Prima di cuocere le patate, le sbuccio con calma.

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Breakdown of Prima di cuocere le patate, le sbuccio con calma.

• con: with
• la calma: the calm
• prima di: before

Questions & Answers about Prima di cuocere le patate, le sbuccio con calma.

Why is it prima di cuocere and not something like prima cuocere?

Because in Italian, prima di + infinitive means before doing something.

So:

• prima di cuocere = before cooking
• prima di partire = before leaving
• prima di mangiare = before eating

The di is required here before the infinitive verb.

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Compare:

• Prima di cuocere le patate, le sbuccio. = Before cooking the potatoes, I peel them.
• Prima cuocio le patate, poi le sbuccio. = First I cook the potatoes, then I peel them.

So prima di means before, while prima by itself can mean first.

Why is cuocere used here? Does it just mean to cook?

Yes. Cuocere means to cook, to bake, to boil, or more generally to heat food until it is cooked.

In this sentence, cuocere le patate means to cook the potatoes.

A useful distinction:

• cucinare = to cook / prepare food in general
• cuocere = to cook something through with heat

So:

• Cucino la cena. = I cook dinner.
• Cuocio le patate. = I cook the potatoes.

In many everyday situations, both may be understandable, but cuocere is very natural when talking about the actual cooking of the food item itself.

What does sbuccio mean exactly?