Sunday, February 22, 2009

Pro-shoot-toe

Prosciutto, cured ham, Livorno“Il prosciuttaio” is, in this case, the prosciutto sandwich vendor. I understand that this italian word for raw or dry-cured ham is now of common use in english, probably due to the diffusion abroad of Parma and San Daniele ham. In Italian we call these types “prosciutto crudo” (literally: raw, not cooked), the wet cured ham is known here as “prosciutto cotto” (literally: cooked).
Wikipedia says: The word prosciutto (pronounced “pro-shoot-toe”) derives from the Latin perexsuctum, which gave way to the modern Italian word “prosciugare” which means “to thoroughly dry” (lit., “[having been] very sucked out”).
Do I like prosciutto? Absolutely yes! And, as Fio rightly comments, “prosciuttaio” is “pro-shoot-teye-oh”

11 comments:

Copenhagen said...

Mi piace il prosciutto:) Is this sentence correct?

Ming the Merciless said...

Ahahahaha! Love the way you wrote the title. At first I thought you shot your toe with something. :-)

Yes, I love pro-shoot-toe as long as nobody gets hurt. :-))

VP said...

WO: the sentence is perfect!

Ming: my toes are sound!

Marcel said...

I love prosciutto too! , it is one of my favorite hams and really a treat! Would love to go to that spot and buy some.
Interesting posting on St. John, I have seen him often in the Chez Republic, now I know why.

amatamari© said...

Beautiful photos and excellent prosciutto!!!

Fio said...

Bella foto!
Mi fa ridere la tua proposta di pronunciare "prosciutto" in inglese :D
Allora "prosciuttaio" sarebbe... "pro-shoot-eye-oh!"
Che ne pensi?
:D

VP said...

Non ci avevo pensato e forse era ancora più divertente, ma l'argomento era il prosciutto e il prosciuttaio la foto disponibile!
Magari aggiungo anche il tuo "pro-shoot-eye-oh"...

Lowell said...

Such a lovely door that opens to my heart...

Silly. I just made it up. But 'tis a lovely door, and it appears to lead to some tantalizing tidbits, and the way to a man's heart is through his stomach...so you see where this is going...

See also what you've done...got me waxing poetic...and that's often not good.

But I do love the photo and the commentary on prosciutto or prosciuttaio.

Jane Hards Photography said...

The outside is so pretty and inviting that you really can't wait to go inside.

Jessica said...

Yes, we Americans do know what prosciutto is, though it's seen as a more fancy and gourmet thing. I would say the average American person doesn't distinguish between crudo and cotto though. Prosciutto cotto is more like our normal ham.

Leif Hagen said...

Hello Vogen Poet - I couldn't find your email address or old email. I want to run an idea by you to consider: in February, we will hold our 22nd annual Eagan Rotary art gala fundraiser. We raise money with silent and live auctions to fund our local charities in Eagan and also international projects such as polio eradication, water projects, education, etc. I would love to frame one of your photos and put in the auction. Would you consider emailing me three of your best (most "typical" Livorno) photos for me to frame ONE? Thanks for thinking about it. Grazie mille,
Leif from EAGAN daily photo