"Carnival nests." Special desserts made in Tuscany during carnival consisiting of tagliatelle-like pasta flavoured with chocolate and woven into loose nests, dried, fried and served with some sort of sauce, usually rather rich and laden with cream and booze.

"Nests of yellow rice." Cooked rice layered with ingredients such as chicken livers, topped with grated cheese and baked.

"Nests of white caps." Capellini formed into nests in Sicily and fried, served with a rich sauce, often with orange zest, honey and spices.

"Black" A name in Sardinia for Bovale, a Spanish grape used in making strong red wines.

Nigella. The small, black, bitter seeds of a relative of "love-in-a-mist". Nigella is often incorrectly called wild onion seed or black onion seed. The seeds have a sharp, pungent flavour with a hint of a smell of strawberries and are used for flavouring confectionary and liquors.

"Nephews." The largest artichokes are called la mamma or mammoli, while small ones are called figli (children). The tiniest are called nipoti (nephews).

A dish from Molise of calf's muzzle, cooked, cooled and slices things and dressed as a salad.