Giulia Scarpaleggia
speaker
30 appearances
1 recordings
1 series
first heard Aug 2026
last heard 11 Aug
Giulia Scarpaleggia’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 1.
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I spent more than a month reading Northanger Abbey when I was in high school, curled up on the sofa at home or with my nose buried in the book while waiting for the bus. I would carefully underline every word I didn't know, then look it up in my dictionary as soon as I got home. English was my superpower. I was painfully shy at school and rarely raised my hand in class, but something changed during English lessons.
I felt a bit braver, even with the hesitant beginner's English. Perhaps it was because making mistakes felt like part of the process, rather than something to be ashamed of. So I threw myself into Jane Austen. I learned English because I fell in love with it, and I improved it because I found a way to study it through my passions.
First it was Jane Austen, then British films and actors, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones' Diary, Love Actually, just to name a few, and eventually it was food and Jamie Oliver. I was a proud subscriber to Jamie Magazine from issue number two until the very end, reading each recipe as if it were a poem, rolling the words on my tongue, savouring the verbs and adjectives.
I've read and re-read Elizabeth David's and Agnes Leather's books for years, poring over their words and descriptions. Now, I teach my cooking classes in English. I record this podcast in English with my unmistakably Italian accent. I write my blog and newsletter in English. And I've even written two cookbooks directly in English for an American publisher.
I dare say I'm fluent in English as long as we can talk about food. Don't make me talk about politics, plumbing or philosophy. I know that many of you read both the English and Italian versions of my newsletter to improve your Italian, expand your vocabulary and become more confident and fluent in a language you love just as much as you love Italian food.
That's why I wanted to invite someone who could help you do exactly that. Today, I'm talking with Margherita Berti, an Italian teacher now based in the United States, to inspire you and give you some tips on how to improve your Italian through something you are equally passionate about, Italian food. So, let's start. My name is Giulia Scarpaleggio and you are listening to a new episode of Cooking with an Italian Accent.
Ciao, Margherita, and welcome to Cooking with an Italian Accent. Can you briefly introduce yourself and tell us what you do, where you're from and how you ended up teaching Italian? Certo. Ciao, Giulia. Yes. So my name is Margherita Berti and I am from Italy.
That's fabulous. And my listeners, they're all interested in food and food stories with a focus on Italian food, of course. And I realize over the years that many of them are also curious about Italian words and Italian language. And some of them are actually actively studying Italian. So my question is, how can someone use cooking as a simple way to practice Italian at home?
And I think it really works well when you're doing something you enjoy. For example, my knowledge of English, it's much better when I have to talk about food than when I have to talk about philosophy or construction. So words come easily to your mind because it's something you're passionate about. And why do you think food is such a powerful way to connect with Italian language and culture?
Yeah. Yeah. Food is something that really brings people together. And it's also a great way to communicate with other people. And so also a great way to learn another language when you have to survive and you have to especially learn to eat a few, you know, a few things. And what are some Italian cooking words or verbs the listeners should know?
Yeah, for me, it's fun because, of course, Italian is my language. It's my first language. And I speak English every day when I work and when I teach classes. So these words, they come easily to my mind in English rather than in Italian.
Because I always use them in English first, you know, rather than in Italian. And I don't know if it is something that it's just my feeling, but I think some of these words are like more precise in English.
rather than in Italian. So like we have mescolare, but then it would be whisk, fold, stir. So, you know, it's like it's easier to understand because it's more detailed when you speak in English rather than in Italian. For us, we say mescolare as we give for granted that we know how we had to mescolare. But in English, you want to be precise how you had to mescolare. Right.
yes exactly and speaking of these are there on the opposite any Italian cooking terms that do not translate perfectly into English I think about mantecare because you can say to cream but mantecare is more specific about risotto yeah
Yeah, I think it's mantecare is the best example. And then mantecare comes from a Spanish word, you know, mantequilla, which is butter. But still, it's one of those words in Italian is maybe so connected with a recipe that was born in Italy that it's difficult to translate into another language.
And to help beginners navigate Italian, especially if they're planning a trip to Italy, maybe this summer or next year, what are some common Italian words that people might see in recipes or menus?
Yes. And for quanto basta, sometimes it's also QB. So it might even be more difficult to understand. I always find fun when I say just add a pinch of salt because my Italian pinch is very different.
from other pinches or a drop of olive oil. So I think this is also a cultural thing. It's not just language because what we consider a pinch is often a three finger pinch and a drop of olive oil is often like a generous pour. So sometimes you might need to adapt to our pinch and our drop of olive oil.
That's another cultural difference that you will see. Exactly. When I was working on my previous two cookbooks with an American publisher, I developed all my recipes in grams, but I had a recipe tester, an amazing recipe tester. And she, of course, she not just tested my recipes, but she helped me
convert and translate grams to cups, tablespoons, ounces. But it's also sometimes you need to know the size of cans, for example. So my standard size of tuna can or tomato can can be different from the American or the British tomato can, for example. And so while in our recipes, we in Italy, we tend to use the whole can sometimes doesn't translate completely.
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