Italian dining tradition ‘la scarpetta’ gains popularity

The Italian culinary practice known as ‘fare la scarpetta’—using bread to soak up remaining sauce, pesto, or oil from a plate—is seeing a resurgence in popularity. While leaving sauce on a plate might be considered elegant in some cultures, in Italy, it is increasingly viewed as a missed opportunity.

Food historian Luca Cesari notes that the earliest written references to the term date back to Rome in 1871. One linguistic theory from the Accademia della Crusca suggests the phrase, which translates to ‘making the little shoe,’ may stem from central Italian dialects where it meant taking a small walk, metaphorically describing the bread taking a final stroll around the plate.