08/23/2026
Growing up in the Butcher: I Say Chick –a- Dade
You Say Cavatelli
They Say Cava Deal
Ciao Amici,
My friend was telling me a story of an incident that happened to him after he moved out of the area when he was in third grade. They were given a penmanship assignment in which they were asked to write about their favorite food. His favorite was Chick a Dade but he had no idea how to spell it so he asked his teacher. Upon asking her, she looked at him baffled and amused and questioned him, “What is a chick a Dade?” “You know”, he said, “It’s pasta they make by hand and roll it like this, [he demonstrated with his hand] then you make a small crease so the sauce can cling to it. We make them with broccoli rabe or in gravy or sauce.” Finally the clouds parted and the teacher laughed, “Oh, you mean cavatelli.” I remember myself at that age, I only knew them as chick a dade and not cavatelli. Our customers East of Pennsylvania ask us for the “Cava Deal. ”Another word that falls into this category is manicotti which we always called manicutt.
Sometimes when trying to remember someone or something I might blurt out what my Grandparents would say which was,”come zi chiam or “whatchamacallit.” When my Uncle Antonio from Italy was visiting I would get a little frustrated in my attempt to speak Italian, so I’d say “Managgia.” Uncle Antonio followed with, “Managgia, Non ho sentito quello mette in parole in cinquanta anni” [I have not heard that word in fifty years.] We all laughed!
Una lingua è un dialetto col suo esercito proprio e marina militare.
- Max Weinreich
A language is a dialect with its own army and navy.
- Max Weinreich
Cordiali saluti,
Joe
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