Today’s word of the day is affogato.  The literal definition from Italian is “drowned” but affogato also describes and names a dessert composed of espresso poured over a scoop of vanilla ice cream or gelato.  Usually, you’re served a shot or two of espresso in a little pitcher alongside a more traditional dish of ice cream and allowed to pour it yourself.  I prefer to pour a little at a time so the coffee doesn’t all go cold at once.  Here’s an example from Nebo in the North End (where, by the way, I recently had an excellent gluten-free meal with not one but two professors M)

Quite the striking black and white in color composition, don’t you think?  Anyway, if you’ve read the above and looked at the photo you probably don’t need a recipe, but here’s Giada De Laurentiis’ version which uses chocolate ice cream and a lot of whipped cream for a slightly different black and white balance.

If you’re into ghoulishly-named Italian food (and who isn’t?) you should also look up strozzapreti, a pasta dish variously translated as “strangled priest” and “priest choker.” Yum.