Ever since reading Bourdain, I've been interested in French cuisine. Unfortunately, Minneapolis is not known for such fare. Sure, I've heard of Vincent - A Restaurant. I'm sure it's great, and I'll try it some day. But I want the weird stuff. I want to eat offal and fat and glands and livers and blood and pancreas. Tonight, I found 112 Eatery, downtown, and will be eating there tomorrow night. It is by no means a French restaurant, featuring at least as many classic Italian dishes as French, and so I have no delusions that it'll be like a Manhattan haute joint. But at least it doesn't seem so bistro. In preparation for tomorrow's meal, I've worked up this glossary of dishes and ingredients from 112's menu.

Crostini - An Italian appetizer of toasted bread or crackers with olive oil and a variety of toppings

Escarole - A type of endive, a leafy vegetable

Farro - A relative of traditional wheat, consumed in Italian cuisine as a whole grain, typically in soup

Foie Gras - The liver of a duck or goose that has been fattened by forced overfeeding

Gougère - A light pastry with cheese [in America, a cheese puff]

Harrisa - A Tunisian hot sauce made from peppers and garlic

Lardon - A piece of bacon taken from the rendered back-fat of a pig

Mascarpone - A triple-cream cheese

Mortadella - Pork sausage, made with at least 15% small pork fat cubes

Porcini - Boletus edulis, a highly-regarded edible mushroom, an Italian egg-drop broth soup

Stringozzi - A thick, shoelace-like pasta

Sugo - An Italian pasta sauce, tradionally prepared with meat

Sweet breads - A dish made from the thymus gland or pancreas of a lamb or calf less than one year old

Tagliatelle - A pasta similar to fettuccine, but wider

Thanks, as usual, to Wikipedia, as well as practicallyedible.com.