ventresca

See also: Ventresca

English

Etymology

Italian

Noun

ventresca (uncountable)

1. Flesh from the belly of a tuna, which is prepared in oil and served as food.
   • c. 1954-1987, Elizabeth David, Italian Food, Penguin Classics, published 1999, →ISBN, page 13:

     The choice part of the tunny fish is the stomach (ventresca), which is very tender and of an appetizing creamy-pink color. […] For a salad one must always ask for ventresca.

   • 2007, Gillian Riley, The Oxford Companion to Italian Food, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 163:

     Anatra ripiena is a Venetian recipe for duck, sometimes boned, stuffed with a rich mixture of breadcrumbs […] , sometimes some tunny ventresca, and nutmeg, […]

   • 2007, Marcella Hazan, “Eating Alone”, in Jenni Ferrari-Adler, editor, Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant, Riverhead Books, →ISBN, page 104:

     Ventresca, tuna’s succulent belly, is another of my favorites. […] If I have some cooked cannellini or borlotti beans in the refrigerator, I warm them up with some of the liquid they have been cooked in, then drain them and add them to a can of ventresca together with several thin slices of raw onion.

Usage notes

• Though found in English contexts, the noun ventresca is normally italicized as a loanword.

Anagrams

• Cervantes

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *ventrisca, from Latin venter (“belly”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [bənˈtɾɛs.kə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [vənˈtɾəs.kə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [venˈtɾes.ka]

Noun

ventresca f (plural ventresques)

1. the belly of a fish
2. streaky bacon (bacon made from the belly of a hog)

Related terms

• ventre
• ventrell

Further reading

• “ventresca” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Italian

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *ventrisca, derived from Classical Latin venter (“belly”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /venˈtre.ska/
• Rhymes: -eska
• Hyphenation: ven‧tré‧sca

Noun

ventresca f (plural ventresche)

1. (archaic) belly

   Synonyms: addome, (colloquial) buzzo, (obsolete, literary) epa, (colloquial) pancia, (humorous) trippa, (anatomy) ventre, (obsolete or rare) zirbo

   • 1333, “Canto ⅩⅤ [Canto 25]”, in L'ottimo commento della Divina Commedia [The best commentary on the Divine Comedy]‎^[1], section 49; republished, volume 1 - Inferno, Pisa: Niccolò Capurro, 1827, page 429:

     Un serpente, che avea sei piedi, si lancia dinanzi dell'uno di questi tre spiriti; con li piedi di mezzo, li prese la ventresca

     A serpent, which had six feet, throws itself in front of one of these three spirits: with his mid feet, he grabbed his belly

2. ventresca (flesh from the belly of a tuna)
   • 1516, Giovanni Rosselli, “Libro quarto per cuocere ogni sorte de pesce. [Fourth book, for cooking any sort of fish]”, in Epulario‎^[2], Per cuocer il buon Tarantello.; republished, Treviso: Girolamo Righettini, 1643:

     E per conoscere quando è buono sarà più grasso è tanto sarà più migliore, et vuole esser della ventresca del tondo, et vuol esser sodo, e duro, non molle.

     To be able to tell if it's properly made, the fattier it is, the better it will—and should—be better than ventresca. Also, it should be firm, not flabby.

     (literally, “And to know when it's good it will be fattier and as much it will be more better, and wants to be than ventresca of the tuna, and wants to be firm, and hard, not flabby.”)

   • 1934, Grazia Deledda, “Parte seconda [Second part]”, in L'argine [The bank]‎^[3], Milano: Fratelli Treves, page 108:

     Antipasti squisiti sono già pronti sulla mensa: aragosta, acciughe, olive, carciofini, ventresca di tonno; egli mi serve, con la mano fina al cui dito brilla il prezioso anello.

     Delicious appetizers are already prepared on the table: lobster, anchovies, olives, artichoke hearts, ventresca. He serves me with his slim hand, on whose finger the precious ring shines.

3. (chiefly Tuscan) streaky bacon

   Synonym: pancetta

   Hypernym: salume

4. (archaic) a salume made of pork belly (stuffed with meat, eggs, cheese, and ground spices, then pressed)

   Hypernym: salume

   • 1531–1532, Francesco Berni, Capitolo primo della peste (a maestro Piero Buffet cuoco) [First chapter of the plague (to master Piero Buffet, cook)]‎^[4]; collected in Antonio Virgili, editor, Francesco Berni - Rime, poesie latine, e lettere edite e inedite‎^[5], Florence: Le Monnier, 1885, page 88:

     Non è mancato ancor chi abbia detto
     Gran ben del verno, allegando ragioni,
     Che allor è dolce cosa star nel letto;
     Che tutti gli animali allor son buoni,
     Infino a' porci; e fansi le salsicce,
     Cervellate ventresche e salsiccioni.

     Although there was no shortage of people who praised the winter a lot, reasoning that, it's a time when staying in bed is sweet; that it's a time when all animals are fine, even pigs; and sausages, blood sausages, pressed pork, and large sausages are made.

     (literally, “It hasn't lacked although who has said great good of the winter, presenting reasons, that then it's sweet thing to stay in bed; that all the animals then are good, up to the pigs; and are made sausages, blood sausages pressed pork and large sausages.”)

References

• ventresca in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
• ventresca in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication
• Accademia della Crusca (1729–1738) “ventresca”, in Vocabolario degli accademici della Crusca (in Italian), 4 edition – on www.lessicografia.it
• “ventrésca”, in Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, volume 21 toi–z, UTET, 2002, page 754b

Spanish

Noun

ventresca f (plural ventrescas)

1. ventresca

Further reading

• “ventresca”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10