3 ms·

alla = "a type of seasoning/condiment/cooking" Examples: Pasta alla carbonara Pizza alla marinara Trenette al pesto

• gkya 10y ago
  Let's note that grammatically 'alla', 'al', etc. is 'at/in/towards' + 'the', but in this idiomatic use gives the meaning in the parent comment.
  • jaclaz 10y ago
    Yes and no, it is "worse" than that. In this particular use (for bolognese or pescatora, amatriciana, etc.) "a/al/alla" means "in the style of", BUT when it is pasta al ragù (al pesto, al pomodoro, etc., i.e. other main ingredients) the "a/al/alla" means "with". And we have also our own exceptions, one says "Pappardelle sul cinghiale" (pappardelle is yet another type of pasta), literally "pappardelle on the hog", BUT you don't have the "a" in "spaghetti aglio e olio (e peperoncino)". As a side note a "ragù" has nothing to do with the (usually horrible) tomato sauce that is used for "spaghetti bolognese" outside Italy.
    • andreapaiola 10y ago
      Never heard "pappardelle sul cinghiale"! Sort of slang, maybe. Mai sentito parlare prima di pappardelle sul cinghiale, è un uso abbastanza dialettale mi sa. Ovviamente non si può non concordare sul ragù. ;)
      • jaclaz 10y ago
        Well, they are typical of an area, and they are called like them there, so it is maybe somehow a "dialect" but I would rather say an "idiom": https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pappardelle_sul_cinghiale https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pappardelle_sul_cinghiale https://books.google.it/books?id=M_vYmUgN3e0C&pg=PA289&lpg=PA289#v=onepage&q&f=false https://books.google.it/books?id=M_vYmUgN3e0C&pg=PA289&lpg=P... you won't find, in any restaurant or "trattoria" in the area written on a menu "al" cinghiale. It is typical - I believe - of "pappardelle", they are also sometimes (less common recipes) "sulla lepre" or "sul papero".