One of the best things about coming back from Italy is bringing back your favorite Italian snacks…mostly for yourself but also to share with others who have never tried them and get their feedback. Here are some of my favorites Italian snacks that I brought back from my recent trip.
- Italian Nutella…you can find it here but not in the drinking glass package (and certainly not with Kung Fu Panda!) How many Italian families have a cabinet full of Nutella glasses?
- Fonzies…if you haven’t had Fonzies,you don’t know what you’re missing. WARNING:more addictive than CRACK.
- Kinder –and all the chocolaty variations.. the hazelnut filled crunchy cookie ones are my favorite!
- Brasilena –The ONLY coffee soda worth drinking…it’s awesome! and only found in Calabria. I had to leave my six pack of glass bottles behind because it wouldn’t fit in my luggage. DAMN YOU LUGGAGE!
- Guglielmo Coffee –my favorite espresso,also made in Calabria.
- Vecchio Amaro del Capo –an amaro from Capo Vaticano…delicious! especially when served ICE COLD.
What are some of your favorite snacks and brands from Italy?
Ah,no,non e’vero che la nutella e’la stessa!! Nutella is very different in Italy than it is in the US,where it is produced under license with different ingredients. I particularly dislike the strong vanilla flavor added to the North American Nutella,but who knows,I might only be spoiled!
Joe,I have a bottle of the Vecchio Amaro del Capo in my freezer right now. I am going to have a small sip of that now. Thanks for reminding me
Noooo…. I’m in Alabama for a month and my Vecchio Amaro del Capo is still at casa mia…as if I wasn’t homesick enough!
(mmm…. I usually bring Rio Mare Pate’Olive Nere,a bottle of my own olive oil,Mon Cherie cherry liqueur chocolates…) and I really miss our wonderful wood-fired oven bread.
Joe,I’m with you on all of these! Fonzies,all and any kind of Kinder! With the Brasilena,they have it here but only in the can and it’s just not the same…in the glass bottle they do have Moka Drink and Frizz Coffee which are also both made in Calabria…I know,I know it’s not the original Brasilena,but I’ll take either of those in the bottle over Brasilena in a can. I don’t know why they stopped importing Brasilena in the glass bottle. Anyway,I also always,always bring back at least 3 bottles each of the Amaro del Capo and that brand of Limoncello (Liotti maybe? the one with the bottle shaped like Calabria). Guglielmo I find here,but what I don’t find are le caramelle al Guglielmo,so I make sure I bring those…another thing I do bring is Tortellini prosciutto crudo by emiliane Barilla,because they don’t have those here…geez,now i’m really hungry e mi manca la calabria
We get Fonzies in Australia only they are called ‘Twisties’. Otherwise I’ve only ever found them in Italy.
Vanessa,I have heard the same.. maybe I’ll do a taste test!
Hi Katie…hope it was good. Cheers.
Kay,I’m a big fan of the olive pate too. Sorry to make you home sick!
Hi Carla…good reasons to book a trip! I agree,I like Brasilena in a bottle better too…wish I could find the large bottles,that would be great!
Scintilla,“twisties?”do they taste the same? As long as they taste the same…they can call them whatever they want:)
When I was kid Nutella glasses were everything we had!!! And FONZIES!!!!!! GOSHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so true Daziano.. and yes,Fonzies,Goooooood.
Oh,Fonzies…After reading about them here I had been wondering what they were. Last week we finally found them in Siena. I ate eight little packs of them straightaway. So deliciously addicting…
Similar to Kinder Bueno was Kinder Snack,I think,flavored with Cointreau. I wish I could get that in the States.
Nutella from Italy is nothing like Nutella in America. Any kind of kinder was my favorite snack when i was growing up in Calabria. Briosce were second on my list,tied with the Mulino Bianco cookies. mmm mmm!! Brasilena was my absolute favorite drink–still is,I used to be able to find it at Dibacco’s on Franklin Ave in Hartford,they no longer carry it. Liuzzi’s in New Haven also used to,I’ll have to check if they still do,,spero di si!!