peperoncino a scaglie
In Italian, red pepper flakes is called peperoncino a scaglie.
This phrase refers to small pieces of dried, crushed red chili peppers used as a spice in cooking.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of peperoncino (chili pepper), a (in/with) and scaglie (flakes/scales).
Which one should you use?
While peperoncino a scaglie is the standard term, you can use peperoncino tritato to specifically describe crushed or ground chili peppers. In informal settings, you may also hear peperoncino in fiocchi o pezzetti, which means chili pepper in flakes or small pieces.
How does it change in a sentence?
In this common phrase, the noun peperoncino is singular, even though the spice consists of many pieces.
Did you know?
- In Italy, the red chili pepper is often seen as a symbol of good luck and is sometimes used as a charm to ward off the 'evil eye'.
- The word scaglie is the same term used to describe fish scales, which creates a vivid mental image of the thin, textured pieces of spice.
- The diminutive suffix '-cino' in peperoncino actually transforms the word for a large bell pepper, peperone, into a smaller, spicier chili pepper.
Examples in context
- Potrei avere del peperoncino secco in scaglie, per favore?Could I have some dried chili flakes, please?
- Potrei avere dei fiocchi di peperoncino, per piacere?Could I have some chili pepper flakes, please?
- Mi piace molto il piccante, puoi aggiungere scaglie di peperoncino?I really like spicy food, can you add some chili pepper flakes?
Example conversation
Chiara and Francesco are cooking dinner together.
- ChiaraFrancesco, dove hai messo il peperoncino a scaglie?Francesco, where did you put the red pepper flakes?
- FrancescoÈ nel mobiletto delle spezie, accanto al sale.It's in the spice cupboard, next to the salt.
- ChiaraGrazie, ne metto solo un pizzico.Thanks, I'll just put in a pinch.
- FrancescoPerfetto, così il piatto sarà più piccante.Perfect, that way the dish will be spicier.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries a, peperoncino, CC BY-SA 4.0.
