There’s always talk about what Americans miss most about living abroad. There’s the usual items like peanut butter, diet coke (not coca-cola light), Dr. Pepper (don’t know how anyone can drink that stuff) and other American favorites but how about when you move back to the States and can’t find some of those Italian specialties?? I was thinking about some of those favorites today and came up with a short list beyond the espresso and Italian cuisine.
I miss Brasilena coffee flavored soda – YUM! It’s more of a Calabrian favorite as I have never found it outside of Calabria. If you get a chance…. try it! I have had other coffee flavored soda but none can even come close to Brasilena. I’m sure Michelle at Bleeding Espresso and Cherrye at My Bella Vita know exactly what I’m talking about.
I miss Sanbitter… although my sister carries it at her bakery, so I get to have it occasionally.
I miss Ferrarelle sparkling water. It’s very unique, sort of a “soft sparkling”
I miss a bartender that can make a good “Americano” not the coffee but the cocktail. It’s 1 part Campari, 1 part sweet vermouth with a splash of soda and an orange slice. My favorite! add gin and you get a Negroni.
All drinks? No, no.
I miss mozzarella di bufala, I mean good mozzarella di bufala…. to me, if it’s not mozzarella di bufala…. it’s just not mozzarella. If you’ve never tried it…. run as fast as you can and get some…. seriously, what are you waiting for?
We had 2 Italians in our office when I was working in Bologna: 1 was from Caserta and the other from Battipaglia. These cities are both right outside of Napoli and are famous for their Mozzarella di bufala. They often argued about where the best bufala came from. All I cared about was that they brought it back to Bologna when they went home to visit. We have found some bufala at Costco here in the US. It’s pretty good (not Caserta or Battipaglia good… but pretty good.)
What favorites are you missing from Italy?
PS- If you’re in Italy and live near a US military base: Make friends with someone in the military:) They have full blown American Grocery Stores! Here’s a picture of my friend Anthony in the Grocery store on the Navel base in Napoli. We found lots of favorites including Doritoes, Sam Adams, Diet Coke and canned pumpkin for making pumpkin pie! They also had plenty of your favorite peanut butter brands and Dr. Pepper.
ferrarelle is my favourite too and one of our suppliers recently got it into stock, we were so excited it wasn’t natural:)Love the San Pellegrino limonata too!!
Oooh…good question, but what I miss the most does not fall into the food category. What I would like to have are bigger sidewalks, or make that sidewalks period! Some places have no room to safely walk along the street w/o being forced to step aside.
Secondly (or perhaps this should have been first) — bigger, wider roads. Yes, I know that some of these byways were originally made by donkeys, but I am not alone on this. Even my father-in-law admits to wanting enough manuevering space for 2 cars instead of 1 1/2.
I am totally with you on the mozzerella di bufala. I am not much on the sparkling water….but if it was on the light side….I would sure give it a try. I would love to try that coffee soda!!! And I miss the *real* nutella. The stuff here in the states has more junk in it ;(
I haven’t had Ferrarelle, but I am an Uliveto freak. I love that stuff!
And Amen to the mozzarella di bufala. I had NO idea how incredible that tastes until I came here! Oh, and that even in Naples, the quality varies from shop to shop.
It’s nice, too, that people here aren’t jaded about it, either. If my fiance’s dad happens to bring home some especially good mozzarella, it becomes part of the dinner conversation.
And have you had fried provola? Wowee, that’s my fave right now. It is so flavorful.
Can’t believe the stuff that passes for fresh mozz back in the states… Pure schifo!
Well the mozzarella is just a given, but I’m happy that you’ve mentioned Calabria’s own Brasilena. I’ve posted on it too:
Heeey Brasilena!
And I, for one, *love* Dr. Pepper. Really need to make some military friends….
Lorraine – I’ll have to try the limonata next time. sounds good.
Rowena – I thought you were talking about here for a second…. makes more sense when it’s reversed. Can you imagine American roads with Italian cars… that’s a lot of room!
Robin – It makes me so happy when a restaurant here in the US has real bufala:) I’ll keep an eye out for Brasilena and let you know if I find any.
Tui – I remeber some shops in Caserta wouldn’t even sell it to us because it was going to take too long to get back to Bologna. They said we needed to eat it sooner:)You should give Ferrarelle a try. You’re in the right area for it… tougher to find north of Rome.
Michelle – Love the post! and I’m glad to hear they’re expanding:) It would be nice to pick some up at the local grocery store.
I’m with you on the mozzarella, I have fallen in love with it since moving to Italy and posted on it a while back. The stuff we used to have in England just wasn’t right, tasteless and rubbery with none of the cool, soft subtleties of the real thing. I haven’t tried any of the other stuff yet but I’m on the look out.
Ah a good mozzarella di bufala really cannot be beaten – I love the stuff! The best mozzarella there is IMHO!
All the best from Italy,
Alex
PS Have a link!
that brasilena stuff sounds amazing….i’m making a trip to italy with my fiance near the end of april. do you think we could find it in and around naples or the amalfi coast?
i studied in florence for a semester and i miss….the salami (it always tasted different there), the thousands of new cheeses I tried, and of course the gelateria that popped up on every street corner.
although, we’ve come far here in the U.S. and gelato has become really easy to find lately!
great post!
I often say the same thing to my friends around the world who aren’t military! I love that I have access to both worlds!
..BUT I miss Mexican & Chinese food like you wouldn’t believe!