Word of the Day

: December 8, 2008

carpaccio

noun kar-PAH-chee-oh

What It Means

: thinly sliced raw meat or fish served with a sauce -- often used postpositively

carpaccio in Context

"Though the menu is large, stick with the steaks and the beef carpaccio at this sleek, airy restaurant." (The San Francisco Chronicle, July 31, 2008)

Did You Know?

Carpaccio is not the only dish named after a person, though its name might have the most artful origin. Created in 1950 by Venetian restaurateur Giuseppe Cipriani, carpaccio is named after Vittore Carpaccio, the Renaissance painter. Cipriani created the dish for the Countess Amalia Nani Mocenigo, who had been under doctor’s orders to avoid cooked meats. According to Cipriani’s memoir, he chose to name the dish after Carpaccio because the red in the beef matched the colors found in Carpaccio’s paintings. Recently, some restaurants have begun using the term for similarly prepared non-meat dishes (such as pear carpaccio).