ITALIAN NEWS - Issue # 4, April 2008

Italian News
Periodical On-Line that Promotes, Supports, Spreads ITALY,
and ITALIAN Language, History, Culture, Tradition, Genealogy,
Articles, Products, Services, Every Aspect of ITALIAN Life Style
by THE ITALIAN PROJECT

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Italian Regions

EMILIA - ROMAGNA
Official Website: www.regione.emilia-romagna.it

The territory of Emilia - Romagna consists of a wide plain
south of the Po river, and a more mountainous area near the
border with Tuscany, with the peak of Monte Cimone (2165
m). Within Emilia - Romagna is also the independent republic
of San Marino, the most ancient in Europe, with a population
of about 26,000 inhabitants, whose economy is mostly
based on agriculture, tourism and the issue of stamps and
coins.

The Economy
Industries, especially in the food sector, are flourishing, as
is also tourism along the Adriatic "Riviera", one of the most
crowded and lively seaside areas in Italy, as well as to the
art cities and the spa center of Salsomaggiore. The region is
Italy's first producer of wheat, sugar-beet and fruit, second
producer of barley and soy beans. Another important
resource is the raising of pigs, cattle and poultry, with
intensive and modern systems, at the basis of the
production of world famous "prosciutto" and Parmesan
cheese.

History
Inhabited since very ancient times as revealed from
archeological findings, the region was occupied by the
Etruscans in the 6th century BC. In the 4th century it was
then invaded by the Celts, then in the third the Romans
conquered it, joining its territory to Liguria. Augustus gave it
the name of Aemilia, as the Octava Regio (8th region) of the
Empire. With the decadence of the Roman empire, in 402 AD
Emperor Onorius moved the capital from Rome to Ravenna,
calling the Eastern side of the region Romania and making it
into the political center of the Western Roman Empire in the
last decades of its existence.
The Lombard invaders conquered only part of the region,
more or less the area of Modena, Parma, Piacenza and
Reggio, while Ravenna and Bologna stayed under the
jurisdiction of the surviving Eastern Roman Empire, whose
capital was Byzanthium. With the coming of the Franks the
region was entrusted to the Pope, to be politically included
in the State of the Church in the early 11th century.

When the municipal life started to rise again, in the late
Middle Ages (13th - 14th centuries) such towns as Bologna,
Piacenza, Modena and Reggio enjoyed a remarkable
prosperity, also due to the strategic position of the region
among the many Italian States of the time and to powerful
families, such as the Farnese and Estensi. After being for
centuries a constellation of Dukedoms and States, the
region was finally united to the newborn Kingdom of Italy in
1860.

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Italian Genealogy

HOW TO CONTACT your Living Relatives
in ITALY

Here are our Step by Step, Detailed, and Useful
Suggestions:

1- Write Informal and Personal Letters in ITALIAN to all them
who you have found, by Using the other LINKS Listed Here
Below, to be Your "Potential" Living Relatives in ITALY,
with ALL the Information and Details!

If you are not able to write in ITALIAN, Click on ITALIAN
TRANSLATION, in this Page, and/or Contact us!

2- With your Letters to ITALY, include self-addressed
stamped envelopes, for their answers, explaining ALL the
reasons for your Letters, and asking if they are your Living
Relatives in ITALY, and if they can help you to find your
ITALIAN Ancestors, and to build your ITALIAN Family
Genealogical Tree, and also if you can call them, to
personally speak with them, and to plan a future meeting
with them.

3- About after a month, probably several of them will
answer you back!

Maybe some of them will be your Living Relatives in ITALY,
and some of them will be very glad to help you to find
Information, and Documents, as Extracts, Acts, Certificates
of your ITALIAN Ancestors, and to build your ITALIAN Family
Genealogical Tree!

4- If you do not speak ITALIAN, we can Translate also their
answers to you, and your answers to them! Click on
ITALIAN TRANSLATION, in this Page, and/or Contact
us!

HOW TO FIND Places of your Ancestors
and Living Relatives in ITALY

HOW TO OBTAIN Information and
Documents of your Ancestors in ITALY

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Italian Companies

Maserati

Maserati S.p.A.

Type: Public (subsidiary of Fiat S.p.A.)
Founded: 1 December 1914 Bologna, Italy
Headquarters: Modena, Italy
Sergio Marchionne, Chairman
Roberto Ronchi, CEO
Industry: Automotive
Revenue: ▲ € 694 million (2007)
Employees: 695 (2007)
Parent: Fiat S.p.A.
Official Website: www.maserati.com

Maserati is an Italian manufacturer of racing cars and sports cars, established on December 1, 1914 in Bologna. The
company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. It is a luxury car manufacturer competing directly
with Aston Martin and sometimes with large German mass-producers, including Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Today, it
is owned by the Italian car giant Fiat S.p.A. since 1993. Inside the Fiat Group, Maserati has been initially associated with
Ferrari S.p.A., more recently it is part of the sports car Group with Alfa Romeo.

History
The Maserati brothers, Alfieri Maserati, Bindo Maserati, Carlo Maserati, Ettore Maserati, Ernesto Maserati and Mario
Maserati, were all involved with automobiles from the beginning of the 20th century. Alfieri, Bindo and Ernesto built 2-litre
Grand Prix cars for Diatto. In 1926, Diatto suspended the production of race cars, leading to the creation of the first
Maserati and the founding of the Maserati marque. One of the first Maseratis, driven by Alfieri, won the 1926 Targa Florio.
Maserati began making race cars with 4, 6, 8 and 16 cylinders (actually two straight eights mounted parallel to one
another). Mario, an artist, is believed to have devised the company's trident emblem, based on one the Fontana del
Nettuno, Bologna. Alfieri Maserati died in 1932 but three other brothers, Bindo, Ernesto and Ettore, kept the firm going,
building cars that won races.

Orsi Ownership
In 1937, the remaining Maserati brothers sold their shares in the company to the Adolfo Orsi family, who in 1940 relocated
the company headquarters to their hometown of Modena, where it remains to this day. The brothers continued in
engineering roles with the company, however. Racing successes continued, even against the giants of German racing,
Auto Union and Mercedes. In 1939, a Maserati 8CTF won the Indianapolis 500, a feat repeated the following year.

The war then intervened, Maserati abandoning cars to produce components for the Italian war effort. During this time,
Maserati worked in fierce competition to construct a V16 towncar for Benito Mussolini before Ferry Porsche of
Volkswagen built one for Adolf Hitler. They failed in this endeavour and the plans were scrapped. Once peace was
restored, Maserati returned to making cars, the Maserati A6 series, doing well in the post-war racing scene.

Key people will join the Maserati team, Alberto Massimino, an old Fiat engineer, with both Alfa Romeo and Ferrari
experiences. He will be in charge of overseeing the design of all racing models for the next ten years. With him will join
"ingeniore" Giulio Alfieri (1924-2002),Vittorio Bellentani and Gioacchino Colombo (1903 - 1987), the designer of the V12
Ferrari. The focus was to come with the best engines and the best chassis to succeed in car racing. All these new
projects will receive the last contribution of the Maserati brothers, who after the 10-year contract with Orsi, went on to
form the O.S.C.A. car builder. This team worked on several projects (Maserati 4CLT, Maserati A6 series, Maserati 8CLT),
including one that will be pivotal for the future success of the company: the Maserati A6GCM

The famous Argentinian driver Juan-Manuel Fangio raced for Maserati for a number of years in the 1950s, producing a
number of stunning victories including winning the world championship in 1957 in the Maserati 250F alongside with Toulo
de Graffenried, Louis Chiron, Prince Bira, Enrico Platé and with a few others. Other racing projects in the 50s were the
Maserati 200S, Maserati 300S (with several famous pilots, among these, Benoit Musy), Maserati 350S, Maserati 450S,
followed in 1961 by the famous Maserati Birdcage.

Maserati had retired from factory racing participation due to the Guidizzolo accident (1957), though it built racing cars to be
raced by others after that date. After 1957, Maserati became more and more focussed on road cars, and chief engineer
Giulio Alfieri built the 6-cylinder Maserati 3500 2+2 coupe featuring an aluminum body over Carrozzeria Touring's
superleggera structure, a design also used for the small-volume V8-powered Maserati 5000. Next came the Maserati
Sebring bodied by Vignale and launched in 1962, the Maserati Mistral Coupé (1963) and the Spider (1964), both designed
by Pietro Frua, and their first four-door, the Maserati Quattroporte (1963), also designed by Pietro Frua. The two-seater
Maserati Ghibli coupe was launched in 1967, followed by a convertible in 1969. harder.

Citroën Ownership

1957 Maserati 200SI

Maserati "Birdcage"

1959 Maserati 5000 GT Coupe

Maserati Sebring

Maserati Quattroporte grille

In 1968, came a great change—purchase by Citroën. Adolfo Orsi remained the nominal president, but Maserati changed a
great deal. New models were launched, and built in much greater numbers than before. Citroën borrowed Maserati
expertise and engines for the Citroën SM and other vehicles, and Maseratis also incorporated Citroën technology,
particularly in hydraulics.

New models included the Maserati Bora, the first mass-produced mid-engined Maserati, in 1971, and the Maserati Merak
and Maserati Khamsin soon afterwards; the Maserati Quattroporte II, which shared some parts with Citroën SM, never
came into production. The 1973 oil crisis, however, put the brakes on this ambitious expansion—suddenly, the demand for
fuel-thirsty sports cars shrank. Citroën went bankrupt in 1974 and on May 23, 1975, the new controlling group PSA Peugeot
Citroën declared that Maserati also was in liquidation. Propped up by Italian government funds (GEPI), the company stayed
alive, if barely.

The Maserati engine and its associated gearbox have been used in other vehicles such as Special Rally prepared Citroën
DS, as used by Bob Neyret in Bandama Rally or in the Ligier JS 2.

De Tomaso
1975 saw the company back on its feet with Alessandro de Tomaso, an Argentinian former racing driver, the new
managing director. De Tomaso had arranged for the Benelli motorcycle company, which he controlled, to buy Maserati from
Citroën and install him as its head. New models were introduced in 1976, including the Maserati Kyalami and the Maserati
Quattroporte III.

The 1980s saw the company largely abandoning the mid-engined sports car in favour of squarish, front-engined, rear-drive
coupes, cheaper than before but with aggressive performance, like the Maserati Biturbo.The Maserati Biturbo has been
declined in a large number of models, all sharing key components among which a short two door coupe Maserati Karif and
a cabriolet, the Spyder, designed by Zagato. The last version of the Maserati Biturbo was called Maserati Racing. It has
been a transitional model in which several features to be found on the Ghibli II and the Shamal were tested. Two new
coupes, the Maserati Shamal and Maserati Ghibli II, were released in 1990 and 1992, respectively.

The company also worked loosely with Chrysler, now headed by de Tomaso's friend Lee Iacocca. Chrysler purchased part
of Maserati and the two jointly produced a car, the Chrysler TC by Maserati that took much too long to introduce on the US
market.

There was also two further very challenging projects:
the Chubasco a V8 mid-engine supercar, unfortunately due to lack of funding remained a dream.
the Maserati Barchetta a small open top mid engine sports car, unfortunately very few cars were produced.

Fiat Ownership
1993 saw the company acquired by Fiat. Substantial investments were made in Maserati, and it has since undergone
something of a renaissance.

In 1999, a new chapter began in Maserati's history when the company launched the 3200 GT, the only "Fiat Maserati". This
two-door coupé is powered by a 3.2 L twin-turbocharged V8 which produces 370 hp (276 kW); the car does 0–60 mph in
less than 5 seconds. Its top speed is an amazing 285 km/h (177 mph). With the addition of a Ferrari-designed and -built V-8
and automated manual transmission for the 2002 model year, this car continues to be produced today as the Coupé
(hardtop) and Spyder (convertible model).

Ferrari
In 1997, Fiat sold a 50% share in the company to Maserati's long-time arch-rival Ferrari (though this was, and is, itself
controlled by Fiat). In 1999 Ferrari took full control, making Maserati its luxury division. A new factory was built, replacing
the existing 1940s-vintage facility. Ferrari is credited for bringing Maserati back into business, after many lackluster years
of Maserati teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

More recently, Maserati discussed an agreement with Volkswagen for the German company to share its Audi division's
Quattro all-wheel-drive technology (originally meant for the still-born Maserati Kubang sport utility vehicle concept) for
Maserati's current Quattroporte platform. This idea has since been abandoned because Volkswagen owns two of Ferrari's
direct rivals, Lamborghini and Bugatti.

Meanwhile two new models have been shown to the public: the MC12 road supersports and successful GT racer with an
Enzo Ferrari–derived chassis and engine. And the Quattroporte, a high luxury saloon with the 4.2l V8 engine. Maserati is
nowadays back in the business, very successfully selling on a global basis. In 2001 year Ferrari decided to throw away all
the old instruments and installed high-tech devices in the Modena's factory. In 2001 Maserati's factory became one of the
most advanced in the world.

Today
In 2005, as a consequence of the termination of the agreement between Fiat and General Motors under which GM may
have been obliged to buy Fiat's car division, Maserati was separated from Ferrari and brought back under Fiat's full
control. Fiat plans to create a sports and luxury division from Maserati and another of its marques, Alfa Romeo. GM had to
pay Fiat around two billion dollars. Maserati sold 2,006 cars in the United States in 2005, 2,108 in 2006, and 2,540 in 2007.
In the second quarter of 2007 Maserati made profit for the first time in the 17 years under the Fiat Group ownership.

Current Models

Maserati Spyder

Maserati Quattroporte

Late models (2002-2006) include:
Coupé, a two door, four seat coupe.
Spyder, a two seater convertible.
Gransport, a sportier two door available in both coupe and spyder versions.

Present production (2007 on) includes:
Quattroporte (Italian for four-door), a sporting-luxury four-door sedan.
GranTurismo is the new four seat coupé.

Since early 2002 Maseratis are once again being sold in the United States market, which has quickly become for Maserati
the largest market worldwide. The company has also re-entered the racing arena with their Trofeo and, in December 2003,
the Maserati MC12 (formerly known as the MCC), which took part in select GT races in 2004. The MC12 is based on the
Enzo Ferrari supercar; 50 street-legal homologation models (roadsters and coupes) have been sold for about US$700,000
each.

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Italian Language

Italian Grammar

Morphology
Italian words can be divided into nine grammatical
categories, the parts of speech: five variable (article, noun,
adjective, pronoun and verb) and four invariable (adverb,
preposition, conjunction and interjection).

Articles

The definite article (the)
Masculine singular: il (lo before an impure consonant sound,
l' before a vowel). Note that it is lo iodio, "the iodine" and lo
Ionio, "the Ionian Sea", because in this case the i is a
semiconsonant, not a real vowel; on the other hand it is
usual to truncate the article (that is, to use l' ) before
semiconsonantic u (sounding as an English w): l'uomo "the
man", l'uovo "the egg", but they are more "mobile
diphthongs" than "false diphthongs". However, English
words beginning with w and used in Italian, like West -
meaning "wild West" - and whisky, are perceived as
beginning with a v sound, and the il article is used: il West,
il whisky, and Giacomo Puccini's opera is La fanciulla del
West.
Masculine plural: i (gli before a vowel or impure consonant
sound).
Feminine singular: la (l' before a vowel: but "la iarda", "the
yard" - meaning the length measure - for the same reason as
before).
Feminine plural: le.
Impure consonant sounds are z, gn, pn, ps, x or
s+consonant (sp, st, etc). See also Italian sounds.

The indefinite article (a)
Masculine: un (uno before an impure consonant sound
(s+consonant, z...)
Feminine: una (un' before a vowel)

The only irregular article
The plural of "il dio" (the god) is "gli dei" instead of "i dei".

Nouns
Nouns in Italian have gender (masculine or feminine, but no
neuter), and number (singular or plural). The gender and
number is always shown by the leading article (definite or
indefinite), and usually by the final vowel. Most nouns derive
from Latin, from Greek or from a Latinization of foreign
words, so:
Feminine singular in -a, plural in -e (first declension in Latin,
-a, -æ)
la rosa / le rose (the rose / the roses)
Masculine singular in -a, plural in -i (first declension in Latin,
-a, -æ)
il poeta / i poeti (the poet / the poets)
Masculine singular in -o, plural in -i (second declension in
Latin, -us, -i)
il magistrato / i magistrati (the magistrate / the magistrates)
Masculine singular in -e, plural in -i (third declension in
Latin, pl. -es)
il cane / i cani (the dog / the dogs)
Feminine singular in -e, plural in -i (third declension in Latin,
pl. -es)
la parete / le pareti (the wall / the walls)
Feminine singular in -o, plural in -i (fourth declension in
Latin, -us, -us)
la mano / le mani (the hand / the hands)
Feminine singular in -ie, plural in -ie (fifth declension in
Latin, -ies, -ies)
la specie / le specie (the species / the species), but usually
la superficie / le superfici (the surface / the surfaces)
Many scientific words, from Greek:
Masculine singular in -a, plural in -i
il problema / i problemi (the problem / the problems)
Feminine singular in -i, plural also in -i
la crisi / le crisi (the crisis / the crises)
Any other noun, both those from Latin with an unusual
ending and those derived from other languages than Latin or
Greek, and not Latinized (cifra - meaning "digit" - and
ragazzo/ragazza - meaning "boy/girl" - are from Arab, but
they are Latinized), is not declinable, so:
la città / le città (the town(s): civitas / civitates)
il re / i re (the king(s): rex / reges)
il caffè / i caffè (the coffee(s))
il film / i film (the film(s))
There are certain words (neuter in Latin) that are masculine
in the singular and feminine or masculine in the plural:
il braccio / le braccia or i bracci (the arm / the arms) Note
that "bracci" and "braccia" are different in meaning.
il ginocchio / le ginocchia or i ginocchi (the knee / the knees)
il sopracciglio / le sopracciglia (but i sopraccigli is admitted
too) (the eyebrow / the eyebrows)
il ciglio / le ciglia (the eyelash / the eyelashes) (i cigli is
poetical, unless it means the edge of a road)
l'uovo / le uova (the egg / the eggs)
These nouns' endings derive regularly from the Latin neuter
endings of the second declension, but there are some from
third declension: e.g. il gregge / le greggi (flock(s), but i
greggi works too); the tradition of calling them "irregular" or
"mobile gender" (genere mobile) would come from the
paradigm that there are so few nouns of this kind that the
existence of neuter can be considered vestigial. The use of
one or other of plurals is sometimes left to the user, while in
some case there are differences of meaning:
sometimes, for body parts, the neuter/feminine plural
denotes the literal meaning while the masculine one denotes
a figurative meaning: il braccio (m) / le braccia (f) / i bracci
(m) (the arm / the arms / the isthmuses/inlets/figurative uses
of "arm"); il corno (m) / le corna (f) (the horn /the real animal
horns) / i corni (m) (the horn / the horns [as musical
instruments, of a dilemma etc.]);
sometimes, especially in poetic and old-fashioned Italian,
the masculine plural denotes several distinct items, while
the neuter/feminine ones denotes an undifferentiated set: il
cervello (m) / i cervelli (m) / le cervella (f) (the brain / [more
than one single] brains / cerebral matter); l'anello (m) / gli
anelli (m) / le anella (f) (the ring / the rings [jewels] / ringlets).
The same is true for il dito (m) / le dita (f) / i diti (m) (the finger
/ the fingers / the fingers [of a specific type; "diti" is never
used except when more fingers of the same type (thumbs,
index fingers etc.) are referred to: "i diti pollici" is correct,
"le dita pollici" is wrong]).
The soft/hard nature of Italian c and g leads to a few
spelling/pronunciation rules (and lacking of them) in certain
cases:
Words in -cio and -gio form plurals in -ci and -gi.
Words in -co and -go:
The situation is quite irregular: "the grammarians are
sceptical about any attempt at giving a ruling about this
area"[1]. There are only partial, empirical rules of the thumb:
usually plurals end in -ci and -gi if the final letter before the
suffix is a vowel: il medico, i medici (physician(s)), il
comico, i comici (comedian(s)), against il fungo, i funghi
(mushroom), and lo stecco, gli stecchi (stick), but the plural
of baco (silkworm) is bachi, not baci, which is the plural of
bacio (kiss). As well, the plural of mago (magician) is maghi,
not magi, unless we are referring to Three Kings in Gospel.
The plural of fuoco (fire) is fuochi, the plural of gioco (game,
play) is giochi. Another (more strict, though breakable) rule
is this: if the stress is on penultimate syllable, the plural is
-chi or -ghi (antico, antichi (ancient)), when not, it's -ci or -gi.
The main exceptions are amico-amici (friend), greco-greci
(Greek), valico-valichi (mountain pass) and carico-carichi
(cargo, loadful).
In words ending with -logo suffix, the plural is usually in -gi
when -logo means "expert" or "student", corresponding to
English -logist (e.g. archeologo/archeologi "archaeologist"),
while it is in -ghi when it means "speech", "reasoning",
corresponding often to English -logue/-log (e.g.
catalogo/cataloghi "catalogue").
In any other case, when in doubt, a dictionary will give the
correct answer.
Words in -cia and -gia:
Form plurals in -cie and -gie if the final letter before the suffix
is a vowel: la camicia, le camicie (shirt(s)); la ciliegia, le
ciliegie (cherry/cherries).
Form plurals in -ce and -ge if the final letter before the suffix
is a consonant: la frangia, le frange (fringe(s)); la faccia, le
facce (face(s)).
When the "i" is stressed, it always remains in plural: la
farmacia, le farmacie (chemist's shop), la nevralgia, le
nevralgie (neuralgia).

Irregular plurals
There are very few truly irregular plurals in Italian. Five of
these are:
l'uomo / gli uomini (man/men; lat. homo / homines )
il dio / gli dei (god/gods; note also the irregularity in the
article: gli instead of i)
il bue / i buoi (ox/oxen)
il tempio / i templi (temple/temples)
l'ala / le ali (wing/wings) (but "l'ale" is poetically admitted)

Alteration
In Italian, altered nouns are nouns with particular shades of
meaning. They are divided into diminutives, "vezzeggiativi"
(diminutives with kindness and sympathy nuance),
augmentatives and pejorative altered nouns.

nouns altered suffix examples
noun altered noun
diminutivi -ino tavolo (table) tavol-ino (a small table)
-etto libro (book) libr-etto
-ello bambino (child) bambin-ello (a little child)
-icello monte (mountain) mont-icello
-icciolo porto (port) port-icciolo
vezzeggiativi -uccio cavallo (horse) cavall-uccio
-acchiotto orso (bear) ors-acchiotto
-iciattolo fiume (river) fium-iciattolo
-olo figlio (son) figli-olo (also figliuolo)
-otto cucciolo (puppy) cucciol-otto
accrescitivi -one libro (book) libr-one (a big book)
-accione uomo (man) om-accione
peggiorativi -accio libro (book) libr-accio (a bad book)
-astro medico (medic) medic-astro (a bad medic)
-ucolo poeta (poet) poet-ucolo
-onzolo medico (medic) medic-onzolo
-uncolo uomo (man) om-uncolo (an insignificant man)

Pronouns

Declension
First Person Second Person Third Person
Singular Plural Singular Plural Masculine Feminine
Singular Plural Singular Plural
Nominative io noi tu voi lui (egli, esso) loro (essi) lei (ella,
essa) loro (esse)
Accusative mi ci ti vi lo li la le
Dative mi ci ti vi gli loro le loro
Prepositional me noi te voi lui loro lei loro
Notes:
In Italian, personal subject pronouns in the nominative case
are generally not used because the conjugation is usually
enough to determine who is the subject of the verb. They are
used when some emphasis is needed: Sono italiano (I am
Italian), Io sono italiano (I -- and not you or anybody else here
-- am Italian).
egli/ella are fading in speech, esso/essa/essi/esse are rare
neuter forms used for inanimate objects.
2nd person nominative pronoun is tu for informal. For formal
use, the 3rd person form Lei has been used since the
Renaissance: it's used like "Sie" in German, "usted" in
Spanish and "você" in Portuguese. Previously, and in some
Italian regions today (e.g., Campania), voi is used as a
formal singular, as in the French "vous". lei (third person
singular) and Lei (second person singular formal) are
pronounced the same but written as shown. Formal Lei/Loro
take third-person conjugations. The formal plural person is
rarely in use in Italian: the informal form is widely used,
instead (e.g. "Gino, Lei è un bravo ingegnere. Marco, Lei è
un bravo architetto. Insieme, voi sarete una gran bella
squadra" "Gino, you are a good engineer. Marco, you are a
good architect. Together, you'll be a great good team").
Accusative mi, ti, lo, la, ci, and vi become me, te, lui, lei,
noi, and voi when emphasized ("uccidimi" (kill me) against
"uccidi me, non lui" (kill me, not him)).
Accusative lo and la elides to l' before a vowel or h
("l'avevo detto" (I had told it), "l'ho detto" (I have told it).
Dative mi, ti, ci, and vi become me, te, ce, and ve when
preceding an accusative pronoun ("dammelo" (give it to
me)) or developed as a me, a te, a noi and a voi when
emphazised ("dallo a me" (give it TO ME)).
Dative gli combines with accusative lo, la, li, le and ne
(partitive, meaning "of it" or "of them") to form glielo, gliela,
glieli, gliele and gliene. These combinations are used for
feminine and plural too ("Maria lo sa? Gliel'hai detto?" (Does
Maria know it? Have you said it to her?)).
Dative gli, le, loro (commonly gli) can be developed into a
lui, a lei, a loro, when emphasized ("lo sai solo tu: a loro non
l'ho detto" (only you know it: I haven't told them))
Lui and lei are accusative cases in formal and written
Italian, while in the spoken language and modern written
language practically always replace egli and ella in the
subject pronoun role. The same thing happens with loro/essi.
In modern Italian, dative gli (to him) is used commonly even
as plural (to them) instead of classical loro. So: "Conosci
Luca: gli ho sempre detto di stare lontano dalle cattive
compagnie" (You know Luca: I've always told him to stay
away from bad companies"). And: "Conosci Luca e Gino: gli
ho sempre detto..." (...I've always told them...) instead of "...
ho sempre detto loro di stare...".

Adjectives
Adjectives, like nouns, have two genders and two numbers.
In general, for adjectives:
Masculine in -o, plural in -i
Feminine in -a, plural in -e
Or:
Masculine in -e, plural in -i
Feminine in -e, plural in -i

Relative Superlative and Comparative
Actually, the rule is simpler than English: Italian use "il più"
and "più" ("the most" and "more") almost everywhere:
"scemo" (dumb), "sono il più scemo fra gli uomini" (I'm the
dumbest of men), "sono più scemo di te" (I'm dumber than
you). There are some irregulars, like "migliore" (better or
best), "peggiore" (worse or worst) etc. but regular forms
also exist: "più buono", "il più buono", "più cattivo", "il più
cattivo"...

Absolute Superlative
The absolute superlative, derived from the Latin synthetic
superlative in -issimus, is formed by adding -issimo to an
adjective: "very clever", "intelligentissimo"; "very dirty",
"sporchissimo". If the two letters before the last vowel are
"pr" or "br" ("aspro", Latin "asper", "celebre", Latin
"celeber"), the suffix becomes -errimo ("asperrimo",
"celeberrimo"). Some exceptions are "ottimo" ("best", "very
good"), "pessimo" ("worst", "very bad"), etc., but they could
be spelled as "buonissimo" and "cattivissimo".

Possessive Adjectives
Possessive adjectives, like articles, must agree with the
gender and number of the noun they modify. Hence, mio zio
(my uncle), but mia zia (my aunt). So depending on what is
being modified, the possessive adjectives are:
Masc. sing.: mio, tuo, suo, nostro, vostro, loro
Masc. pl.: miei, tuoi, suoi, nostri, vostri, loro
Fem. sing.: mia, tua, sua, nostra, vostra, loro
Fem. pl.: mie, tue, sue, nostre, vostre, loro
In most cases the possessive adjective is used with an
article, usually the definite article:
Ho perso la mia penna. (I've lost my pen.)
Mi piace il mio lavoro. (I like my job.)
Hanno rubato la mia automobile! (They've stolen my car!)
And with the indefinite article:
Un mio amico mi ha detto che... (A friend of mine told me
that...)
Ho visto una sua foto. (I've seen a photograph of him/her.)
Luca è un mio amico. (Luca is a friend of mine.)
The only exception is when the possessive refers to an
individual family member:
Sara è mia sorella (Sarah is my sister.)
Questa penna è di mia zia. (This pen is my aunt's.)
But mamma and papà (or babbo, in Central Italy) (mom and
dad) get almost always the article.

Verbs
Italian verb infinitives have one of three endings, either -are,
-ere, or -ire. Exceptions are porre "to place" (from Latin
ponere), and a few verbs ending in -urre or -arre, most
notably tradurre (Latin traducere) "to translate".

Tenses
Simple tenses (examples in first person)
Present Presente do, am doing1 faccio
Imperfect Imperfetto was doing, used to do facevo
Future Futuro will do farò
Preterite Passato remoto did2 feci

Compound Tenses
Present Progressive Presente Progressivo am doing sto
facendo
Past Progressive Passato Progressivo was doing3 stavo
facendo
Recent Past Passato Prossimo have done, did2 ho fatto
Recent Pluperfect Trapassato Prossimo had done4 avevo
fatto
Remote Pluperfect Trapassato Remoto had done ebbi fatto
Future Perfect Futuro Anteriore will have done avrò fatto

Special Forms (Modi Indefiniti, Indefinite Tenses)
Infinitive Infinito to do fare
Past Participle Participio Passato done fatto
Present participle/Gerund Participio Presente/Gerundio
doing facente/facendo
Imperative Imperativo do! fai! / fa'!

Notes
1Present continuous in Italian is similar to that in English but
not as frequently used. Italian usually uses the simple
present instead, except when emphasizing the ongoing
nature of the action.
2The preterite is becoming obsolete in spoken Italian (as in
French and High German); instead, the present perfect (ho
fatto) is used. It is still used in Southern Italy but becoming
less common there too. It is, however, very common in
literature, even modern literature.
3 As above, the past continuous in Italian is not often used,
and its use is considered interchangeable in most situations
with the passato prossimo (recent past), the most commonly
used past tense.
4The Trapassato Prossimo (Recent Pluperfect) and the
extremely rare Trapassato Remoto (Remote Pluperfect) are
separate tenses in Italian though not in English.

Compound Tense Auxiliary Verbs
In Italian, compound tenses are formed with an auxiliary
verb (either essere "to be" or avere "to have"). Most verbs
use avere as their auxiliary verb. The exceptions are
reflexive verbs, verbs in the passive voice, and
unaccusative verbs (typically non-agentive verbs of motion
and change of state, i.e. involuntary actions like cadere (to
fall) or morire (to die)).

The distinction between the two auxiliary verbs is important
for the correct formation of the compound tenses and is also
essential to the agreement of the past participle. Some
verbs use both, though, like vivere (to live): in recent past
tense you can say io ho vissuto or io sono vissuto (I've
lived).

The Past Participle
The past participle is used in Italian as both an adjective
and to form many of the compound tenses of the language.
The past participle conjugated with essere (for unaccusative
verbs et al) follows the usual adjective agreement rules.

For the intransitive essere verbs, the past participle always
agrees with the subject: lui è partito; lei è partita. This is
also true for reflexive verbs, the impersonal si construction,
and the passive voice, which also use essere (Si è sparato
- He shot himself, against Lui ha sparato - He shot).

The past participle when conjugated with avere never
changes to agree with the subject. It agrees with the object
though, in sentences where a pronoun replacing the object
is proceeding (e.g. Hai mangiato la mela? - Sì, l'ho mangiata
(Have you eaten the apple? - Yes, I have eaten it)).

When the pronoun is first or second person, there is optional
agreement: Maria! Giovanni ti ha chiamato / chiamata? - No,
non mi ha chiamato / chiamata (Maria! Has Giovanni called
you? - No, he hasn't). In relative clauses, the agreement is
obsolete: La storia che avete raccontata (obsolete) /
raccontato non mi convince (The story you told doesn't
convince me).

Regular Conjugations
The infinitive of first conjugation verbs end in -are, that of
second conjugation verbs in -ere, and that of third
conjugation verbs in -ire. In the following examples for
different moods, the first conjugation verb is parlare
(meaning to talk/speak), the second conjugation verb is
temere (to fear) and the third conjugation verb is partire (to
leave/depart.)

Indicative Mood
Present Preterite Imperfect Simple Future
First Conj. Second Conj. Third Conj. First Conj. Second
Conj. Third Conj. First Conj. Second Conj. Third Conj. First
Conj. Second Conj. Third Conj.
io parlo temo parto parlai temetti partii parlavo temevo
partivo parlerò temerò partirò
tu parli temi parti parlasti temesti partisti parlavi temevi
partivi parlerai temerai partirai
lui parla teme parte parlò temette partì parlava temeva
partiva parlerà temerà partirà
noi parliamo temiamo partiamo parlammo tememmo
partimmo parlavamo temevamo partivamo parleremo
temeremo partiremo
voi parlate temete partite parlaste temeste partiste parlavate
temevate partivate parlerete temerete partirete
loro parlano temono partono parlarono temettero partirono
parlavano temevano partivano parleranno temeranno
partiranno

Recent Past Recent Pluperfect Remote Pluperfect Future
Perfect
First Conj. Second Conj. Third Conj. First Conj. Second
Conj. Third Conj. First Conj. Second Conj. Third Conj. First
Conj. Second Conj. Third Conj.
io ho parlato ho temuto sono partito avevo parlato avevo
temuto ero partito ebbi parlato ebbi temuto fui partito avrò
parlato avrò temuto sarò partito
tu hai parlato hai temuto sei partito avevi parlato avevi
temuto eri partito avesti parlato avesti temuto fosti partito
avrai parlato avrai temuto sarai partito
lui/egli ha parlato ha temuto è partito aveva parlato aveva
temuto era partito ebbe parlato ebbe temuto fu partito avrà
parlato avrà temuto sarà partito
noi abbiamo parlato abbiamo temuto siamo partiti avevamo
parlato avevamo temuto eravamo partiti avemmo parlato
avemmo temuto fummo partiti avremo parlato avremo
temuto saremo partiti
voi avete parlato avete temuto siete partiti avevate parlato
avevate temuto eravate partiti aveste parlato aveste temuto
foste partiti avrete parlato avrete temuto sarete partiti
loro/essi hanno parlato hanno temuto sono partiti avevano
parlato avevano temuto erano partiti ebbero parlato ebbero
temuto furono partiti avranno parlato avranno temuto
saranno partiti

Some third conjugation verbs such as capire insert -isc-
between the stem and the endings in the present, e. g.
capisco, capisci, capisce, etc. It is impossible to tell from
the infinitive form which verbs exhibit this phenomenon,
which often originated in Latin verbs denoting the
"inchoative" aspect of an action, that is, verbs describing
the beginning of an action. There are some 500 verbs like
this, the first ones in alphabetic order being abbellire,
abolire, agire, alleggerire, ammattire and so forth. In some
grammatical systems, "isco" verbs are considered a fourth
conjugation, often labelled 3b. There are also certain verbs
that end in -rre, namely trarre, porre, (con)durre and derived
verbs with different prefixes (such as attrarre, comporre,
dedurre, and so forth). They are derived from earlier trahere,
ponere, ducere and are conjugated as such.

Subjunctive Mood
Present Past Imperfect Past Perfect
1st Conj. 2nd Conj. 3rd Conj. 1st Conj. 2nd Conj. 3rd Conj.
1st Conj. 2nd Conj. 3rd Conj. 1st Conj. 2nd Conj. 3rd Conj.
che io parli tema parta abbia parlato abbia temuto sia partito
parlassi temessi partissi avessi parlato avessi temuto fossi
partito
che tu parli tema parta abbia parlato abbia temuto sia partito
parlassi temessi partissi avessi parlato avessi temuto fossi
partito
che lui parli tema parta abbia parlato abbia temuto sia partito
parlasse temesse partisse avesse parlato avesse temuto
fosse partito
che noi parliamo temiamo partiamo abbiamo parlato
abbiamo temuto siamo partiti parlassimo temessimo
partissimo avessimo parlato avessimo temuto fossimo
partiti
che voi parliate temiate partiate abbiate parlato abbiate
temuto siate partiti parlaste temeste partiste aveste parlato
aveste temuto foste partiti
che loro parlino temano partano abbiano parlato abbiano
temuto siano partiti parlassero temessero partissero
avessero parlato avessero temuto fossero partiti

Third conjugation verbs like capire mentioned above insert
-isc- in the first, second, and third persons singular and third
person plural of the present.
Compound forms (past and past perfect) are made by adding
the past participle (eg. parlato) to the corresponding auxiliary
form (as "abbia") in the present and imperfect tenses.

Conditional Mood
Present Past
1st Conj. 2nd Conj. 3rd Conj. 1st Conj. 2nd Conj. 3rd Conj.
io parlerei temerei partirei avrei parlato avrei temuto sarei
partito
tu parleresti temeresti partiresti avresti parlato avresti
temuto saresti partito
lui parlerebbe temerebbe partirebbe avrebbe parlato
avrebbe temuto sarebbe partito
noi parleremmo temeremmo partiremmo avremmo parlato
avremmo temuto saremmo partiti
voi parlereste temereste partireste avreste parlato avreste
temuto sareste partiti
loro parlerebbero temerebbero partirebbero avrebbero
parlato avrebbero temuto sarebbero partiti

From the table we can see that the verbs each take their
own root, from their class of verb, -are becomes -er-, -ere
becomes -er-, and -ire becomes -ir-, the same roots as used
in the future indicative tense. Onto this root all verbs add on
the same ending, depending on the conjugation.

Some verbs do not follow this pattern, but take irregular
roots, these include: Andare (to go) ~ Andr-, Avere (to have)
~ Avr-, Bere (to drink) ~ Berr-, Dare (to give) ~ Dar-, Dovere
(to have to) ~ Dovr-, Essere (to be) ~ Sar-, Fare (to make/do)
~ Far-, Godere (to enjoy) ~ Godr-, Potere (to be able to) ~
Potr-, Rimanere (to remain) ~ Rimarr-, Sapere (to know) ~
Sapr-, Sedere (to sit) ~ Sedr-, Stare (to be/feel) ~ Star-, Tenere
(to hold) ~ Terr-, Vedere (to see) ~ Vedr-, Venire (to come) ~
Verr-, Vivere (to live) ~ Vivr-, Volere (to want) ~ Vorr- etc.

The Italian conditional mood is a mood that refers to an
action that is possible or likely, but is dependent upon a
condition.
E.g. Io andrei in spiaggia, ma fa troppo freddo.
I would go to the beach, but it is too cold.
It can be used in two tenses, the present, by conjugation of
the appropriate noun, or the past, using the auxiliary
conjugated in the conditional, with the past participle of the
appropriate noun.
E.g. Mangerei un sacco adesso, se non stessi cercando di
fare colpo su queste ragazze.
I would eat a lot now, if I weren't trying to impress these
girls.
Sarei andato in città, se avessi saputo che ci andavano loro.
I would have gone to the city, if I had known that they were
going.
Many Italian speakers often use imperfect instead of
conditional and subjunctive. While incorrect, this is
somewhat tolerated in spoken Italian (rarely in written
Italian, even if it used to be a correct form in past times).
E.g. Se lo sapevo, andavo al mare.
If I had known it, I would have gone to the beach.
E.g. Se Lucia non faceva quel segno, la risposta sarebbe
probabilmente stata diversa. (Alessandro Manzoni, I
promessi sposi, chapter 3)
If Lucia had not made that sign, the answer would probably
have been different.
The conditional can also be used in Italian to express
"could", with the conjugated forms of potere (to be able to),
or "should", with the conjugated forms of dovere (to have to)
E.g. (Lui) potrebbe leggere un libro.
He could read a book.
(Lei) dovrebbe andare a letto.
He / she should go to bed.(informal)/You should go to
bed.(formal)

Imperative Mood
First Conj. Second Conj. Third Conj.
(tu) parla! temi! parti!
(Lei) parli! tema! parta!
(noi) parliamo! temiamo! partiamo!
(voi) parlate! temete! partite!
(Loro) parlino! temano! partano!

Verbs like capire insert -isc- in all except the noi and voi
forms.

Non-Finite Forms
Infinitive: present: -are, -ere, -ire; past: avere/essere + past
participle
Gerund: present: -ando, -endo, -endo; past: avendo/essendo
+ past participle
Participle: present: -ante -ente -ente; past: -ato, -uto (though
verbs of second conjugation almost always have a
contracted desinence, e.g. "cuocere" (to cook) "cotto"
(cooked)), -ito

Irregular Verbs
While the majority of Italian verbs are regular, many of the
most commonly used ones are irregular. In particular, the
auxiliary verbs essere and avere, and the common modal
verbs potere (ability, to be able to), dovere (duty, to have to),
sapere (knowledge, to know how to) and volere (will, to
want to) are all irregular. Many of the irregularities are
accounted for by the substance of Latin grammar; in Latin
the verb had four principal parts, of which the third and
fourth (perfect stem and perfect passive participle) were
formed regularly from the present stem only in the first and
second conjugations, whereas in the fourth and fifth (in -ere
with short e and in -ire) the presence of the i on the stem
caused a mutation of the following consonants and made
irregularities at a very early stage of the language.

The first conjugation has the big majority of regular verbs
(except "andare" (to go), "fare" (to do, to make... it's from
third Latin conjugation) and "dare" (to give), which are
strongly irregular). Almost every new verb (as neologism)
enters in first conjugation (e.g. formattare (to format) is of
first conjugation and perfectly regular).

The second conjugation is almost always irregular. They are
from Latin, where they were irregular too. The few regulars
are from Latin second conjugation: like "temere" (to fear),
"godere" (to enjoy)... The majority are from Latin third
conjugation, which is practically all irregular.

The third conjugation (deriving from Latin fourth conjugation)
has two different ways: Greek one with insertion of -sc-,
"capire" (to understand), "io capisco" (I understand), and
Latin one with no insertion, "sentire" (to feel), "io sento" (I
feel). There are some irregulars, but not too many: example,
"morire" (to die), "io muoio" (I die). The verb "dire" (to say, to
tell) derives from Latin third conjugation, and is strongly
irregular.

Most verbs are only irregular in the passato remoto
(preterite) tense, which resembles the Latin Perfect tense:
they are almost all of second conjugation.

Essere (to be, an auxiliary)
Indicative Subjunctive Conditional
Present Preterite Imperfect Future, Present Imperfect
io sono fui ero sarò sia fossi sarei
tu sei fosti eri sarai sia fossi saresti
lui è fu era sarà sia fosse sarebbe
noi siamo fummo eravamo saremo siamo fossimo saremmo
voi siete foste eravate sarete siate foste sareste
loro sono furono erano saranno siano fossero sarebbero

Avere (to have, an auxiliary)
Indicative Subjunctive Conditional
Present Preterite Imperfect Future Present Imperfect
io ho ebbi avevo avrò abbia avessi avrei
tu hai avesti avevi avrai abbia avessi avresti
lui ha ebbe aveva avrà abbia avesse avrebbe
noi abbiamo avemmo avevamo avremo abbiamo avessimo
avremmo
voi avete aveste avevate avrete abbiate aveste avreste
loro hanno ebbero avevano avranno abbiano avessero
avrebbero

Potere (to be able to, can, could (conditional); a modal)
Indicative Subjunctive Conditional
Present Preterite Imperfect Future Present Imperfect
io posso potei potevo potrò possa potessi potrei
tu puoi potesti potevi potrai possa potessi potresti
lui può poté poteva potrà possa potesse potrebbe
noi possiamo potemmo potevamo potremo possiamo
potessimo potremmo
voi potete poteste potevate potrete possiate poteste potreste
loro possono poterono potevano potranno possano
potessero potrebbero

Dovere (to have to, must, should (conditional); a modal)
Indicative Subjunctive Conditional
Present Preterite Imperfect Future Present Imperfect
io devo dovetti dovevo dovrò debba dovessi dovrei
tu devi dovesti dovevi dovrai debba dovessi dovresti
lui deve dovette doveva dovrà debba dovesse dovrebbe
noi dobbiamo dovemmo dovevamo dovremo dobbiamo
dovessimo dovremmo
voi dovete doveste dovevate dovrete dobbiate doveste
dovreste
loro devono dovettero dovevano dovranno debbano
dovessero dovrebbero

Volere (to want, would (conditional); a modal)
Indicative Subjunctive Conditional
Present Preterite Imperfect Future Present Imperfect
io voglio volli volevo vorrò voglia volessi vorrei
tu vuoi volesti volevi vorrai voglia volessi vorresti
lui vuole volle voleva vorrà voglia volesse vorrebbe
noi vogliamo volemmo volevamo vorremo vogliamo
volessimo vorremmo
voi volete voleste volevate vorrete vogliate voleste
vorreste
loro vogliono vollero volevano vorranno vogliano
volessero vorrebbero

Adverbs
An adjective can be made into a modal adverb by adding
-mente (from Latin "mindly", ablative of "mens" (mind),
feminine noun) to the ending of the feminine singular form of
the adjective. E.g. lenta "slow (feminine)" becomes
lentamente "slowly". Adjectives ending in "-re" or "-le" lose
their "e" before adding -mente (facile "easy" becomes
facilmente "easily", particolare "particular" becomes
particolarmente "particularly"). There is also a plethora of
temporal, local, modal and interrogative adverbs, mostly
derived from Latin (e.g: quando, dove, come, perché..."
[when, where, how, why/because...]).

Prepositions
The prepositions in Italian are classically nine: "di, a, da, in,
con, su, per, tra, fra" (of, to/at, from, in, with, on, for,
between/among, between/among). Classically because
many adverbs can be used as prepositions, alone or in
conjunction with a real preposition (e.g: sopra il tavolo
[upon the table], prima di adesso [before now]). In modern
Italian there's no more difference between tra and fra (the
former meaning "between" and the latter meaning "among"):
they are interchangeable: the only rule is euphony: tra fratelli
(among brothers) vs. fra i tralicci (between the power
pylons).

Sentences and Word Order
Italian is an SVO language, where Subject, Verb, and Object
normally come in that order, except for certain situations
(such as the introduction of an accusative or dative
pronoun. see below) or unless some change of order is to
be, for some stylistical matter. The subject, if a pronoun, is
usually omitted -- distinctive verb conjugations make it
redundant. Subject pronouns are considered emphatic when
used at all. Questions are formed by a rising intonation at the
end of the sentence (in written form, a question mark). The
question word (how, who, what, etc.) simply replaces the
missing subject or object. Subject-verb inversion does not
mark a question as in many European languages, as it
usually just emphasizes the subject. In general the
intonation and context are important to recognize questions
from affirmative statements.
Note how in the following examples the Italian word order
remains relatively fixed while the English varies somewhat:
E.g.
Davide è arrivato in ufficio. (David has arrived at the office.)
Davide è arrivato in ufficio? (Has David arrived at the
office?)
Perché Davide è arrivato in ufficio? (Why has David arrived
at the office?)
Perché Davide è arrivato in ufficio. (Because David has
arrived at the office.)
È arrivato Davide in ufficio. ("It was David who arrived at
the office" or "David arrived at the office" - depending on the
intonation)
È arrivato Davide in ufficio? (Has David, in particular,
arrived at the office?)
È arrivato in ufficio. (He has arrived at the office.)
Lui è arrivato in ufficio. (He has arrived at the office.)
Chi è arrivato in ufficio? (Who has arrived at the office?)

In general, adjectives come after the noun they modify,
adverbs after the verb. But: as with French, adjectives
coming before the noun indicate essential quality of the
noun. Demonstratives (e.g. questo this, quello that) come
before the noun, and a few particular adjectives (e.g. bello)
may be inflected like demonstratives and also placed before
the noun.

Object Pronouns
Though objects come after the verb as a rule, the rule
changes when the object is a pronoun.

Dative and accusative pronouns come before the verb. If an
auxiliary verb is used, the pronouns come before the
auxiliary. If both dative and accusative pronouns are used,
the dative comes first. Pronominal particles ce/ci (to it) and
ne (of it) are treated like accusative pronouns for word-order
purposes. (Note that ci, the first person plural accusative, is
easy to confuse with ci, the accusative particle, but they're
not the same. See examples.)
Examples:
Davide lascia la sua penna in ufficio. (David leaves his pen
at the office.)
Davide la lascia in ufficio. (David leaves it at the office.)
Davide ce la lascia. (David leaves it to us. (but also : David
leaves it there.))
Davide ce ne lascia una. (David leaves us one of them. (but
also [rare]: David leaves one [of them] there.))
Davide potrebbe lasciarcene una. (David might leave us one
of them (but also [rare]: David might leave one [of them]
there.)
or Davide ce ne potrebbe lasciare una. (exactly the same as
above)
(Compare with the similar use of objective pronouns, and
"y" and "en" in French.)
And finally, in the imperative and infinitive cases, the
objective pronouns come once again after the verb, but this
time as a suffix:
Davide lascia la sua penna in ufficio. (David leaves his pen
at the office.)
"Lasciala in ufficio!" ("Leave it at the office!")
"Lasciacela!" ("Leave it to us!" also [less common] "Leave
it there!")
Davide potrebbe lasciarla in ufficio. (David might leave it at
the office.)
"Non lasciarcela!" ("Don't leave it to us!" also [less
common] "Don't leave it there!")
Davide dovrebbe lasciarcela. ("David should leave it to us."
also [less common] "David should leave it there")

The Tense Relationship in Subordinate Sentences
Italian inherits consecutio temporum, a grammar rule from
Latin that disciplines the relationship between the tenses in
subordinate sentences. Consecutio temporum has very rigid
rules, though they are fading from spoken Italian. These
rules order the subjunctive tense in order to express
contemporaneity, posteriority and anteriority in relation with
the principal sentence. In spoken Italian, though, the
subjunctive is often replaced by correspondent indicative
form
to express contemporaneity when the principal clause is in
a simple tense (future, present, or simple past,) the
subordinate clause uses the present subjunctive, to
express contemporaneity in the present.
Penso che Davide sia intelligente. I think (that) David is
smart.
when the principal clause has a past imperfect or perfect
tense, the subordinate clause uses the imperfect
subjunctive, expressing contemporaneity in the past.
Pensavo che Davide fosse intelligente. I thought David was
smart.
to express anteriority when the principal clause is in a
simple tense (Future, or present or passato prossimo) the
subordinate clause uses the past subjunctive.
Penso che Davide sia stato intelligente. I think David has
been smart.
to express anteriority when the principal clause has a past
imperfect or perfect tense, the subjunctive has to be
pluperfect.
Pensavo che Davide fosse stato intelligente. I thought David
had been smart.
to express posteriority the subordinate clause uses not
subjunctive but indicative mood , because the subjunctive
has no future tense.
Penso che Davide sarà intelligente. I think David will be
smart.
to express posteriority with respect to a past event, the
subordinate clause uses the past conditional, whereas in
other European languages (such as French, English, and
Spanish) the present conditional is used.
Pensavo che Davide sarebbe stato intelligente. I thought
that David would be smart.

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Italian Products

Pesto

A jar of ready made pesto.

Pesto (Italian ['pesto], Genoese ['pestu]) is a sauce that originates in the city of Genoa in the Liguria region of northern Italy
(Pesto alla Genovese). The name is the contracted past participle of pestâ ("to pound, to crush", from the Latin root pestle),
in reference to the crushed herbs and garlic in the sauce.

Pesto alla Genovese is made from basil leaves...

...and pine nuts...

... which are ground up with the other ingredients.

Pesto Cavatappi.

"Fettuccine di Pesto alla Genovese"

Origin and Ingredients
The ancient Romans ate a cheese spread called moretum which may sometimes have been made with basil. The herb
likely first came from North Africa.

Pesto alla Genovese is made with Genovese basil, salt, garlic, Ligurian extra virgin olive oil (Taggiasco), European pine
nuts (often toasted) and a grated hard cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano (but which may be Grana Padano, Pecorino Sardo
or Pecorino Romano).

Historically, pesto was (and is sometimes still) prepared in a marble mortar with wooden pestle. First the basil leaves are
washed and dried and then put in the mortar together with garlic and some coarse crystals of sea salt, crushed to a
creamy consistency. Then the pine nuts are added and crushed together. When the pine nuts are well incorporated in the
"cream", the two grated cheeses (Parmigiano e Pecorino) plus olive oil can be added and stirred together with a wooden
spoon. The sauce is now ready. In a tight jar, or simply in an air-tight plastic container, pesto can last in the refrigerator up
to a week. Pesto can also be frozen, if needed.

Commercial, lower-quality pesto, usually sold in small jars, is commonly available in stores in green (original) or red (with
sun-dried tomatoes or red bell peppers) varieties, produced by major manufacturers or under a 'generic' or 'cheaper'
brand. In this quality pesto, cashew nuts or walnuts are often used instead of pine nuts, because they are less expensive
and have a similar texture. Cheaper oils may also be used.

Pesto is commonly used on pasta, traditionally with Mandilli de Sea (Genovese dialect - literally "silk handkerchieves" -
for lasagna), strozzapreti or trenette. It is sometime used in minestrone as well. It is very important never to cook pesto
because basil when heated gets bitter. Pesto is also often served on sliced beef, tomatoes and sliced boiled potatoes.

Variations
A slightly different version of the sauce exists in Provence, where it is known as Pistou. In contrast with the genovese
pesto, pistou is generally made with olive oil, basil and garlic only: while cheese may be added, usually no nuts are
included. Pistou is used in the typical soupe au pistou, a hearty vegetable soup with pistou flavour. The sauce did not
originally contain basil, however. Instead, cheese and olive oil were the main constituents.

Pesto alla Siciliana is a sauce from Sicily similar to Genoese pesto but with the addition of tomato and much less basil.

Other existing ingredient variations include: arugula (instead of or in addition to basil), black olives, lemon rind, coriander
or mushrooms. A German variety uses ramsons leaves instead of basil. In the 19th century, Genovese immigrants to
Argentina brought pesto recipes with them. A Peruvian variety, known as "Tallarin Verde" (literally "Green Noodles", from
Italian tagliarini) is slightly creamier, uses spinach leaves and is served with potatoes and sirloin steak.

Digestive Properties
Basil has been used as a treatment for coughs, skin diseases, and intestinal problems. The seed still finds use as a
bulk-forming laxative and diuretic. However, the composition of basil is affected not only by the chemotypes present in its
many different varieties, but even by influences such as the time of day of harvest, which may explain contradictory and
inconsistent reports that a too-generous helping of pesto may cause a temporary but distressing intestinal reaction in some
people.

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Italian Latest News

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Famous Italians

Giotto

Statue of Giotto di Bondone, close to the Uffizi.

Birth name: Giotto di Bondone
Born: c. 1267
near Florence, Italy
Died: January 8, 1337 (Aged about 70)
Florence, Italy
Nationality: Italian
Field: Painting, Fresco
Movement: Gothic

Giotto di Bondone (c. 1267–January 8, 1337), better known simply as Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect from
Florence. He is generally considered the first in a line of great artists who contributed to the Italian Renaissance.

Giotto's contemporary Giovanni Villani wrote that Giotto was "the most sovereign master of painting in his time, who drew
all his figures and their postures according to nature. And he was given a salary by the commune [of Florence] in virtue of
his talent and excellence."

The later 16th century biographer Giorgio Vasari says of him "...He made a decisive break with the ...Byzantine style, and
brought to life the great art of painting as we know it today, introducing the technique of drawing accurately from life,
which had been neglected for more than two hundred years."

Giotto's masterwork is the decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, commonly called the Arena Chapel, completed
around 1305. This fresco cycle depicts the life of the Virgin and the life of Christ. It is regarded as one of the supreme
masterpieces of the Early Renaissance. That Giotto painted the Arena Chapel and that he was chosen by the commune of
Florence in 1334 to design the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral are among the few certainties of his
biography. Almost every other aspect of it is subject to controversy: his birthdate, his birthplace, his appearance, his
apprenticeship, the order in which he created his works, whether or not he painted the famous frescoes at Assisi, and
where he was eventually buried after his death.

Biography

Early years
Giotto was probably born in a hilltop farmhouse, perhaps at Colle di Romagnano or Romignano; since 1850 a tower house
in nearby Colle Vespignano, a hamlet 35 kilometres north of Florence, has borne a plaque claiming the honour of his
birthplace, an assertion commercially publicised. He was the son of a man named Bondone, described in surviving public
records as "a person of good standing". Most authors accept that Giotto was his real name, but it may have been an
abbreviation of Ambrogio (Ambrogiotto) or Angelo (Angelotto).

The year of his death is calculated from the fact that Antonio Pucci, the town crier of Florence, wrote a poem in Giotto's
honour in which it is stated that he was 70 at the time of his death. However, the word "seventy" fits into the rhyme of the
poem better than would have a longer and more complex age, so it is possible that Pucci used artistic license.

In his Lives of the Artists, Giorgio Vasari relates that Giotto was a shepherd boy, a merry and intelligent child who was
loved by all who knew him. He was discovered by the great Florentine painter Cimabue, drawing pictures of his sheep on
a rock. They were so lifelike that Cimabue approached Bondone and asked if he could take the boy as an apprentice. Many
scholars today consider the story legendary and think it more probable that Giotto's family was well-off, and had moved to
Florence where Giotto was sent to Cimabue's workshop as an apprentice.

Vasari recounts a number of such stories about Giotto's skill. He writes that when Cimabue was absent from the
workshop, his young apprentice painted such a lifelike fly on the face of the painting that Cimabue was working on, that he
tried several times to brush it off. Vasari also relates that when the Pope sent a messenger to Giotto, asking him to send a
drawing to demonstrate his skill, Giotto drew, in red paint, a circle so perfect that it seemed as though it was drawn using
a compass and instructed the messenger to give that to the Pope.

Early career
Giotto's master, Cimabue, was one of the two most highly renowned painters of Tuscany, the other being Duccio, who
worked mainly in Siena. Around 1280, Giotto followed Cimabue to Rome, where there was a school of fresco painters, of
whom the most famous was Pietro Cavallini. The famous Florentine sculptor and architect, Arnolfo di Cambio, was then
also working in Rome.

One of the Legend of St. Francis frescoes at Assisi, the authorship of which is disputed.

From Rome, Cimabue went to Assisi to paint several large frescoes at the newly-built Basilica of St Francis of Assisi, and
it is probable, but not certain, that Giotto went with him. The fresco cycle of the Life of St. Francis in the Upper Church is
commonly considered to be the work of Giotto, but the documents of the Franciscan Friars that relate to artistic
commissions during this period were destroyed by Napoleon's troops, who stabled horses in the Upper Church of the
Basilica. In the absence of documentary evidence to the contrary, it has been convenient to ascribe every fresco in the
Upper Church that was not obviously by Cimabue, to Giotto, whose prestige has overshadowed that of almost every
contemporary. Some of the earliest remaining biographical sources, such as Ghiberti and Riccobaldo Ferrarese, cite the
fresco cycle of the life of St Francis in the Upper Church as his earliest autonomous works. However, since the idea was
convincingly put forward by the German art historian, Friedrich Rintelen in 1912, an increasing number of scholars have
expressed doubt that Giotto was in fact the author of the Upper Church frescos. There are many differences between them
and the Arena Chapel frescoes which can not be accounted for by the stylistic development of an individual artist. It
seems, rather, that several hands painted the frescoes and that the artists were probably from Rome. If this is the case,
then Giotto's frescoes at Padua owe much to the naturalism of these painters.

The Crucifixion of Rimini.

According to Vasari, Giotto's earliest works were for the Dominicans at Santa Maria Novella. These include a fresco of the
Annunciation and the enormous suspended Crucifix which is about 5 metres high. It has been dated around 1290 and is
therefore contemporary with the Assisi frescoes.

Other early works are the Madonna and Child panel now in the Diocesan Museum of Santo Stefano al Ponte, Florence, and
the signed panel of the Stigmata of St. Francis, from Pisa and now in the Louvre.

In 1287, at the age of about 20, Giotto married Ricevuta di Lapo del Pela, known as "Ciuta". The couple had numerous
children, (perhaps as many as eight) one of whom, Francesco, became a painter. Giotto worked in Rome in 1297–1300, but
few traces of his presence there remain today. The Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano houses a small portion of a fresco
cycle, painted for the Jubilee of 1300 called by Boniface VIII. In this period he also painted the Badia Polyptych, now in the
Uffizi, Florence.

Giotto's fame as a painter spread. He was called to work in Padua, and also in Rimini, where today only a Crucifix remains
in the Church of St. Francis, painted before 1309. This work influenced the rise of the Riminese school of Giovanni and
Pietro da Rimini. According to documents of 1301 and 1304, Giotto by this time possessed large estates in Florence, and it
is probable that he was already leading a large workshop and receiving commissions from throughout Italy.

The Scrovegni Chapel
Sometime between 1303 and 1310 Giotto executed (and signed) his most influential work, the painted decoration of the
interior of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. This chapel, the building and decoration of which were commissioned by Enrico
degli Scrovegni to atone for the sins of his father, is externally a very plain building of pink brick which was constructed
next to an older palace that Scrovegni was restoring for himself. The palace, now gone, and the chapel were on the site of
a Roman arena, for which reason it is commonly known as the Arena Chapel.

The Marriage at Cana

The theme is Salvation, and there is an emphasis on the Virgin Mary, as the chapel is dedicated to the Annunciation.

As is common in the decoration of the Medieval period, the west wall is dominated by the Last Judgement. On either side
of the chancel are complementary paintings of the Angel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary, depicting the Annunciation. This
scene is incorporated into the cycles of The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary and The Life of Christ. The source for The Life of
the Virgin is the "Golden Legend" of Jacopo da Varazze while The Life of Christ draws upon "Meditations on the Life of
Jesus" by the Pseudo-Bonaventura.

The cycle is divided into 37 scenes, arranged around the lateral walls in 3 tiers, starting in the upper register with the
story of Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Virgin and continuing with the story of Mary. The life of Jesus occupies two
registers. The Last Judgment fills the entire pictorial space of the counter-façade.

While Giotto's master Cimabue painted in a manner that is clearly Medieval, having aspects of both the Byzantine and the
Gothic, Giotto's style draws on the solid and classicising sculpture of Arnolfo di Cambio. Unlike Cimabue and Duccio,
Giotto's figures are not stylised, not elongated and do not follow set Byzantine models. They are solidly three-dimensional,
have anatomy, faces and gestures that are based on close observation and are clothed, not in swirling formalised
drapery, but in garments that hang naturally and have form and weight. Although aspects of this trend in painting had
already appeared in Rome in the work of Pietro Cavallini, Giotto took it so much further that he set a new standard for
representational painting.

The Mourning of Christ, Cappella degli Scrovegni.

The heavily sculptural figures occupy compressed settings with naturalistic elements, often using forced perspective
devices so that they resemble stage sets. This similarity is increased by Giotto's careful arrangement of the figures in
such a way that the viewer appears to have a particular place and even an involvement in many of the scenes. This
dramatic immediacy was a new feature, which is also seen to some extent in the Upper Church at Assisi.

Famous panels in the series include the Adoration of the Magi, in which a comet-like Star of Bethlehem streaks across the
sky, and the Flight from Egypt, in which Giotto broke many traditions in the depiction of the scene. The scenes from the
Passion were much admired by artists of the Renaissance for their concentrated emotional and dramatic force, especially
the Lamentation over the body of Christ, and studies of the sequence by Michelangelo exist.

The feature which more than any other sets Giotto's work apart from that of his contemporaries is his depiction of the
human face and of human emotion in both expression and gesture. When the disgraced Joachim returns sadly to the
hillside, the two young shepherds look sideways at each other. The soldier who drags a baby from its screaming mother
does so with his head hunched into his shoulders and a look of shame on his face. The people on the road to Egypt gossip
about Mary and Joseph as they go.

Of Giotto's realism, the 19th century English critic John Ruskin said "He painted the Madonna and St. Joseph and the
Christ, yes, by all means ... but essentially Mamma, Papa and Baby."

The Uffizi Ognissanti Madonna.

Other Works in Padua
Among those frescoes in Padua which have been lost are those in the Basilica of. St. Anthony and the Palazzo della
Ragione,which are however from a later sojourn in Padua.

Numerous painters from northern Italy were influenced by Giotto's work in Padua including Guariento, Giusto de'
Menabuoi, Jacopo Avanzi, and Altichiero.

Mature works
From 1306 to 1311 Giotto was in Assisi, where he painted frescoes in the transept area of the Lower Church, including The
Life of Christ, Franciscan Allegories and the Maddalena Chapel, drawing on stories from the Golden Legend and including
the portrait of bishop Teobaldo Pontano who commissioned the work. Several assistants are mentioned, including one
Palerino di Guido. However, the style demonstrates developments from Giotto's work at Padua.

In 1311 Giotto returned to Florence, A document from 1313 shows his presence in Rome, where he executed a mosaic for
the façade of the old St. Peter's Basilica, commissioned by Cardinal Jacopo Stefaneschi and now lost except for some
fragments. In Florence, where documents from 1314–1327 attest to his financial activities, he painted an altarpiece known
as the Ognissanti Madonna and now in the Uffizi where it is famously exhibited beside Cimabue's Santa Trinita Madonna
and Duccio's Rucellai Madonna.

At this time he also painted the Dormition of the Virgin in the Berlin Gemäldegalerie and the Crucifix in the Church of
Ognissanti.

Bardi Chapel: the Mourning of St. Francis.

According to Lorenzo Ghiberti, in 1318 he began to paint chapels for four different Florentine families in the church of
Santa Croce: the Bardi Chapel (Life of St. Francis), the Peruzzi Chapel (Life of St. John the Baptist and St. John the
Evangelist, including a polyptych of Madonna with Saints now in the Museum of Art of Raleigh, North Carolina) and the lost
Giugni Chapel(Stories of the Apostles) and the Tosinghi Spinelli Chapel (Stories of the Holy Virgin). The remaining frescoes
show that in later years Giotto's style had become more ornate, perhaps as a response to the emerging International
Gothic style.

The Peruzzi Chapel was especially renowned during Renaissance times, and Michelangelo is known to have studied it.
Though largely restored, the decoration displays clearly Giotto's capabilities in chiaroscuro and his study of perspective in
the ancient buildings. Giotto's compositions later influenced Masaccio's Cappella Brancacci.

The Bardi Chapel is of particular interest as it follows the same iconographic plan as the frescoes in the Upper Church at
Assisi, dating from about 20 years earlier. A comparison makes apparent the greater attention given by Giotto to
expression in the human figures and the simpler, better integrated architectural forms.

Later Life
In 1320 Giotto finished the Stefaneschi Polyptych, now in the Vatican Museum, for Cardinal Jacopo, who also
commissioned him the decoration of St. Peter's apse, with a cycle of frescoes destroyed during the 16th century
renovation. According to Vasari, Giotto remained in Rome for six years, subsequently receiving numerous commissions in
Italy and in the Papal seat at Avignon, though some of these works are now recognized to be by other artists.

Campanile di Giotto (Florence, Italy).

In 1328, after completing the Baroncelli Polyptych, he was called by King Robert of Anjou to Naples, where he remained
with a group of pupils until 1333. In Naples few of his works have survived: a fragment of a fresco portraying the
Lamentation on the Dead Christ in the church of Santa Chiara, and the Illustrious Men painted on the windows of the Santa
Barbara Chapel of Castel Nuovo (which are usually attributed to his pupils). In 1332 King Robert named him "first court
painter" with a yearly pension.

After Naples Giotto stayed for while in Bologna, where he painted a Polyptych for the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli,
and, according to the sources, a lost decoration for the Chapel in the Cardinal Legate's Castle.

In 1334 Giotto was appointed chief architect to Florence Cathedral, of which the Campanile (founded by him on July 18,
1334) bears his name, but was not completed to his design.

Before 1337 he was in Milan with Azzone Visconti, though no trace of works by him remain in the city. His last known
work (with assistants' help) is the decoration of Podestà Chapel in the Bargello, Florence.

In his final years Giotto had become friends with Boccaccio and Sacchetti, who featured him in their stories. In The Divine
Comedy, Dante acknowledged the greatness of his living contemporary through the words of a painter in Purgatorio (XI,
94–96): "Cimabue believed that he held the field/In painting, and now Giotto has the cry,/ So the fame of the former is
obscure."

Giotto's Remains
Giotto died in January of 1337. According to Vasari, Giotto was buried in Santa Maria del Fiore, the Cathedral of Florence,
on the left of the entrance and with the spot marked by a white marble plaque. According to other sources, he was buried
in the Church of Santa Reparata. These apparently contradictory reports are explained by the fact that the remains of Santa
Reparata lie directly beneath the Cathedral and the church continued in use while the construction of the cathedral was
proceeding in the early 14th century.

During an excavation in the 1970s bones were discovered beneath the paving of Santa Reparata at a spot close to the
location given by Vasari, but unmarked on either level. Forensic examination of the bones by anthropologist Francesco
Mallegni and a team of experts in 2000 brought to light some facts that seemed to confirm that they were those of a painter,
particularly the range of chemicals, including arsenic and lead, both commonly found in paint, that the bones had absorbed.

A possible contender as an image of Giotto is this face from the decoration of the Peruzzi Chapel.(digitally restored)

The bones were those of a very short man, of little over four feet tall, who may have suffered from a form of congenital
dwarfism. This supports a tradition at the Church of Santa Croce that a dwarf who appears in one of the frescoes is a self
portrait of Giotto. On the other hand, a man wearing a white hat who appears in the Last Judgement at Padua is also said
to be a portrait of Giotto. The appearance of this man conflicts with the image in Santa Croce.

Vasari, drawing on a description by Boccaccio, who was a friend of Giotto, says of him that "there was no uglier man in
the city of Florence" and indicates that his children were also plain in appearance. There is a story that Dante visited
Giotto while he was painting the Arena Chapel and, seeing the artist's children underfoot asked how a man who painted
such beautiful pictures could create such plain children, to which Giotto, who according to Vasari was always a wit,
replied "I made them in the dark."

Forensic reconstruction of the skeleton at Santa Reperata showed a short man with a very large head, a large hooked
nose and one eye more prominent than the other. The bones of the neck indicated that the man spent a lot of time with his
head tilted backwards. The front teeth were worn in a way consistent with frequently holding a brush between the teeth.
The man was about 70 at the time of death.

While the Italian researchers were convinced that the body belonged to Giotto and it was reburied with honour near the
grave of Brunelleschi, others have been highly sceptical.

Gallery

The Kiss of Juda Dante Alighieri Attendant figures in a scene from the Arena Chapel.

The Flight into Egypt. Adoration of the Magi The Last Supper, Alte Pinakothek

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CIAO! Hello Dear Friends of ITALY!

Enjoy This Issue of ITALIAN NEWS, Periodical On-Line that Promotes, Supports, Spreads ITALY,
and ITALIAN Language, History, Culture, Tradition, Genealogy, Articles, Products, Services, with Very Useful
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THE ITALIAN PROJECT www.theitalianproject.com

ITALIAN LANGUAGE: Italian Grammar - Articles, Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives, Verbs
ITALIAN GENEALOGY: How to Contact your Living Relatives in Italy
ITALIAN REGIONS: Emilia - Romagna
ITALIAN PROVINCES: Bologna - Ferrara - Forli'-Cesena - Modena - Parma - Piacenza -
Ravenna - Reggio Emilia - Rimini
ITALIAN RECIPES: Parmesan Orzo Primavera - Polenta Lasagna - Frozen Fruit Nougat
with Citrus Sauce
ITALIAN HISTORY: The Rise of the Italian City-States, The Kingdom of Sicily, The Italian
Renaissance and Foreign Domination, The Napoleonic Era in Italy, The Risorgimento
FAMOUS ITALIANS: Giotto
ITALIAN COMPANIES: Maserati
ITALIAN PRODUCTS: Pesto
ITALIAN LATEST NEWS: Life in Italy

In This Issue:

Issue # 4, April 2008

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Italian Recipes

Frozen Fruit Nougat with Citrus Sauce

Ingredients
1/4 cup dried cranberries, coarsley chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup dried currants
1/8 cup finely diced candied orange rind
6 tablespoons kirsch
10 tablespoons sliced blanched almonds
6 tablespoons shelled unsalted pistachios
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons water
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, plus
1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup honey
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
6 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest
5 small seedless tangerines

Nutrition Info
Calories: 442 kcal
Carbohydrates: 57 g
Dietary Fiber: 3 g
Fat: 21 g
Protein: 5 g
Sugars: 49 g

Cooking Directions
MAKE THE FROZEN NOUGAT: In a large bowl, combine the
cranberries, apricots, currants, candied orange rind and
kirsch and let stand for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking
sheet with parchment paper. On a pie plate, spread the
almonds and pistachios and toast for 7 to 8 minutes, until
golden; let cool.
In a medium saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of the sugar with
the water and cook over high heat until a medium amber
caramel forms, about 7 minutes. Add the 1 1/2 tablespoons
of cream and boil for 2 minutes. Off the heat, add the nuts
and stir to evenly coat them with the caramel. Pour the nuts
onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and spread in a thin
layer. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper and,
using a rolling pin, roll the brittle flat; let cool. Break the
brittle into 1-inch pieces. Transfer the brittle to a food
processor and pulse until coarsely ground.
Line a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving 4
inches of overhang all around. Drain the dried fruits,
pressing to remove as much of the liquid as possible. In a
large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites
until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining 1/2
cup of sugar at high speed and continue to beat until the
whites are firm and glossy. In another large bowl, beat the
remaining 1 1/2 cups of cream until firm peaks form.
Carefully fold the cream into the beaten egg whites. Fold in
the dried fruits and the ground brittle until evenly
distributed. Spoon the nougat into the prepared loaf pan and
smooth the top. Fold the plastic over and freeze until firm,
at least 8 hours.
MEANWHILE, MAKE THE SAUCE: In a small saucepan,
combine the honey with the vanilla bean and seeds and
bring to a boil. Off the heat, add the orange juice, lemon
juice and orange zest and let cool.
Peel the small tangerines. Working over a bowl, cut in
between the membranes, releasing the segments into the
bowl. Add the segments to the sauce.
Unmold the nougat; remove the plastic wrap. Cut into 10
slices, spoon the citrus sauce on the side and serve.
Yield: 10 servings

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Italian Recipes

Polenta Lasagna

Ingredients
1/4 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1 small carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 small stalk celery, strings removed and finely chopped
1/2 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 small garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
3 ounces ground sirloin
3 ounces ground veal
3 ounces ground beef
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
2 cups homemade chicken stock, or canned low-sodium
chicken broth, skimmed of fat
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Olive oil, for pan
2/3 cup instant polenta, plus
1 tablespoon instant polenta
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for surface
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk, plus
3 tablespoons milk, plus more for thinning if needed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
10 ounces fresh spinach, washed
10 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Nutrition Info
Calories: 1095 kcal
Carbohydrates: 75 g
Dietary Fiber: 10 g
Fat: 61 g
Protein: 55 g
Sugars: 16 g

Cooking Directions
Make the sauce: Place porcini in a small bowl, and cover
with 1/2 cup boiling water. Let soak 15 minutes. Lift
mushrooms out of water, chop medium fine, and set aside.
Strain the liquid through cheesecloth; set liquid aside.
In a large skillet, heat oil and butter over medium-low heat.
Add carrot, celery, onion, and garlic; cook, stirring
occasionally, until onions are translucent, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add all meats, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper;
raise heat to high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until
meat has browned, about 4 minutes. Add wine, and cook
until liquid has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Stir in
tomatoes, stock, chopped porcini, reserved porcini liquid,
and nutmeg. Lower heat to medium low, and slowly
simmer, stirring occasionally, about 35 minutes; much of
the liquid will evaporate, but the sauce should be very
moist, with several tablespoons of liquid remaining. The
sauce can be prepared up to 2 days in advance and stored,
covered, in the refrigerator.
Make the polenta: Lightly brush a 3-by-5-inch mini loaf pan
with oil; set aside. In a medium saucepan, bring 2 2/3 cups
water to a boil, and add salt. While constantly whisking,
add polenta in a slow, steady stream. When all the polenta
has been added, immediately reduce heat to low, and let
simmer, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, 3 to 5
minutes.
Remove polenta from heat, pour into prepared pan, and
smooth the surface (an offset spatula works well). Let stand
until cool, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until
cold and firm, about 4 hours. Can be prepared up to 2 days
in advance and stored, covered, in the refrigerator.
Make the bechamel sauce: In a saucepan, melt 2
tablespoons butter over medium-low heat. Add flour, and
cook, stirring frequently, 5 to 6 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring milk and salt to a
boil. Slowly whisk milk into the flour mixture until
completely incorporated and smooth. Add nutmeg, and
reduce heat to low; simmer, stirring occasionally, until
thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Rub butter over the surface of the bechamel; this will
prevent a skin from forming. The bechamel can be prepared
up to this point 2 days in advance and stored, covered, in
the refrigerator. When ready to use, warm sauce in a small
saucepan over low heat, stirring, 1 to 2 minutes. If the
sauce is too thick, whisk in about 2 tablespoons of milk to
thin it out.
Assemble the lasagna: Heat a medium skillet over
medium-high heat; add spinach and a pinch of salt and
pepper. Cook, stirring, until wilted and tender, 2 to 3
minutes. Remove from heat, and drain in a colander.
Squeeze out all water, finely chop, and set aside.
Unmold polenta onto a clean surface. Using a serrated
knife, trim the block of polenta to a length of 4 inches. Turn
polenta on its side; slice 6 pieces as thin as possible (they
should be less than 1/8 inch thick).
Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Spread 5 tablespoons of the
meat sauce into each of two 12-ounce ovenproof
casseroles. Cover with 1 slice of polenta, and spread 3
tablespoons of meat sauce evenly over. Spread 2
tablespoons of bechamel over the meat sauce, and evenly
distribute 2 tablespoons of the chopped spinach over the
bechamel. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of Parmesan, and
cover with 1 slice of polenta. Repeat the layering process
(3 tablespoons meat sauce, 2 tablespoons bechamel, 2
tablespoons spinach, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, and 1 piece
polenta). Spread 1 heaping tablespoon of bechamel sauce
over the final layer of polenta, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of
Parmesan, and dot with 1/4 teaspoon butter. These can be
prepared up to this point a day in advance; cover and
refrigerate. (If lasagnas are prepared ahead and
refrigerated, let them stand at room temperature for 1 hour
before baking.)
Bake until tops of lasagnas are golden brown and juices
are bubbling, about 20 to 25 minutes. If tops are not yet
brown, increase heat to broil and place lasagnas under
broiler until tops are speckled brown. Let stand for about 10
minutes before serving.
Yield: 2 servings

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Italian Recipes

Parmesan Orzo Primavera

Ingredients
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 cup orzo pasta, uncooked
2 1/2 cups chopped fresh vegetables, such as broccoli,
carrots, green onions, red peppers
1/3 cup KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese

Cooking Directions
Combine chicken broth and pasta in medium saucepan. Stir
in 1/3 cup water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low;
cover and simmer 7 minutes.
Add vegetables; mix well. Cook an additional 5 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Stir in Parmesan cheese.
Yield: 8 servings

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------