Charming Italian sayings about the food

It is impossible to think about Italy without thinking of delicious Italian food. The kitchen is central to the hearts and minds of Italian families, so there are hundreds of Italian quotes about food. From proverbs to folk sayings, we have gathered a few Charming Italian sayings about the food.

Parla come mangi.

Literally “Speak the way you eat!”Meaning: It is an invitation to speak simply and clearly, just like Italian cuisine.

Essential Italian food quotes for those who travel to Italy

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Essere come il prezzemolo.

Literally “Being like parsley.”Parsley is used extensively in different recipes. It is said of a person who is everywhere, on every occasion and in any place, perhaps even in a somewhat intrusive way.

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Tutto fa brodo.

Literally “Everything makes broth”.It means that everything can find its usefulness. Even seemingly useless, or waste turns out to be important.

Liscio come l’olio.

Literally smooth as oil is used to indicate a situation that takes place without complications, without ripples like the surface of the oil.

Non tutte le ciambelle escono col buco.

Literally “Not all doughnuts come out with a hole”
It is used when the result is not quite as expected. But it helps to put things in perspective: on many doughnuts, some come out of the oven without a hole. Try again and you will be luckier.

La cucina piccola fa la casa grande.

Literal Translation: The small kitchen makes the house big.

Meaning: The love at the center of the kitchen builds the foundation of the home. The kitchen is the center of Italian domestic life and a way for all families to feel rich in spirit. After all, it’s at the table that Italian families come together daily, whether rich or poor. The kitchen is the common denominator.

O mangi questa minestra o salti la finestra.

Literal Translation: Either eat this soup or jump out the window.

Meaning: Roughly similar to the English expression “take it or leave it,” this is a favorite proverb of harried Italian moms and grandmas. When confronted with a picky child, a mother might shout, “o mangi questa minestra o salti la finestra.” She means business.

Italian sayings about food: bread and wine

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Buono come il pane.

Literally “good as bread”, the humble and noble food at the same time, present on every table, is the appropriate metaphor to indicate a good, meek and altruistic person.

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Nella botte piccola, c’è il vino buono.
Literally, “In small barrels, there is good wine,” deriving from the tendency of winemakers to keep the part of the wine considered best in smaller barrels, and it should enhance its aromas and flavors. You can emphasize that insignificant objects, or people of short stature, may reveal valuable qualities with more careful observation or knowledge.

Rendere pan per focaccia.
To give tit for tat. Literally, “Give back bread for dough.”
Today this Italian saying has a negative meaning; it says that one responds proportionately to the wrong suffered. This saying, already known in Boccaccio’s time, derives from a custom of good neighborliness when they made bread at home. If there was no flour, you could borrow focaccia, that is, the raw dough, from the neighbors.

Wise Quotes in Italian About Food and Life

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Chi lavora mangia, chi non lavora, mangia, beve e dorme.

Literal Translation: He who works eats, he who doesn’t work, eats, drinks, and sleeps.

Meaning: Work is just a way to earn money. The real joy in life is living. So, while your work may pay you and get your food on the table, time spent not working offers life’s true rewards.

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A tavola non si invecchia.

Literal Translation: You don’t get old at the table.

Meaning: Enjoy life to the fullest. Pull up a chair, grab a plate of pasta and pour a glass of wine. Italians focus on the pleasures in life and when you’re at the table, life is at it’s finest.

Anni e bicchieri di vino non si contano mai.

Literal Translation: You never count years or glasses of wine.

Meaning: Once again, it’s best to fully inhabit and enjoy the moment. Better yet, with a glass of wine in hand. Often if an Italian offers a friend a libation, this proverb is quoted. Just don’t count how many glasses.

Ad ogni pentola il suo coperchio.

Literal Translation: For each pot its own lid.

Meaning: While it may be easy to commit a secret wrong, the truth always catches up with you. Italians love to use this proverb when speaking of sneaky corrupt politicians. Ultimately it means that you can commit a crime but you can’t hide forever.

Bacco, tabacco e Venere riducono l’uomo in cenere.

Literal Translation: Bacchus, tobacco, and Venus reduce a man to ashes.

Meaning: This is a proverb about vices. Bacchus is the god of wine, and Venus is the symbol of women. The gist here is that wine, cigarettes, and women can lead to a man’s downfall when he overindulges. Consider yourself warned!

L’acqua fa male e il vino fa cantare.

Literal Translation: Water is bad and wine makes you sing.

Meaning: Drink that wine. This is from an old Italian drinking song called “Bevilo Tutto” (Drink it All). Often friends egg each other on to drink more by singing this proverb.

Pollo, pizza e pani si mangiano con le mani.

Literal Translation: Eat chicken, pizza, and bread with your hands.

Meno pregiato è il pesce e meglio il brodo riesce.

Literal Translation: The less noble the fish, the better the broth.

Meaning: The most rustic things can be the most pleasurable too.

It is a common sentiment across Italy, where people all around the country appreciate “Cucina Povera” or peasant food. Whether you’re in Northern, Southern, Adriatic, or Tyrrhenian Italy, you’ll find that Italians have a great fondness for the simple pleasures in life.

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Charming Italian sayings about food: egg, fish and meat food

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La mela non cade mai lontana dall’albero.
Literally “the apple never falls far from the tree”, means that children are very similar to their parents, in their way of thinking and their behaviours. It can be used both in a positive sense, to highlight merits, and in a negative sense, to underline defects.

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Essere la ciliegina sulla torta.
Being the icing on the cake refers to the final touch, the detail that completes and refines.

Il pesce puzza sempre dalla testa.
Literally “the fish always stinks from the head” is a way of saying that if something is wrong, whoever has a responsibility or is in charge of something, sets an example to follow as well as making decisions that fall on others, so it will be his/her fault if things go wrong.

Essere l’altra metà della mela.
Literally, “being the other half of the apple” for someone means being a soul mate, the missing piece to make the whole. The expression derives from the myth of the two halves described in Plato’s Symposium.

Best Quotes about Italian Food

“Everything you see I owe to pasta.”
–Sophia Loren, Actress

“Life is a combination of magic and pasta.”-Federico Fellini

“You can do irrefutably impossible things with the right amount of planning and support from intelligent and hardworking people and pizza.”
–Scott M. Gimple

“If your mother cooks Italian food, why should you go to a restaurant?”
–Martin Scorsese

The conclusion of the Charming Italian sayings about the food post

We did our homework. So now, it is your turn. Please share with us which Italian food you like the most and your favorite Italian sayings about the food, of course.