antipasto

Antipasto is Italian: anti- (before, from Latin ante) and pasto (meal, from Latin pastus, meaning feeding or nourishment). Pastus comes from pascere (to feed, to graze), which also produced 'pasture,' 'pastor,' and 'repast.' An antipasto is what comes before the feeding. The connection to 'pasta' is a false friend — pasto (meal) and pasta (paste, dough) share Latin ancestors but diverged centuries ago.

The concept of a pre-meal course existed in Roman dining. The gustatio or promulsis was a course of eggs, olives, vegetables, and shellfish served before the main meal. Medieval and Renaissance Italian dining continued the practice. By the sixteenth century, Italian banquets routinely opened with cold meats, cheese, and preserved vegetables. The word 'antipasto' appears in Italian texts from this period.

In American Italian restaurants of the mid-twentieth century, 'the antipasto' became a specific thing: a platter of salami, prosciutto, provolone, olives, pepperoncini, roasted peppers, and marinated artichoke hearts. This was not how antipasto worked in Italy, where it was a course category, not a single dish. The American plate was a compression of an entire course into one object.

The plural in Italian is antipasti, but English speakers routinely say 'antipastos.' Italian grammarians wince. The word now appears on menus from Melbourne to Montreal, almost always meaning cold cuts and cheese on a board. The course became a platter. The platter became a grazing board. The Latin word for 'before the feeding' now names the feeding itself.