nocini

16:26 Apr 13, 2011 

I've had pretty much anything else on toast, but never Heinz spaghetti. Never sampled a single slice of Battenburg cake either.
Hope I am not too much of a disappointment.

11:28 Apr 13, 2011 

Not sure I'd ever manage to kid myself that Cadbury's fruit and nut was nutritional, but it definitely has a special place in my heart!! Perhaps there's no hope for us as a nation after all!

11:25 Apr 13, 2011 

I have to confess I quite like Battenburg cake and I do sometimes feed the boys tinned spaghetti hoops for the sake of convenience *blushes*

11:11 Apr 13, 2011 

Don't tell me you have never had Heinz spaghetti on toast for lunch? Do you know what Battenburg is? Poor you, deprived of all this! It is the stuff that all these EN mother tongue translators are made of. They are all "Nigella" and "Heston" nowadays but they were brought up on chips and crispy pancakes :)

10:35 Apr 13, 2011 

Sonia: I agree that in recent years there has been a general 'awakening' when it comes to all things food-related (and I am including Italy, too, here), but if you, and Holly, and other EN monthertongues, think that Parmesan would be more readily-understandable to a UK (or US) audience, then use this by all means.
Holly: I must have been very lucky (spoilt, maybe?) with my British connections, then...

07:14 Apr 13, 2011 

Holly, I'd like to think there are a few more discerning eaters in the UK these days, myself included (might be something to do with having lived in Italy for several years though), but unfortunately what you say is true in many cases! One of the main things I miss about Italy is the wonderful food you can buy practically anywhere you go.
Barbara, I agree that Parmigiano is the correct name, but to be honest I very rarely see it in the UK, even on menus in decent restaurants. This may be a cultural difference between the UK and US. I agree with what Holly has said here and certainly in the UK I think only "foodies" would understand what you meant.

06:50 Apr 13, 2011 

"And if we start using the real names of real food, we will become more knowledgeable and discerning as eaters, would know what to expect in terms of quality and how special food should taste like." If only Barbara! England is a country where we eat crisps for breakfast, get spaghetti out of a tin and consider Cadbury's fruit and nut to be nutritional. People in XXXXXXX (UK city of your choice) only make a fuss about food when the woman down the chippy doesn't put enough butter on your chip buttie. Ah good old England :)

19:58 Apr 12, 2011 

Would you say it is pretentious even on a menu?
I personally don't like Parmigiano Reggiano being referred to as parmesan, as the latter doesn't sound 'authentic' to me (but you may be right, I am Italian after all).
And if we start using the real names of real food, we will become more knowledgeable and discerning as eaters, would know what to expect in terms of quality and how special food should taste like.
This said, Alan Davidson's entry in the Oxford Companion to Food (2nd ed, 2006, http://books.google.com/books?id=JTr-ouCbL2AC&pg=PA578&lpg=P... reads thus 'Parmesan, is the EN name of a hard Italian cheese which is properly called Parmigiano Reggiano'. Touché (aaargh!)
http://www.parmigianoreggiano.com/default.aspx http://www.neurope.eu/articles/58497.php
Rant over.
Grumpy Old Bag

18:38 Apr 12, 2011 

Hi Holly - I share your thoughts about being scared when it comes to discussing food with Italians :-) I'm hoping they won't shoot the messenger this time though! I think you're right, in the UK parmigiano would sound a little pretentious. In the US though it's much more normal so I guess it depends on the intended audience.

18:18 Apr 12, 2011 

Will everybody necessarily understand "parmigiano" though? I know lots of people who would accuse you of being pretentious for saying "parmigiano".This translation is actually a lot harder than it seems because I would say it depends very much on the place and the customers too. I am scared of talking to Italians when it comes to food. Barbara and Fabrizio can get very cross I think :)

10:35 Apr 12, 2011 

... ma per favore, usa Parmigiano, NON parmesan...