It's MAS-CAR-PONE!

Pet peeve of mine. The soft Italian cheese is Mascarpone [mass-car-poh-nay]. I have heard it mispronounced by everyone from guests to suppliers to five star chefs to servers of every stripe. It's Mas-car-pon-e! NOT MARS-CAPONE, a combination of the Red Planet and the Chicago gangster, Al Capone.

If it makes it easier to remember, just think "Mas-Car (pon-e) rhymes with NASCAR-PONY".

Up next: People that say "Chip-OL-tay", instead of CHIPOTLE (chuh-poht-lay), which is correct.

Lotsa Pasta staff sometimes get it so wrong it's hard not to laugh.... Bresaola, for example. When I ordered a bunch one day, pointing and pronouncing it, well, the way it's actually pronounced, the person behind the counter said, "Oh, you mean the bress-uh-oh'-la?... As I said to Gary, We really ARE in the south.

We get the Mars car pon all the time, we make our own at Meridian for our french toast, so it is a word that is always being tossed around.

Braciola (in queens, it was bra zhol), anyway you pronounce that one... it is delish! My godparents are Italian, and Sundays were a feast!

Sausage and peppas,(LOL) macaroni, and gravy, meatballs the size of your frickin' head! and of course all the local bakery desserts you can think of.
It was like a Viennese table every week!

Bresaola is simply paper-thin, dried beef medallions (not to be confused with braciola, the dish, which is a different thing altogether). I love bresaola on pizza, in salads, wrapped around goat cheese, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bresaola

I get that! The thinly sliced meat name brought up memories about the dish because of its similarity in spelling!

Thanks Colleen!

I get that! The thinly sliced meat name brought up memories about the dish because of its similarity in spelling!

Thanks Colleen!

I keep wondering why there isn't more domestic stuff like this. There is some stuff on the market, made domestically, that seems to be an attempt in that direction, but nothing ever comes close. It's kind of exasperating. Or is it just that the Italians have the market on the secret of great bresaola and the like cornered? Or maybe it's that health inspection is just so anal in this country we can't produce this sort of thing without introducing all sorts of preservatives and the like.... Dunno.

Have any of you found a retail-size mascarpone locally that you really like? We used to carry the Vermont Butter and Cheese brand, and it was wonderful, but I haven't seen it anywhere. A couple of other brands I've picked up have been duds. I have several appetizers that use it that I'd like to be able to make over the Holidays, but I won't do it if I can't get good stuff...

Thanks,
deb

Have any of you found a retail-size mascarpone locally that you really like? We used to carry the Vermont Butter and Cheese brand, and it was wonderful, but I haven't seen it anywhere. A couple of other brands I've picked up have been duds. I have several appetizers that use it that I'd like to be able to make over the Holidays, but I won't do it if I can't get good stuff...

Thanks,
deb

Like ricotta, it's easy to make, and better than store-bought.

[Robin Garr]

I'm late coming to this, but since I know you can take it, Marsha, I'm going to be super-pedantic: The English "a" sound in "mass" isn't normally found in Italian. Make that first syllable "Mahss", not "Mass," and you'll be closer. Think "NASCAR" as pronounced by a Brit.

Similar problem at the end: "Po-nay," not "Pony."

Get a good Milanese lilt into the syllable accents - "MAHSS-car-PO-nay" - with extra credit for accompanying it with suitable hand motions.

Pet peeve of mine. The soft Italian cheese is Mascarpone [mass-car-poh-nay]. I have heard it mispronounced by everyone from guests to suppliers to five star chefs to servers of every stripe. It's Mas-car-pon-e! NOT MARS-CAPONE, a combination of the Red Planet and the Chicago gangster, Al Capone.

If it makes it easier to remember, just think "Mas-Car (pon-e) rhymes with NASCAR-PONY".

Up next: People that say "Chip-OL-tay", instead of CHIPOTLE (chuh-poht-lay), which is correct.

Agree with all your adjustments, Robin. Just don't say MARS-CaPONE!!

Oh, you mean we can be pedantic?... Okay, then my own correction on the heels of everybody else's.

As a few Italian friends of ours say now and again, because apparently it annoys the heck out of them, the Italian long "o" isn't pronounced "oh," it's more a cross between that and "awe." Which is exactly how my high school choir director used to explain it (which included the Latin equivalent as well).

It may be a thing you have to grow up doing, because it's not a particularly easy noise to make for those of us who aren't used to it. It helps if you can remember to stick your jaw and chin out a bit whilst articulating the thing. But then you risk looking like a goofball.

hi deb, i get my mascarpone- vermont butter and cheese brand 8 oz. for 5.99

Annemarie,

Glad to know a real Italian agrees with my choice to that brand as Authentic.

I'm a little put off by ordering it mail-order though- isn't the refrigerated shipping really expensive for this? I'd only order one or two at a time - they typically have a shelf-life of only a month....

Like ricotta, it's easy to make, and better than store-bought.

Colleen,
You know I'd make it myself if I had a great recipe to use...Got one you want to share?

Thanks,
Deb

[Robin Garr]

the Italian long "o" isn't pronounced "oh," it's more a cross between that and "awe."

You've done it! You've out-pedanted me! Congratulations! Oh, and don't forget to roll the R just the tiniest little bit, not nearly as much as in Spanish.

You're not kidding about the Italian "o" though - I wasn't even going to go there, but now that you've opened the box, friends in Northern Italy, where I do most of my wine-and-food travel, say the "o" is the surest way to pick out a non-native speaker, even a very fluent speaker. "Risotto" is a good word to practice on ...

the Italian long "o" isn't pronounced "oh," it's more a cross between that and "awe."

You've done it! You've out-pedanted me! Congratulations! Oh, and don't forget to roll the R just the tiniest little bit, not nearly as much as in Spanish.

You're not kidding about the Italian "o" though - I wasn't even going to go there, but now that you've opened the box, friends in Northern Italy, where I do most of my wine-and-food travel, say the "o" is the surest way to pick out a non-native speaker, even a very fluent speaker. "Risotto" is a good word to practice on ...

Oh sure, two "o"s and an "r" to boot.... Easy peasy.... Sadist....