You’re in Italy and you see a gorgeous deli counter, but there’s a human being standing behind it! The only thing standing between you and some delicious cheese is your Italian skills. Learn how to order food at counters in this week’s episode of 5 minute Italian.
To help you remember what you learnt in today’s lesson, below you’ll find bonus materials like word lists, quizzes and flashcards. But first…
Become a 5-minute Italian member (it’s free!)
Learn to speak and understand Italian faster by joining the 5 minute Italian club! When you sign up, you’ll get:
- Mini Italian lessons + bonus materials delivered to your inbox.
- Access to the private Facebook group where you can practice chatting in Italian.
- Invites to free speaking workshops.
If you’d like to join us, click here to become a member of 5 Minute Italian.
Bonus Materials
Remember and practice using what you learnt with the bonus materials for today’s episode.
Today’s Italian words
Mi dica = what can I do for you? (literally: tell me)
Un etto = 100 grams
Prosciutto crudo = parma ham
Prosciutto cotto = ham
Bresaola = dried salty beef
Salame = salami (nice and easy!)
Che cos’è quello = What’s that?
La burrata = Cheese which is like mozzarella on the outside, soft and creamy on the inside
La fontina = soft aged cheese from Aosta Valley
Pecorino = a hard, salty sheep’s cheese
Allora = well/so
Prendo = I’ll have… (literally – I’ll take)
Due etti = 200 grams
Basta così? = is that everything? (literally: enough like this?)
A posto così? = is that everything? (literally: ok like this?)
Take the Quiz!
How much did you learn? Find out in the 5-minute Italian quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: How to order food at the deli counter
Italian flashcards
Remember the vocabulary from your 5 Minute Italian lessons by downloading the digital flashcard pack.
- Download the flashcards: Basta così! How to order at the deli counter
- Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial.
Transcript
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript
Katie: You’re in Italy and you see a gorgeous deli counter, but there’s a human being standing behind it! The only thing standing between you and some delicious cheese are your Italian skills. Learn how to order food at counters in this week’s episode of 5 minute Italian.
Matteo: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 minute Italian, hi everyone and welcome to 5 minute Italian. I’m Katie…
And I’m Matteo. Ciao.
K: If you go to Italy, something I would highly recommend doing is going to check out the deli counters, because they have lots of delicious meats, cheeses and salads. It’s also a great way to start to learn about different types of Italian food that you might see on menus.
Let’s imagine we’re in an Italian supermarket at the deli counter. Usually they’ve got one of those little machines where you take a number. So we’ve got our little yellow ticket, now listen to this conversation at the deli counter and see how much you can make out:
M: Buongiorno, mi dica signora.
K: Un etto di prosciutto
M: Crudo o cotto?
K: Crudo, grazie.
M: Qualcos’altro?
K: Che cos’è quello?
M: è la burrata
K: Allora prendo due etti di burrata.
M: Basta così?
K: Si, grazie.
K: So the first thing you heard was Matteo, the man behind the counter, who said
M: Mi dica signora
K: Mi dica literally means “tell me”. But when Italians use it in these kinds of situations, it’s translation is similar to “what can I do for you?”.
M: You might also hear prego in this situation, which means more or less the same thing.
K: Yes, one of the many meanings of prego!
M: Then, you heard Katie say: un etto di prosciutto.
K: Un etto means 100 grams, which is around 6 or 7 thin slices.
M: You can also say cento grammi, which of course means 100 grams.
K: And remember you can read the vocabulary from today’s episode in the show notes. Then Matteo asked the following question:
M: Crudo o cotto?
K: And this question is about the types of ham. Prosciutto crudo is what we in England would call “prosciutto”, or Parma ham. Crudo means raw, and it’s called that because prosciutto crudo isn’t cooked – it’s air dried and salted. Cotto means cooked, so prosciutto cotto is similar to the normal ham you find in England and elsewhere.
M: The names of some other common Italian meats are bresaola which is salted Italian beef, and salame, which of course means salami.
M: Next, you heard Katie say crudo, grazie. And this is another example of where Italians sometimes use the word grazie, where in English you would normally say please.
K: Then, Matteo said:
M: Qualcos’altro?
K: Which we’ve heard in previous episodes – it means “anything else?” Then, you heard the most important phrase for curious travellers and language learners everywhere:
M: Che cos’è quello?
K: This means “what’s that?” And it’s a great way to get deeper into conversations with Italians and learn some more about the culture and the language. I think I spend my first few months in Italy just pointing and things and saying “che cos’è quello?”… “che cos’è quello?”…
M: Then you heard: è la burrata.
K: Which means “it’s burrata” which is one of my favourite Italian cheeses. Finally something for the vegetarians!
M: Burrata looks a bit like mozzarella, in fact, it’s exactly the same as mozzarella on the outside, but when you cut into it, it’s soft and creamy on the inside.
K: Other examples of nice Italian cheeses are Parmigiano, which means parmesan of course, then Fontina, a soft aged cheese from Aosta Valley in the north, and Pecorino, which literally means “little sheep” – it’s a hard, salty cheese made from sheep’s milk.
M: And don’t forget mozzarella di bufala, which means buffalo mozzarella, the famous cheese of Naples.
K: Matteo’s biased because he’s from Naples so he prefers Neapolitan food! Then you heard…
M: Allora prendo due etti di burrata
K: Allora is one of those very famous Italian words you hear everywhere. It means so, or well.
M: And Italians often use it to start a sentence. Allloooorrra
K: Prendo literally means “I take”, but Italians use it to say “I’ll have” when they’re ordering. Then you heard the plural version of etto. Before we heard the singular version: un etto, with an o at the end. The plural of etto is etti. So you get un etto, but due etti, tre etti and so on.
M: Finally, you heard basta cosi?
K: Basta così literally means “enough like this?” but Italians use it to say “is that everything?”
M: Basta così? You might also hear a posto cosi? Which literally means “OK like this?”
K: Let’s listen to the conversation again.
M: Buongiorno, mi dica signora
K: Un etto di prosciutto
M: Crudo o cotto?
K: Crudo. grazie.
M: Qualcos’altro?
K: Che cos’è quello?
M: è la burrata
K: Allora prendo due etti di burrata.
M: Basta così?
K: Si, grazie.
K: That’s all we have time for today, thanks for listening. And if you’d like to get more mini Italian lessons delivered to your inbox, don’t forget to subscribe by following the link below. Grazie, and ciao for now, see you next time, or as we say in Italian, alla prossima!
Get more 5-minute Italian
To get more 5 minute Italian, including lessons delivered to your inbox, access to the private Facebook group and invites to speaking workshops, click here to become a 5 Minute Italian member.
