The course consists of 4 lessons in a Standard Language Course plus 2 private tutorials on the language of wine and food, each day.

This theory course is dedicated to those who are interested in the language of food and wine as a hobby or for professional reasons. The program focuses on the language of these two important sectors of the Italian economy, aiming at providing students with the basic vocabulary and technical expressions that are most often used. The course analyzes the main recipes of nationwide and regional Italian cooking, describes the typical products and most often used preparations, reviews the most important old and modern cookbooks, such as that of Artusi and "Il talismano della felicità", and provides a short history of Italian cuisine. In the area of wine, a region-by-region review is given of the most important wines with a focus on different technologies. After identifying the basic technical vocabulary and expressions, the student is helped to assimilate them through targeted exercises and discussions. On the request of the student, guided visits can be arranged to markets, inns, restaurants and food producers. The course can be combined with practical courses of cooking and wine tasting that are organized by the school.

As in all thematic courses, this one aims not only at providing knowledge of food and wine, but also at improving the student’s general knowledge of the Italian language on the basis of the didactic principle that the things that interest us are much more easily assimilated.

Topics that may be discussed during the course:

Food:

sauces, appetizers, between courses, fried foods, soups, minestrone, fish soup, pastas, rice, gnocchi, polenta, pizza, preparing eggs, fish, meat, vegetables, desserts

Wine:

characteristics of Italian wines, classifications, wine laws, reading labels, the main kinds of grapes, areas of wine production, technology, wines region-by-region, the market for wines

Since the material is extremely broad and cannot be covered in a thorough manner in the few available lessons, students may begin the course by planning with the instructor a program with a narrower focus on the basis of their needs, with a concentration on only several topics. In particular, if a student needs to increase his expertise in a specific area for professional reasons, we recommend that he inform us before arriving in order to give the instructor sufficient time to prepare a specific program with selected texts. For example, if a student runs a restaurant, the course may focus on different types of menus and of the market for certain products and of the shaping of the Italian market as per the tastes of the consumers. If the student is a cook, the course may examine the main recipes in Italian cooking in their regional variations and the use of ingredients.