A Box Full of Italian Food! :P

Ok I wrote this article months ago, but for some reason I have never published it.

Now, all this food is gone, and I miss it so much just by looking back at this post!

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YESSS. My box has arrived! This is a box of Italian goodies that my mom (love you woman) sent me from home. Here is what I found inside…

TUNA. I don’t know why, but my mother packed 12 pounds of canned tuna in my box. Actually I just asked her why, and she replied that canned tuna lasts for years… Perhaps she heard of El nino coming soon? It’s true that Mediterranean tuna in olive oil, especially the brand I ate while growing up, is way way more delicious than that sucky Chicken of the Sea in water, but 12 pounds!!! Well, I know how to enrich my pasta, salads, and sandwiches for the next 27 years! Lol :)

Extra virgin olive oil. This is simply because it would cost much more to buy the same quality Mediterranean olive oil in the U.S. As we can learn on authoritynutrition.com, “Real “extra virgin” olive oil is 100% natural and very high in antioxidants. Many of the lower quality olive oils have been processed and adulterated with cheaper oils.” So she threw a 1-liter can in the box!

http://authoritynutrition.com/extra-virgin-olive-oil/

Prosciutto. This is a big one! Here is a funny fact: “prosciutto” is just the Italian word that we use to describe a thin cut of a pork’s behind, so it includes what Americans call “prosciutto” and also what Americans call “ham;” however, we call the ham “prosciutto cotto,” which means “cooked.” I don’t mean to be offensive to Hillshire Farm or anyone, but Italian pork cuts are way better, too. It’s much more delicate, softer, not wet, and definitely more tasty. 

Parmiggiano Reggiano and Grana Padano. 

Check the difference in the amount of ingredients!

These are two types of cheese that Americans refer to as “Parmesan cheese.” They are very similar and both come from central-northern Italy, but they are produced with slightly different techniques. For instance, Parmiggiano is produced from cows eating exclusively grass and healthy stuff and is 100% natural, so it is of better quality and softer. Grana Padano is usually lighter but harder so some people prefer it. It is also cheaper so it is usually preferred to use on pasta, while Parmiggiano is preferred when eaten by itself of with some Prosciutto or salame. 

Gocciole.

This is the best part. In fact, this morning I had the best breakfast I could possibly ask for. Probably (definitely) not as fancy as salmon, not as tasty as Eggs Benedict, not as delicious as Nutella pancakes, but these biscuits taste like home to me.




I have been dunking these chocolate chip biscuits in warm milk ever since I stopped using a baby bottle! Gocciole have been there for me every day for most of my life, and when they weren't (because my dad ate them at night) I would get so angry and I had to eat those other biscuits for breakfast which my sister loves so much… Throughout high school, I have had thousands of Gocciole and I would never had stopped if I didn't have to move to America. As you can understand, I literally love these biscuits, and I keep insisting on calling them biscuits and not cookies because they are very different from what Americans think of as a chocolate chip cookie. Eating Gocciole for breakfast this morning was like going back in time to when I was still in Italy, and it felt really good! 

In the box I could also find two of my shirts that I forgot at home and a new pair of fancy shoes!

That box made my day!

A presto,

- Fede