Our word of the week is piccante, meaning "hot" in the sense of spicy. Most Italian foods (especially from the North and Center) are not spicy. But Italians are gradually adapting to other cuisines, and have become exposed to chilis and such. Although I suspect that many of them may have the same reaction as little Spanky McFarland of Our Gang fame, as seen in the video above.
The most common spicy Italian dish is spaghetti aglio, olio and peperoncino, golden garlic bits and hot red pepper sauteed in olive oil. Pepperoni in Italian is salamino piccante (little spicy salami)- peperoni means bell pepper. Spicy items on menus (such as pepperoni pizza) are sometimes called alla diavola (devil style).
