sale e pepe / salt and pepper

In a recent post, where I talked about the items I had purchased during my most recent trip to Italy, I mentioned "something for the table (a pair of objects, actually), which I will describe in a future post." Like my beloved grattugia, I obtained the objects in exchange for "points" earned by my parents by shopping (fare la spesa) at a specific supermercato.

The objects were described as saliera e pepiera (salt shaker and pepper shaker), but the salt and pepper contained in them go through a grinder before coming out from one of their feet, so, they are actually a salt mill and a pepper mill, macinasale and macinapepe, respectively. I particularly like the salt mill, which allows me to place coarse sel gris on the table for our guests.

I like my salt and pepper mills a lot, because they are colorful and have a cheerful shape. My husband describes them as methane molecules, based on their shape: imagine the carbon atom as their core body and the four hydrogen atoms, one at the end of each limb. There is a lid on the "head" of the mill, which you open in order to fill the "body" with salt or pepper. To grind, you turn the upper part of the body and the ground salt or pepper comes out from one of the feet, which also has a lid that prevents sprinkling when the mill is not in use (both lids are visible on the pepper mill in the photo above).

A few expressions related to pepper (I have talked about salt in this post)

• pepe in grani (whole peppercorns)
• pepe macinato (ground pepper)
• sale e pepe (salt-and-pepper), as in capelli sale e pepe (salt-and-pepper hair)
• tutto pepe (spirited)
• peperino ((real) live wire)

---

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

sale e pepe

or launch the sale e pepe  audio file [mp3].

 

Comments

[astrofiammante]

simpaticissimi!! ^______^

[Ivy]

Great gadgets for the kitchen.

[Simona Carini]

Ciao Astro. Si', sono proprio simpatici. Mi piacciono le cose colorate e allegre.

They are indeed, Ivy.

[tasteofbeirut]

Fun gadgets!

[Christine]

They are indeed cuties. I laugh now when I remember that I couldn't figure them out the first time. :)

[Paz]

Very cute! I like them! ;-)

Paz

[Simona Carini]

They are, Joumana.

Ciao Christine. I did my figuring out, when I took them out of the box after getting them.

Glad you do, Paz.

[Lisa]

Too funny!

[Milena]

Sono deliziosi!
Ciao :))

[Simona Carini]

They are funny, indeed, Lisa.

Ciao Lenny. Mi fa piacere che ti piacciano. Sono molto allegri.

[Foodycat]

Yup - I can see the CH4 resemblance! They are cute, and they sound pretty efficient too.

[Simona Carini]

Hi Alicia: I told my husband that you agree with him. Glad you like them.

[Jann]

these are daring and apparently, very useful! I have a friend who collects salt and pepper shakers who would adore these!

[Simona Carini]

Ciao Jann. I can see the fascination with salt & pepper shakers: I am sure your friend's collection is adorable.

[marie]

I think they're cute Simona!

[Merisi]

Simpatici davvero!
Why is it that in Italy even the most simple things have style?

[Simona Carini]

Thanks, Marie.

Ciao Merisi. Italians certainly are sensitive to the design of things.