Točh e Cuince

It was the ancient Romans who probably first introduced sauces to Friuli-Venezia Giulia. For them, sauces were sometimes a means of imparting special flavors to a food (usually cooked meat), but otherwise were intended for preservation of foods. At the base of many of the sauces used to preserve food was salt, which the Romans prize highly to this day. The word sale is the root for many others in which salt is used: salami, salsiccia (sausage), and salsa (sauce). It also is linked to insalata (salad, or greens that are salted) and salary (salt being equivalent to currency). Salsa, the Italian word for sauce, clearly derives from salt, even if every sauce does not necessarily contain salt. Foods that are savory are thought to taste good, but what often gives them that savor is salt.