Who has never heard his grandparents say the expression “fare la scarpetta”? Literally “Making the little shoe” is a nice expression that finds its origin in the dialects of southern Italy. It is officially defined as the act of “collecting the remaining sauce in the dish by passing a piece of bread impaled in the fork, or more commonly held between the fingers.

But be careful, the Italian Galateo does not prohibit “la scarpetta” but wants it to be done only on informal occasions and using a fork, not hands. That said, the origin of the expression is not clear. Some think that the “scarpetta” refers to a type of pasta that, given its concave shape, would have allowed it to collect the remaining sauce in the dish.