how do i order plain pasta for picky eater
 

I'm taking my family to Italy in March. My son is a picky eater although he loves pasta. Typically when we eat out we order him plain pasta (no butter, no grated cheese, no sprinkling of parsely) with tomato sauce (no meat) on the side (to check it out before he eats it). How do we ask for this in Italian. <BR> <BR>Thanks <BR>

Plain pasta is "in bianco." I forget what to say to request something "on the side." I'll post again later.... unless someone else gets it first.

From everything I've read, they love to spoil children in Italy -- (not that you son is spoiled -- both my kids went through that stage, and one practically lived on milk, fruit juice and cheerios for about a year and a half). Point is, they are more used to catering to idosyncratic young tastes than here in the US. I think "marinara" is usually plain sauce.

I went through that too. Anyway you also need to say no butter and nothing green. I don't speak Italian but they understood when I say "No beurro, no verte, no carne" That was just mixed up bad French and Spanish but they got the point. <BR> <BR>Someone write this properly in Italian if you can.

Hi Marg, I too, have picky eaters. On our first trip to Italy I let them order what they liked and asked them to have a small taste of what mom and dad were having as well. Sometimes we couldn't get them to go back to their plain pasta. By the end of the trip they were experts at asking for pasta with vongole (clams) and their range of menu items had expanded greatly! They were 8 & 9 years old. I do know how to ask for dishes without meat since one of my daughters is a vegetarian, it's "Hanna piatti senza carne? Have fun, they will remember it forever!

Marinara's sea food; so don't ask for that. Santa Chiara, where are you? Paulo?

I'm not Paulo or Santa Chiara, but... Actually, marinara, despite its fishy-sounding name, is not seafood (or at least it shouldn't be). The name basically connotes "fisherman-style," and I think the idea was that you wouldn't take meat on a voyage.

I just realized that what I wrote doesn't exactly make sense. What I meant was that I think the idea was that a vegetarian sauce was less likely to go bad on a ship. Anyway, authentic marinara should be tomato sauce with seasonings -- no meat, no fish.

Hi Marj- You might want to try www.babelfish.altavista.com <BR>When I typed in pasta, no butter, no cheese, sauce on the side here's what I got: "pasta, nessun burro, nessun formaggio, salsa dal laterale" <BR> <BR>Can someone tell me if this will get Marj's son what he wants? Paulo? Santa Chiara?

www.babelfish.altavista.com <BR>what a useful site! <BR> <BR>thanks for other info too.

I was a picky eater when I was a kid too so I understand :) Thank goodness I grew out of that. Now I eat everything! <BR> <BR>Enjoy your trip!!

For sauce on the side ask for "la salsa a parte," as suggested by a native speaker. (Now I still seem to recall another way of saying this, but maybe it was wrong, or maybe it depends on where in Italy.) Your plain tomato sauce would be "salsa di pomodoro."

We spent a month in Florence a few years back with our then 8 year old finicky son. In the end, he learned to love spaghetti drenched with extra virgin olive oil that he put on himself at the table (still likes it that way). Time after time, as I tried to explain in Italian what we were after - the waiter would laugh and say "Ah, si...spaghetti Inglese"

Pasta needs to be dressed with SOMETHING (at the very least a little olive oil) immediately after being drained or else it will get sticky and pretty disgusting to eat. Marinara is a meatless sauce, usually tomato, which could be made at sea with ingredients that aren't too perishable. Young children (toddlers) in Italy often eat pastina (a tiny pasta), in a little broth or with a little ricotta or oil.

Both marinara and Salsa di pomidoro are correct; however, they are different types of sauce. If he wants sauce like in the States, it is marinara (no meat, no seafood, etc.) It is cooked for a longer time than salsa di pomidoro, which is typically made with garlic and herbs (usually basil and/or oregano), and cooked for only about 1/2 hour. It is chunkier and jucier at the same time. Great sauce, just different than typical American tomato sauce. (Sorry if you aren't American, you just sounded like it to me.) And the word for "without" is "senza". So your request would be "senza burro, senza verde (not verte), senza carne." "Nessuno means, I think, "no one." (Though it has been a couple of years since I've used my Italian and I may be remembering incorrectly. Please, somebody, if I'm wrong, correct me so I can learn again!) Also, the suggestion of letting your son try other things is a great one. Kids surprise you! Have fun in Italy--it's a wonderful country.

See how helpful everyone is! wow. Oh well, I guess babelfish is wrong in some respects but I've never studied Italian so that's all I had to go on. Good to know you guys are out there when it's my turn to go to Italy.

Is he so picky that he doesn't like plain pizza with just tomato sauce? That is often quite easy to do, and many restaurants will be happy to do it for him. Just "pizza margarita".

Pizza Margherita has tomato, mozzarella and basil. It is red, white and green, the colors of the italian flag, and the story is that it was made as a patriotic-looking dish for Queen Margherita.

Marj- <BR> <BR>Actually I think he'll do quite well in Italy as the pasta is generally prepared simpler there and not smothered in an excess of sauce. And your basic tomato sauce (pomodoro) does not come with meat in it. <BR> <BR>Plus they use a much wider variety of types & shapes of pasta than you generally will see in American Italian restaurants.

Tell him that if he doesn't eat what's been ordered then he wont eat at all. Let's see how long he can go watching the rest of the family tuck in whilst he sits and pouts. <BR> <BR>Let them eat pasta.