# Panna vs crema



## Lucinda131

What's the difference between these two words for cream?


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## faith8

The Italian word Panna is the corrispondent for the English Cream
while 
Crema is a type of cake (fluid consistency)made of eggs, sugar, milk, flour. There are different kind of cream: "crema pasticciera, crema chantilly"


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## Lucinda131

Thanks very much for the response Faith  

Crema pasticerra is pastry cream, right?


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## misssmith

If you want 'panna' you have to buy it, melt it with sugar and whip it. Cream is usually made by flour, sugar, milk and eggs (it may vary).
Buon appetito!
Barbara

We crossed! Sorry!


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## Manuel_M

faith8 said:
			
		

> The Italian word Panna is the corrispondent for the English Cream
> while
> Crema is a type of cake (fluid consistency)made of eggs, sugar, milk, flour. There are different kind of cream: "crema pasticciera, crema chantilly"


 
Garzanti does't differntiate between the 2. I translated panna as panna, in my attempt on the other thread.

(Some people are really lucky. They get to tranlsate about cream and ice-cream while I have to make do with pistons, engines and gear-wheels!! )


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## You little ripper!

Panna as far as I can gather is the cream you find in milk.
Crema can mean that also including cream in any other sense such as cream cheese, creamed pea soup, custard cream etc...


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## faith8

If you mean the cream that is used in small cakes, yes!


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## Lucinda131

Thanks very much for all your responses!


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## lsp

Panna is called "heavy cream."


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## Lucinda131

Thanks for your answer lsp, I just don't think heavy cream sounds right in English ...


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## ElaineG

faith8 said:
			
		

> The Italian word Panna corresponds to the English word  Cream while Crema is a fluid concoction made of eggs, sugar, milk, flour. There are different kinds of cream: "crema pasticciera, crema chantilly"


 
Sono d'accordo, Faith.  Usually, "crema" is a creamy substance that you make (i.e., a particular type of cream -- pastry cream or creme chantilly as you said, while "panna" is what we call cream tout-court)


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## lsp

Lucinda131 said:
			
		

> Thanks for your answer lsp, I just don't think heavy cream sounds right in English ...


Oh? If you want to buy it in the US you'll find that's how it's called in recipes and labeled on the container in the stores here. Many of the recipes I brought back from Italy require it.


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## Lucinda131

I'm sure you're right! I've just not heard it in British English - but then I've not heard of "tout court" either.

Maybe I'm just a bit ignorant!


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## lsp

Lucinda131 said:
			
		

> I'm sure you're right! I've just not heard it in British English - but then I've not heard of "tout court" either.
> 
> Maybe I'm just a bit ignorant!


"tout cort" means, "simply, with no addition or qualification necessary." I think ElaineG was not intending to include it in the definition of cream, but was suggesting it's _simply_ "cream" (although I disagree )


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## Moogey

Isn't "crema" also used in espresso terminology as the golden layer on the top (that they say you're supposed to get)?

-M


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## Lucinda131

I understood the meaning of tout court - but clearly misunderstood, thinking it was a type of cream!!

Who would've guessed all these intricacies in the world of cream!!


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## You little ripper!

lsp said:
			
		

> "tout cort" means, "simply, with no addition or qualification necessary." I think ElaineG was not intending to include it in the definition of cream, but was suggesting it's _simply_ "cream" (although I disagree )





> Sono d'accordo, Faith. Usually, "crema" is a creamy substance that you make (i.e., a particular type of cream -- pastry cream or creme chantilly as you said, while "panna" is what we call cream tout-court)


We call it just _cream_ here in Australia. I've never heard the expression _heavy cream_ but we have a _double cream_ which is probably what that is.  I presume that _double cream_ is just cream, and _cream_ is cream with milk added to it to make it thinner.


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## ElaineG

It's strange; BE (and probably AuE) "double cream" is even heavier than our "heavy cream" which is closer to what I've seen marketed as "single cream" in Britain, and then in AE we have "light cream" which is heavier than "half and half" which is of course heavier than milk.....

I'm not going to disagree with LSP that heavy cream is the right choice for most recipes calling for panna.  I find cream an acceptable generic translation though, given the many varieties of this product.

And in celebration of the first time LSP and I have disagreed in WRF history, I'd like to offer you all a gelato (as soon as it gets warm enough to eat one).


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## lsp

ElaineG said:
			
		

> ... And in celebration of the first time LSP and I have disagreed in WRF history, I'd like to offer you all a gelato (as soon as it gets warm enough to eat one).


Great offer, but no encouragement is likely to make me make it a habit!


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## september rain

Hi everyone!
Could you please help me in translating panna and crema in *E*nglish?
Thanks!
sept. rain


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## Einstein

Panna = cream

Secondo il dizionario crema = custard, ma quella inglese è più liquida e meno ricca; si può anche versare. Aspettiamo altri pareri.


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## september rain

What about colours? 
In Italian you can find CREMA and PANNA used as colour: PANNA is a sort of white, while CREMA is a pale yellow.
With these meaning, how can I translate PANNA and CREMA as colours?


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## chiara.bendi

Moogey said:


> Isn't "crema" also used in espresso terminology as the golden layer on the top (that they say you're supposed to get)?



You are right.
We italians like to see some "crema" on the top of our espresso! In this case, "crema" is just foam produced while making coffe, nothing added.

"Crema" can also be a cosmetic


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## Murphy

september rain said:


> What about colours?
> In Italian you can find CREMA and PANNA used as colour: PANNA is a sort of white, while CREMA is a pale yellow.
> With these meaning, how can I translate PANNA and CREMA as colours?


We use the word "cream" as a colour, as well. It probably corresponds to "crema" while for "panna" you could say "off-white", which is white, but not pure white.

Edit: Thinking again, "cream" is not really yellow, it's a creamy white colour. It's probably "panna".  If "crema" is "pale yellow", then you can say that!  It's very difficult when you can't see the colours in question, and it's also very subjective. :-(


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## Tristano

Come e' gia' stato detto qui sopra, mi pare che "crema" indichi anche la schiuma leggera dell'espresso... giusto?

Allora, come si dice "non-dairy creamer" che negli USA molti mettono nel caffe' invece del latte--- panna artificiale? Pochi risultati Google...

Tristano


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## Antipodes

See CREMA DI LATTE THREAD: 18th July 2009, 11:06 PM
Gentile Harper, hai dato inizia a un grande dibattito, ma credo che insieme abbiamo risolto il tuo problema.
Ma che confusione! Quanto mi è simpatica la brava signora di Rimini. Vorrei tanto poter dirle cosa cavolo è questa crema di latte prima che lei impazzisca!
Credo che  Citronette abbia trovato in Wikipedia la soluzione con la sua definizione di *crema di latte *: 

_*La crema di latte* è anche detta *panna liquida*. Il nome è dovuto un po' alla sua consistenza e un po' alla sua derivazione: è la parte grassa del latte e la si otteneva lasciando quest'ultimo a riposare per mezza giornata (adesso è più frequente frullare il latte per velocizzare ed ottimizzare il lavoro)._

Phil ha ragione come si vede nella spiegazione da Wikipedia; si riferisce a  *"the top of the milk"*, 

Odysseus ci ha presento la signora di Rimini ed ha ci ha dato la definizione inglese di crema e di panna.

London calling ci ha dato alcuni termini utillizzati in Inghilterra per i vari tipi di panna: * half cream*, *single cream*, *double cream* ecc.

So I will sum up for you.  In general _la panna_ is "cream" in English, while _la crema_ is "custard".
However, there are various cream products available in different places, and they will be called different names in English, depending on where you live. Here is a Wiki reference for cream in the UK:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cream 

For your recipe containing  _crema di latte/panna liquida/panna da cucinare_ - I met this last term in Abruzzo many years ago when looking for whipping cream (_panna da montare_) - I would buy "light cream" or "pouring cream". Here in Tasmania cream is graded according to fat content. These creams have lowest fat content .

I hope that your recipe is a good one after all that!         




la crema = custard; la panna = cream (in general)


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## Einstein

I think I know what you're talking about, Tristan, a kind of artificial cream based on vegetable oils, having the same relation to real cream as margarine has to butter. I've never seen it in Italy so I don't know what it could be called.


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## Antipodes

Hello Tristan.

I am in Australia and the product you refer to (non-dairy creamer) is a powder which you sometimes find in sachets in hotels or on airplanes to put in your tea or coffee instead of real milk or cream.
I have not seen it for many years (thank God!) and think it is American in origin.
I have always found it quite disgusting and wonder what on earth it is made from.
I cannot imagine Italians finding it acceptable, but perhaps they have a word for it!
Help, please, native speakers of Italian.


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## Samu!

Antipodes said:


> Hello Tristan.
> 
> I am in Australia and the product you refer to (non-dairy creamer) is a powder which you sometimes find in sachets in hotels or on airplanes to put your tea or coffee instead of real milk or cream.
> I have not seen it for many years (than God!) and think it is American in origin.
> I have always found it quite disgusting and wonder what on earth it is made from.
> I cannot imagine Italians finding it acceptable, but perhaps they have a word for it!
> Help, please, native speakers of Italian.


 
An American colleague of mine (working in Italy) has a can of that... stuff to put in the coffee.
We don't have a specific word for it, I guess because we're not used to it. I wonder if you can find it in stores, probably yes but then again I don't know how to name it.

"Robaccia", "quella cosa" or "latte senza latte" is how we call it in the office but it refers only to that particular one.


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## mpixi

Late on this topic but, lol, the same confusing issue I had when I was in UK and also when my UK friend went through when she came here. So this is what we understood:


ITA ----> ENG


Panna da cucina UHT (sterilized - the ones stored in every supermarket in small packets close to eggs and bechamel and out of the refrigerators - it is used for cooking and hard thicken a sauce - never used to make cakes or sweets - it's very fat and thick, there is not a fresh version here - eg. of use: tortellini alla panna, penne salmone e vodka) ----> sterilized single thick cream (fresh double/triple creams are not sold in italy)


Panna fresca (can be found in stores' refridgerators, it's liquid and fresh and lasts in few days - has 2 purposes: here we use it as it is to light thick a sauce or whip it to make whipped cream) ----> (fresh) half/single cream - whipping cream


Panna Montata (usually is topped on ice creams, it's made whipping panna fresca or you can find it ready made in spray cans) ----> whipped cream


Panna acida (hard to find it here and easier to make it your own) ----> sour cream


Creme Fraiche (impossible to find it here but has similarities with Philadelphia cheese) ----> creme fraiche


Crema (the regular one made of flour, eggs, milk, sugar and lemon) ----> Custard


Crema del cappuccino (the 2 fingers froth made inflating milk with an high pressure steam by espresso machines) ----> cappuccino cream


Besciamella (the ancient french sauce made of flour and milk to thicken a sauce) ----> Bechamel




hope it helps


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## Einstein

I'm translating some ingredients, one of them being "panna", translatable as "cream". However, I'm not sure that everyone will automatically associate "cream" with fresh cream, so I'm wondering whether to say "dairy cream" or maybe "fresh cream" to make it clear. Any ideas?


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## bicontinental

If you mean a high-fat content cream (~ 40%) used to make whipped cream, that's what we call _heavy cream_ in this country. _Whipping cream_ might work as well. I don't know if you have the same types of cream in Europe, but this is what you will find in the US.


> The difference between these four common cream varieties is really just the amount of fat they contain.
> 
> 
> Half-and-half contains 12 percent fat
> Light cream contains 20 percent fat
> Whipping cream contains 35 percent fat
> Heavy cream contains 38 percent fat


 ref: What's the Difference Between Half-and-Half, Light Cream, Whipping Cream, and Heavy Cream?

Bi


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

I'd say that bicontinental's #32 pretty well defines the different categories of cream by %age of fat; there may be a similarly-based classification in official Italian dairy standards for all I know. I think of "cream" without any modifiers as the part of non-homogenized milk that rises to the top to form a layer of thick yellow liquid (like 'crema di latte' in #26), hence the expression "the cream always rises (to the top)"); we also say" the cream of the crop", even though crops don't have cream!. I believe there's even a brand of British milk called "Gold Top". By the way, "non-dairy creamer" is often abbreviated to "NDC". (I hope this isn't "TMD" (Too Much Detail)!


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## theartichoke

Einstein said:


> I'm translating some ingredients, one of them being "panna", translatable as "cream". However, I'm not sure that everyone will automatically associate "cream" with fresh cream, so I'm wondering whether to say "dairy cream" or maybe "fresh cream" to make it clear. Any ideas?



What's the recipe for, Einstein? I don't think I would ever need to be told that "cream" meant "dairy cream" or "fresh cream," but depending on what it's being used for, I might be be left scratching my head if I weren't told which fat percentage of cream (according to bicontinental's chart) I was expected to use.

E.g., if the recipe later says "whip the cream," any sensible cook would know to use whipping cream, but if it's, say, added to eggs and sugar as part of a custard pie filling, I would really like to be told which level of cream I should use.


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