Toronto has, through the years, steadily added new words to its culinary vocabulary. Ever since the first outdoor café came out of its cultural closet, Toronto espoused open-door cultural change, and discovered that the xeno can suddenly become philo, especially if the philo gives birth to a dlicacy such as spanakopita. Apart from language, a culture is characterized mainly by its food, the true receptacle of culture. Certain dishes are more resistant to change than language, especially in a multicultural environment which has spawned many new dialects from the admixture of the immigrant language and the host language. No-one in Italy would understand such words as "storo" or "bega" or "fattoria" which in Italian means farm not factory; but if you don't add olives and pancetta to your puttanesca, you've made not only a morphological, but a syntactical error. Upon tasting it, the dish will not reveal its true name or identity to you. It doesn't speaka da language.

My American uncle Luigi Bevilacqua may be called Lou Drinkwater now, but God help you if you serve him carrots in his Sunday "gravy" (tomato sauce), or pineapple on his pizza. And speaking of tomatoes, many Torontonians ask for their "Roma" tomatoes by their real name: "San Marzano". Many even know that mozzarella tastes especially divine if made from water buffalo milk, from the Campania region, of course. The following, in case you haven't discovered for yourselves yet, is a list of things to eat and places that sell them in Toronto:

ITALIAN

Diana, on St.Clair E. of Lansdown, is a Pusateri's without pretentions. It specializes in genuine Italian products: olive oil, cheese, rice, pasta etc. Besides the load bearing Arborio rice they have Vialone Nano and Carnaroli which are its superior in quality, creaminess and texture. The olive oil you can get on tap, as it were, by filling your own litre bottle. On the weekend (starting on Thursday) one of the best breads in town comes in for the addicted from La Sem, now in Mississauga. I didn't mention the trffle, Gaeta olives, and oh yes, fresh figs from Bari going at $1.75 each or $45 a case. If only La Paloma (just West of Lansdowne), IMO the best ice cream, could use those figs for their 'seasonal' fig ice cream. A reconverted pool hall, this gelateria reminds one of the Tre Scalini in Piazza Navona in Rome- in taste only at least. You can ask for gelati there. The plural would be quite appropriate.

Tre Mari, also on St. Clair, two doors down from Diana's, is a bakery/pasticceria with café ans 'tavola calda'. I go there for the great choice in bread. Foremost is the 'ciabatta', actually made from different flour than the regular bread. It easily ranks as the best ciabatta in town. They even have palatable multi grain bread and flax bread. Very traditional is their semolina bread and the banana shaped buns called "banana". Their corn bread, yellow in colour and much lighter than the leaden Portuguese variety, is also worth a try.

Grande Cheese, on Orfus Drive, off Dufferin N. of Lawrence, would make a great pantry for a super lottery winner. Besides the cornucopia of Italian food products, they make good cheese. If you like mozzarella (the milky kind; the only way to eat it) and bocconcini, the miniature versions, then try the 'nodini'- the same stuff all tied up in knots. If you appreciate and understand the logic of the myriad shapes of pasta, then you'll enjoy these 'small knots' of mozzarella.

Nino D'Aversa, on Keele south of Finch for esquisite 'sfogliatelle', the shell shaped (philo) Neapolitan pastry filled with sweet semolina and candied citron.

INDIAN

* In the early Spring you can get impossible mangoes, given their taste, colour and shape, at India Town (Gerrard west of Coxwell) and at Thorncliff Park (Overlea Blvd.). They are the Alfonso and Kesari mangoes and the Sindhri and Chawsa from Pakistan. I'm still waiting to taste the legendary Langra of which there have not been sightings in Toronto to my knowledge.

* While at Thorncliff Park, try the Bamiya restaurant for the best Afghani kabobs. Iqbal Kabob House is also worth a visit if Bamya is overcrowded. Order anything at Bamya's. Don't forget to try 'doug', not a person but a yougurt drink that is not only refreshing but spiritually cleansing. Oh, next door to Iqbal's you'll find the grocery store that sells the mangoes. You can also get the heat and serve pouches of a good variety of Indian vegetarian dishes. Ashoka is one brand. These cost $1.79 here which is a far cry from the $3.50 you pay downtown. Check out the frozen parathas from there as well.

* Bloor and Dufferin area: Hot Grill Tandoori restaurant, 1196 Bloor St. W. at Dufferin.

* Parliament & Wellesley:

This is Toronto's Sri Lankan disctrict where, besides tasting stringhoppers and puttu, you can buy a variety of delicious snacks from the grocery stores. Ask for wada but don't forget the fiery, crunchy, fried lentil treat they call "pakoda" (not the Indian ones you're used to).

* INDIA TOWN:

As for restaurants, take a chance, there are many. For vegetarian try Nerula's, Madras Durbar and Udupi (also spelled Udipi in India) Palace for the best dosas. Ask for the "gunpowder" if you go there. This is a fiery mixture of toasted and ground lentils with or without peanuts. You make a paste of it by adding oil and then mix it with hot, plain rice.

Street food: pani puri (or gol gappa), roast corn with lime and black, spicy salt, bhel puri, kulfi (the non ice cream), and paan (all the fragrances of India wrapped in a betel leaf). Order the sweet one before you learn how to orchestrate your own.

* The Host, Natraj, Makha,

ETHIOPIAN/ERITREAN

Addis Abeba on Queen between Ossington and Dufferin, north side. The food is fabulous, but it's the coffee you should know about. Coffee was discovered in Ethiopia. If you forget, the two charming sister-owners will remind you as they appear bearing a traditional clay pot that contains the elixir. The fragrance of myrrh doesn't upstage the coffee aroma. it enhances it. It's a natural high arrived at with great alacrity.

PERSIAN

The Souvlaki Hut: (a Greek front for the best Persian food on lower Yonge St.) located just north (at St. Joseph St.) of Wellesley. Bypass the Greek "tavola calda" and ask for the Persian menu. It's all good. Don't forget the pitcher of "doug". The Persians make it with soda water, as opposed to the Afhganis and the Turks. It's Risko's favourite.

MALTESE/TURKISH

If you've never had "pastizzi" (sorta like a samosa in philo dough, filled with veg., cheese, or non-veg.). go to Joe's Pastizzi Plus on Dundas west of Islington, or the Maltese Bakery on Dundas west of Keele. Oh, just past Joe's you'll find the Anatolia (a superb Turkish restaurant). At Memo's Pizza you'll find an excellent donair kabob or adana kabob if you look beyond the deceptive pizza front. There is an obvious parallel to be made here with the Souvlaki Hut, which, disguised as Greek, reveals its true Iranian identity if you are sensitive to the sound of the a's made by the staff. Phonetically the Persian "a" is similar to the québecois "a", which sounds like "oh". Instead of "guy" an Iranian would say sth which sounds like "goy".

PORTUGUESE

Next to Royce's poultry shop on Dupont and Symington, there is a "churrasqueira" that serves up heaping helpings of homade goodness at very nreosanable prices. O Farol, on St. Clair and Caledonia, makes the best grilled squids in town, among other delicacies.

CHINESE (dim sum):

The Golden Mile (third floor) on Dundas just west of St. George/Beverley, is, IOO (in our opinion) the best for downtown dim sum. It def. has the best steamed dumplings, unparalleled in taste an variety. There are many other species out there besides "suimai" and "hargau".

GREEK

Zorba's (Danforth just east of Pape). You must have the moussaka and giant beans, and/or the kokoretsi. Ask for information about it only after you eat it . The Omonia serves it too.