The fourth-most common item on Italian restaurant menus today might go by the name antipasto plate, tagliere, or affettati misti. This is a mixed plate in a variety of forms ordered at the start of the meal. It resides in the “Antipasto” section, if there is one, of course. These are from the Italian tradition of small pre-prepared items to provide some satiety before the heartier dishes.
Antipasti means “before the meal.” It is what you eat before you eat. Antipasti were once all room-temperature items that were prepared in advance. Now, those items bear the term antipasti freddi on menus, “cold” antipasti. Prosciutto and melon, roasted peppers, carpaccio, insalata caprese, anchovy filets, shrimp cocktail, and smoked salmon have been common examples of antipasti freddi on menus in America. The warm items are antipasti caldi, “hot” antipasti, like fried calamari, fried mozzarella, bruschetta, mussels sauteed with wine, clams casino, and meatballs.
The affettati misti and tagliere are technically a little different, and usually different in practice, too. Affettati misti array of sliced salumi like prosciutto crudo, mortadella, and bresaola served as an antipasto. “Affettati” is sliced, “misti” is mixed. Tagliere means a wooden cutting board and when it appears on a menu it usually refers to a selection of salumi and cheeses. This term was common on menus in eastern Sicily when I was there a couple of months ago.
The practice has been around since there have been Italian restaurants in America. In the late 19th century, the “Assorted Antipasto” was the start of the table d’hôte meal. This was a multi-course meal with limited choices for a low price, which nearly every Italian restaurant offered. Gonfarone’s in Greenwich Village was one of the most popular Italian restaurants in New York during the early 20th century that served “four to five thousand dinner a week” during its heydays. Its antipasto with a table d’hôte meal was often “hearts of celery… tasty little black olives, several slices of imported Italian salame, sardines, anchovies, sliced tomatoes sprinkled with basil, imported tuna, and a big juicy pimento.”
That antipasto tradition continues, if not table d’hôte one. The expansive Italian-American Carmine’s restaurants in New York offers both a cold and hot antipasto platter, each assembled between two and four diners. The cold one includes, “Fresh Seafood, Imported Cheeses and Cured Meats.” Its hot, “Fresh Seafood, Warm Dips and Assorted Parmigiana Items.” Rosemary’s, with three locations in Manhattan, has an affettati misti that includes prosciutto di Parma, parmigiano, mortadella, ricotta, soppressata, onion marmellata, house-made giardiniera, with focaccia. Across the country, Settecento in Los Angeles, has Tagliere di Salumi e Formaggi that is a selection of salumi and cheese. A few current examples.
A seafood antipasti misti near the port in Catania a couple of months ago.
Antipasti means “before the meal.” It is what you eat before you eat. Antipasti were once all room-temperature items that were prepared in advance. Now, those items bear the term antipasti freddi on menus, “cold” antipasti. Prosciutto and melon, roasted peppers, carpaccio, insalata caprese, anchovy filets, shrimp cocktail, and smoked salmon have been common examples of antipasti freddi on menus in America. The warm items are antipasti caldi, “hot” antipasti, like fried calamari, fried mozzarella, bruschetta, mussels sauteed with wine, clams casino, and meatballs.
The affettati misti and tagliere are technically a little different, and usually different in practice, too. Affettati misti array of sliced salumi like prosciutto crudo, mortadella, and bresaola served as an antipasto. “Affettati” is sliced, “misti” is mixed. Tagliere means a wooden cutting board and when it appears on a menu it usually refers to a selection of salumi and cheeses. This term was common on menus in eastern Sicily when I was there a couple of months ago.
The practice has been around since there have been Italian restaurants in America. In the late 19th century, the “Assorted Antipasto” was the start of the table d’hôte meal. This was a multi-course meal with limited choices for a low price, which nearly every Italian restaurant offered. Gonfarone’s in Greenwich Village was one of the most popular Italian restaurants in New York during the early 20th century that served “four to five thousand dinner a week” during its heydays. Its antipasto with a table d’hôte meal was often “hearts of celery… tasty little black olives, several slices of imported Italian salame, sardines, anchovies, sliced tomatoes sprinkled with basil, imported tuna, and a big juicy pimento.”
That antipasto tradition continues, if not table d’hôte one. The expansive Italian-American Carmine’s restaurants in New York offers both a cold and hot antipasto platter, each assembled between two and four diners. The cold one includes, “Fresh Seafood, Imported Cheeses and Cured Meats.” Its hot, “Fresh Seafood, Warm Dips and Assorted Parmigiana Items.” Rosemary’s, with three locations in Manhattan, has an affettati misti that includes prosciutto di Parma, parmigiano, mortadella, ricotta, soppressata, onion marmellata, house-made giardiniera, with focaccia. Across the country, Settecento in Los Angeles, has Tagliere di Salumi e Formaggi that is a selection of salumi and cheese. A few current examples.
A seafood antipasti misti near the port in Catania a couple of months ago.
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