So, I 'm reading Insty, and I get waylaid by some feminist talking about antipasta. Now, I've taken English at graduate levels. I know that anti means against, and pasta mean flour based boiled bread. Like spaghetti, macaroni, fettucini. That sort of thing. You've eaten a lot of pasta. We all have.
So, whathehell is antipasta? It ought to be something that is anti-pasta (although for the life of me, I can't imagine anyone who is against pasta). Turns out, it's toast, with pepperoni. Maybe some garlic, and olive oil. I've got nothing against olive oil, but it's over-rated. Give me a good peanut oil every time. Or simple canola. They sell it by the gallon down at the Safeway. I can't imagine frying catfish in olive oil, but any good vegetable oil should suffice.
Hang on, I've got to make another drink. I've been drinking red whiskey for an hour.
What were we talking about? Antipasta, which isn't pasta at all. It's toast. With pepperoni. She's going to put that out for her boyfriend's parents. Good move if you never want them to visit again. Put out some meat pies, with brown gravy, and mashed potatoes. Maybe a little Maque Choux, that'll impress the in-laws. If any of my daughters-in-law serve me pepperoni on toast, I'll be pleasant, but when I leave I'll stop at Taco Bell and get something to eat.
Antipasta. It's Yankee for "I don't know how to cook."
7 comments:
Antipasta is Italian for "before the pasta". It is derived from Latin ante-before and pasta-food.
Gerry N.
Well, if it's only gonna be hors d'oeuvres, then I can forgive her. She did say they were going out to a local restaurant for the main course.
You left that link, and I clicked on it. I hope you can live with yourself! Bleah.
It is actually antipasto and has different meanings, from plates of different types of salami, sausages, cheeses, fish and breads etc..
There is a canned version has generally been made with the end of the garden vegetables so you get a little bit of everything and if it is done even halfway right it is very good.
Most of the non-canned antipasto is a first course to get the meal started or as a snack / lunch.
There are just as many versions of antipasto as there are of gumbo.
Sort of like Third World Pizza (hot sauce on a cracker). Soon to featured in a tailgate lunch post.
Pickles to pique your palate before the main courses.
It should be "ante" (before) pasti, not "anti" (against) pasti.
Traditionally, Italians have large and complex main meals. They are also used to drinking a digestif afterwards (and before any brandy), to settle the stomach after eating. My father adopted that habit, and after he died 20 years ago, I inherited a bottle of it. It is Fernet Branca, and I've never opened it.
Did you know Canola oil actually comes from Rape seed?
I discovered miles of fields in England covered with pretty yellow flowers and asked what they were.
They're Rape flowers. Seriously. I had to ask a couple different people because I thought they were pulling my leg.
In America, we call it Canola oil because...really...Who wants to see supermarket shelves stocked with gallons of Rape oil?
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