Three ways to sauce it up.

Voglio un condimento di olio d’oliva e sale per l’insalata.

La mini-lezione oggi si tratta di una sfumatura in italiano. Diciamo che stai parlando delle ricette di pasta con un amico.

Per dire, “You want to use a simple sauce of salvia and butter with these tortellini.”

To translate “sauce,” would you use:

• Il sugo

• La salsa

• Il condimento

Each of these words has their place to mean “sauce,” but with the example I’ve given above, you would use “il condimento.”

So that would be, “Prepari i tortellini con un condimento semplice con salvia e burro.”

Here’s the basics of when you would use each word:

• Il sugo - Sauce prepared with meat and veggies

• La salsa - Sauce prepared with pasta (without meat) and cooked; similar to a gravy

• Il condimento - Dressing (like with a salad or something simple and thin like in the example above)

Here are a couple other examples:

• Voglio un condimento di olio d’oliva e sale per l’insalata. - I want a olive oil and salt dressing for the salad.

• Oggi abbiamo preparato un sugo con la polpa di manzo, il brodo di carne, la pancetta, la salsa di pomodoro, la carota, e le cipolle; si chiama il ragù alla bolognese. - Today we’ve prepared a sauce with beef, meat broth, bacon, tomato sauce, carrot, and onions; it’s called bolognese meat sauce.

Avete delle domande? Lasciate un commento sotto!

Un abbraccio,

Cher

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Note of language love: All of our articles, lessons, and podcast episodes have been edited by Irene Malentacchi, the founder of Italian in Love. However, if you find a mistake, let us know! We want these articles to be accurate, accessible, and easy to understand. Reach out directly at italianwithcher@gmail.com or leave a comment. Grazie in anticipo!