit to seriously sometimes.
So, if you are having a casual conversation with one Italian and you, for example, don’t know the difference between prosciutto and prosciutto cotto you can be looked very badly. In the United States, you probably call both of them using the word ham, but there is definitely a large difference between the two kinds of meat. Not only in the color they have, the characteristic shape they have, how are make and of course the specific taste they have!
Do you think you had both, do you like one better than the other? And you are Italian enough to know the difference between the two of them?
At all three our Piccolo Cafe locations we are proud to serve you the authentic prosciutto crudo and prosciutto cotto in our extensive selection of panini that we offer daily. Try to order it with the Italian name - prosciutto cotto - or - prosciutto crudo - so we will know you are an authentic Italian!
Chek below for the answer to check right away if you are the ITALIAN you think you are as you told all your friends all these years!
SOLUTIONS
The authentich name of the famous Bolognese sauce is RAGU’ [raˈgu]. Yes, the traditional recipe is from Bologna and you are not (totally) wrong to call it like that. But, if you are an authentic Italian as you say you are, you must call it with his authentic name!
A Tartufo (or truffle in English) is “hypogeous fungi. It grows and mature underground close to the roots of some types of trees, specifically oaks and elm trees.” Check more about it on our official supplier’s website: Urbani Truffle.
Prosciutto cotto and crudo are really to worlds apart. You can recognize the prosciutto crudo from its dark red colour with white steaks of tasty fat. This prosciutto is seasoned with salt and dry-aged to perfection. The prosciutto cotto it is recognizable from its light pink color. This ham is not seasoned as the crudo one, but it’s actually cooked.
We will wait for you at our Manhattan locations, but in the meantime you can start ordering your food for pick-up directly on OUR WEBSITE with just one quick click.
Why do that?
Because if you order online on our website you will have a special discount just for you: like panini, salad, and pasta discounted 20% off on your first order! Ordering online also allows you to skip the line once you arrive at our 40th St location (the only at the moment where this service is available, more coming soon).
Then, you enter the store, a moment to say CIAO, and you are on your way to Italy.
Ci vediamo lì?