What is Italy famous for?
Let’s see!

Pasta, Pizza, fine art, great wine, the Roman Empire, the Colloseum, the Leaning Tower of Pisa (Krzywa Wieża w Pizie), ice-cream, beautiful beaches and gorgeous (wspaniałe) mountains, friendly people, handsome men and beautiful women, opera, romance, gondolas, the Venice carnival, expensive clothes and brands (marki) and gorgeous shoes! And of course food! Good chocolate, espresso, parmesan cheese, ravioli, spaghetti and many, many other things. Italian love cooking and eating and they spend hours on their family feast (uczta) enjoying food prepared by their wives, mothers and grandmothers.
Italian cuisine is popular all over the world and in every city you will find an Italian restaurant. Many people think that all Italian dishes (dania) are quite similar (podobne). They are completely wrong! The style of cooking and serving food differs (różni się) between the Italian cities. You can get different (always tasty) recipes for the pasta sauce depending on which city or district you are.

 

Did you know that…

1. There are several active volcanoes in Italy: Etna – the largest active volcano in Europe, Vulcano, Stromboli and Vesuvius – the only active volcano on mainland Europe. It is said that its future eruption will be very dangerous for many people.

2. The largest pizza ever baked was one measuring 37.4 m in diameter, made at Norwood Hypermarket, Norwood, South Africa on December 8, 1990. The Norwood pizza’s diameter was 3.5 m larger than the previous world record set by Pizza Hut, Singapore, in June 1990. The ingredients included 4,500 kg of flour.

3. Rome, the capital city of Italy is also called Caput Mundi (“capital of the world”), la Citta Eterna (“the Eternal City”), Limen Apostolorum (“threshold of the Apostles”), la citta dei sette colli (“the city of the seven hills”) or simply l’Urbe (“the City”).

 

Recipe: Spaghetti with Meatballs (for 4 people)

You want to prepare something really good to eat? Why not spaghetti? It’s really easy to make, especially when you have a good recipe (przepis)!

For the meatballs:

  • 200g each of minced (mielone) beef (wołowina), pork (wieprzowina) and veal (cielęcina)
  • 3 slices (plasterki) of bread soaked (namoczone) in milk then squeezed dry (wyciśnięte do sucha)
  • ½ medium onion, well chopped (posiekana)
  • 2 tablespoons of parsley (pietruszka), well minced
  • 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
  • ½ cup of grated (tarty) parmesan cheese
  • 2 eggs
  • vegetable oil

For the pasta and sauce:

  • 1/3 cup of olive oil
  • 3 cloves (ząbki) of garlic
  • ½ medium onion, chopped
  • 2 cans of plum tomatoes with puree, crushed (dosł. zgniecione)
  • 2 basil leaves
  • ½ teaspoon oregano
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup of water
  • 500g spaghetti

How to do it:

1. Put all ingredients (składniki) for the meatballs, except (oprócz) vegetable oil, in a bowl (miska) and stir (wymieszaj) the mixture gently with your hands without squeezing it.

2. When all the ingredients are combined, shape (uformuj) it gently into small balls.

3. Heat up (podgrzej) vegetable oil in a heatproof (żaroodporny) pan. Make sure (upewnij się) it is big enough for all the meatballs. Place (umieść) pan with the meatballs in oven pre-heated to 450 degrees and brown on all sides.

4. Heat olive oil in a pot (garnek). Add garlic and onion and cook until onion is translucent (półprzezroczysty).

5. Add tomatoes, basil, oregano, salt and pepper and water. Bring to a boil (doprowadź do wrzenia) then lower heat to a simmer.

6. Simmer (gotuj na wolnym ogniu) for 45 minutes then add meatballs and continue simmering for another ½ hour.

7. While the sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and the spaghetti.

8. Cook uncovered (bez przykrycia) over high heat (na dużym ogniu) until al dente.

9. Drain (odcedź) pasta, put back in pot, add some of the sauce to the pot and mix it up. Put pasta on plates and put meatballs and rest of the sauce on top.

Enjoy your meal!

 

Zadanie

Przeczytaj tekst, a następnie wybierz odpowiedź a), b) lub c).

The History of Rome

Rome (Roma) is the capital city of Italy as well as the country’s largest and most popular place. It is located in the central-west of the Italian peninsula, where the river Aniene joins the Tiber.

According to legend, the city of Rome was founded by the twins Romulus and Remus on April 21, 753 BC. The twin brothers were the sons of the priestess Rhea Silvaand of the God Mars. When they were very young, they were abonded by the banks of the river Tiber and left there alone. Luckily for them they were found by a she-wolf who took pity on them and fed them with her milk.
Later a shepherd found the boys and took them home. He raised the boys as his own children. The boys grew up. They became very strong and clever and they decided to build a town on the spot where the Shepherd found them.

Shortly after building the town the twins had a big argument about who should be in charge. Romulus overpowered his brother Remus who died in the fight. Romulus then became the first king of this town which he named Rome, after himself.
As you can see, the early days of the City of Rome are surrounded with mystery and all we have is a legend, a story that is partly based on fact, partly based on fiction.

Questions:

1. Who was the father of the twins?
a) God of love.
b) God of war.
c) A shepherd.

2. Why did Romulus and Remus leave home?
a) They were left by the river.
b) They were kidnapped.
c) They hated their life.

3. Who took care of the two little boys?
a) A cow.
b) A wolf.
c) A young woman.

4. Why was Remus killed?
a) His brother wanted to be a king.
b) His brother always hated him.
c) He was never killed.

5. Rome has its name after:
a) Romulus,
b) Remus,
c) the she-wolf – “mother” of the twins.

 

Zadanie

Wstaw słowa z ramki w odpowiednie luki.

ancient • ate • called • for • most • opened • sauce • the • visit • world

The history of pizza

Pizza is one of the ____________ (1) popular Italian dishes. Almost everybody likes this fantastic base with loads of cheese and tomato ____________ (2)! But is it really Italian? Pizza has evolved into its current form very slowly. It bears the mark of many ____________ (3) cultures centered around the Mediterranean sea. In ___________ (4) 18th century Greeks ate a flat, baked bread with assorted toppings ___________ (5) “plankuntos”. Such a flatbread was also known by Babylonians in earlier centuries.
In 1889, a Neapolitan, Rafaele Esposito prepared pizza _____________ (6) King Umberto I and Queen Margherita. The Queen loved it and pizza became popular among aristocracy, they named it after the Queen. But of course Italian and Greek peasants ______________ (7) earlier forms of pizza for several centuries before.
The world’s first true pizzeria was probably “Antica Pizzeria Port’Alba” which opened in 1830. You can still _____________ (8) it when you are in Naples at Via Port’Alba 18. The first U.S. pizzeria was ____________ (9) in 1895 in New York City by an Italian immigrant named Gennaro Lombardi.
Pizza is now consumed all over the _____________ (10) and different cultures have adapted pizza to their own preferences. ­Everybody knows what the pizza is!

Odpowiedzi

1 – most; 2 – sauce; 3 – ancient; 4 – the; 5 – called; 6 – for; 7 – ate; 8 – visit; 9 – opened; 10 – world.