Smaller portions

Buondì.

Yesterday evening was the Inter – Milan rematch, which is a very big thing in Italian soccer – two teams from the same city battling it out for some title or other, don’t ask me which.

My adult son (Tom, voice of EasyItalianNews.com) informed me, after I’d spent half the morning preparing a nutritious borlotti bean dish to serve for dinner, that he’d be out in the evening – watching the match at a friend’s place.

Bene, I spat. The beans would go in the freezer, the wholemeal bread would still be good for breakfast, and given that there would be just the two of us, my wife (editor of EasyItalianNews.com) and I would walk to the local sports club, where they have a pizzeria/ristorante about which very good things are said.

We ate there a couple of times before, when we had Roomie. Being set amongst soccer fields, tennis courts and the like, there was plenty of space for her to run around, away from traffic.

I’d had pizza, but Stefi, who’s more adventurous, tried the ‘specials’ menu, and we were both impressed by the quality AND QUANTITY of the food. They have a real chef, apparently, and you could tell. Yum

Anyway, so yesterday evening I intended to ignore the pizza menu and to trust myself to whatever the chef proposed. It had been raining all day, so we needed cheering up.

I ordered ‘Spaghettoni Cacio e Cozze’, which was really good! Think, an artful pile of spaghetti studded with mussels and smothered (in a good way) with pecorino cheese. You’ll find a picture, and the recipe, here. My version had the mussels mixed in, rather than all at the top, as in the picture. Better, I think. I finished every scrap.

Stefi ordered some filled pasta concoction annointed with truffle oil. We decided to share a second course (she chose the fish), as ‘we can never manage both a primo and a secondo’.

Unfortunately her pasta portion was modest too, and the fish course would have been unexceptional for one person, let alone for two.

So I was left filling up on stale bread, sprinkled with salt and drizzled with olive oil, while downing the rest of the white wine and reflecting on the wisdom of reducing the portion size.

Apart from the fish, the food WAS good, and the prices were reasonable. So should Tom ever decide to spend the evening with friends again, it’s possible we might return.

And if we do, then I’ll remind my wife that, actually, it’s very likely she’d be able to manage both a primo and a second, as surely I would be able to. So we should order appropriately.

Così we’ll spend double, but maybe have twice the enjoyment, and the bread will remain unmolested.

Smart for the restaurant, knowing that what they produced was both good and enjoyable, to reduce the portion size.

Assuming goodwill on the part of clients, and the prices remaining unexceptional, the end result would be higher sales and perhaps a better appreciation of the chef’s talents (he’s started making icecream, too, and it’s really good!)

All this got me thinking about our ‘easy reader’ ebooks, which could also be described as offering ‘small portions’. Deliberately, though for a different reason.

I’ve always paid writers a standard fee, whether they produced longer or shorter ebook texts, the idea being that it’s actually HARDER to do the low level ones – for beginners and the like. While more advanced learners can cope with longer, complex texts, which are also more fun and less effort for the writers.

In short, the very brief chapters in the A1, A1/2, and A2 ‘easy readers’ are intended to be quick to finish, so as to move students onwards though the story and towards the goal of finishing the ebook. Hurrah! (Check out the FREE sample chapter links on the Catalog page to see what I mean.)

These are supposed to be transitional, remember – towards higher, more-challenging levels, and eventually towards reading ‘authentic’ texts.

In the same way as your antipasto is supposed to be followed by a primo, a secondo, a dolce, and maybe a coffee, a grappa, and an illicit cigarette.

Offer large portions and customers like my wife will order only one component of what might otherwise be a sequence of delights. So earning the restaurant less.

All of this reminds me of a movie that Stefi and I watched at my eldest daughter’s (Sofia, picture editing and formatting of EasyItalianNews.com) suggestion,

The Menu, starring the scary Ralph Fiennes, is about a restaurant. A much, much more expensive one than I visited last night, though with similar portion sizes.

If you’re feeling peckish, there’s a trailer here: https://youtu.be/C_uTkUGcHv4.

A venerdì.

P.S. 3 Half-Price eBook Easy Readers from 2017

Don’t forget, this week we’re doing the half-price ebook offer on three titles we published in 2017. The offer ends on Sunday 21st May 2023.

The three ebooks below range from intermediate to upper-intermediate/advanced. Check the FREE sample chapters to be sure the level and format is right for you.

Colombo e il mare Oceano (B1/B2)

September 1492, Atlantic Ocean: Christopher Columbus is wrestling with his fear of failure and ruin. After months at sea, there’s still no sign of land. Captains and crew are growing desperate!

This challenging easy reader ebook is an excellent way for intermediate-advanced students of Italian to consolidate their knowledge of grammar rules, learn new words and, above all, build reading and listening skills!

• .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
• .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
• 8 chapters to read and listen to
• Comprehension questions to check your understanding
• Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
• Suitable for students at intermediate level or above
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Buy Colombo e il mare Oceano just £3.99 | FREE sample chapter (.pdf) | ‘A Day in the Life of…’ | Catalog

Leonardo in riva all’Adda (B2)

“Everyone knows that Leonardo is a genius, and one who’ll turn his hand to just about anything, from diplomacy to organising a royal wedding celebration.

But you know the trouble with geniuses? They’re easily distracted!

If we entrust him with something important – like creating the biggest horse the world has ever seen – we’re going to have to keep a close eye on him…”

Join Leonardo, who’s just arrived at the court of Ludovico il Moro, Duke of Milan, bearing a gift from his patrons in Florence. As yet, he has no idea he’ll be Lombardy for longer than just a brief visit…

• .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online at soundcloud.com)
• .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
• 8 chapters to read and listen to
• Comprehension questions to check your understanding
• Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
• Suitable for students at intermediate level or above
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Buy Leonardo in riva all’Adda just £3.99 | FREE sample chapter (.pdf) | ‘A Day in the Life of…’ | Catalog

Michelangelo e il Mosè (B2/C1)

Forty years from initial commissioning to completion, Michelangelo’s Moses “rests with one arm on the tables, and with the other holds his long glossy beard, the hairs, so difficult to render in sculpture, being so soft and downy that it seems as if the iron chisel must have become a brush.”

‘Michelangelo e il Mosè’ is an original Italian easy reader written for students at intermediate and advanced levels. Use it to improve your reading and listening skills, while getting a glimpse into the life of one of the most famous Italian painters and sculptors!

• .pdf e-book (+ audio available free online)
• .mobi (Kindle-compatible) and .epub (other ebook readers) available on request at no extra charge – just add a note to the order form or email us
• 8 chapters to read and listen to
• Comprehension questions to check your understanding
• Italian/English glossary of ‘difficult’ terms for the level
• Suitable for students at intermediate level or above
• Download your Free Sample Chapter (.pdf)

Buy Michelangelo e il Mosè just £3.99 | FREE sample chapter (.pdf) | ‘A Day in the Life of…’ | Catalog

How do I access my ebooks?

When your order is ‘completed’ (normally immediately after your payment), a download link will be automatically emailed to you. It’s valid for 7 days and 3 download attempts so please save a copy of the .pdf ebook in a safe place. Other versions of the ebook, where available, cannot be downloaded but will be emailed to people who request them. There’s a space to do that on the order form – where it says Additional information, Order notes (optional). If you forget, or if you have problems downloading the .pdf, don’t worry! Email us at the address on the website and we’ll help. Also, why not check out our FAQ?

P.P.S.

Have you read/listened to Tuesday’s FREE bulletin of ‘easy’ Italian news?

Of course you have!

Because you’re a subscriber, and subscribers get each bulletin, via email, three times a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

What? You’re NOT a subscriber??

Subscribing is FREE.

+++

OnlineItalianClub.com | EasyItalianNews.com | Shop (ebooks) | Shop (online lessons)