When I visited Rome for barCamp in January, I stayed with family friends Serena and Sandro – true Romans both. We had grand plans to film Sandro explaining Roman swearwords (with gestures), as an addition to my Italian slang section, but then we drank a lot of wine and laughed and talked a lot, so all the footage I got was this short clip about chestnuts.
As well as explaining a bit about chestnuts, it’s is a good example of a Roman accent, though Sandro’s is not heavy – he’s even laying it on a bit more for the video than is normal for him (at least in conversation with non-Romans). Some day we’ll get around to those videos about swearwords. Sandro is also amazingly knowledgeable on the history of Rome and religions – a resource I hope to make better use of someday.
The phrase la sua morte needs some explanation. It literally means “It’s his/her/its [proper] death.” It’s used to mean: “the very best way to cook or eat x.” I’ve never heard it used except in reference to food.
And, yes, fresh-roasted chestnuts with red wine are delicious.
