Where are the frozen foods?
'Surgelati' — 'sur-je-LA-ti'. Four syllables, stress on third. Soft 'g' before 'e'.
Finding the frozen food section. Italian frozen foods are high quality — especially frozen fish, vegetables and pasta, which maintain Italian quality standards.
'Surgelati' = frozen foods. 'Surgelato' (adjective/noun) means deep-frozen. Different from 'congelato' (frozen at home). 'Prodotti surgelati' have strict Italian quality standards.
Avete pizza surgelata?
Do you have frozen pizza?
Italian frozen pizza — a massive category in Italian supermarkets
Dov'è il pesce surgelato?
Where is the frozen fish?
Frozen fish is often better quality than 'fresh' fish from a supermarket
Le verdure surgelate conservano i nutrienti?
Do frozen vegetables retain nutrients?
Practical nutritional question — answer is yes, they often retain more than fresh
Italians have a complex relationship with frozen food ('surgelati'). They respect quality frozen products — especially fish, peas and spinach — but insist that fresh, seasonal food is always preferable when available and affordable.