To continueโฆ.
2 weeks ago I got an email from Vico Food Box.
To quote:
โI am writing to you from Vico Food Box (https://vicofoodbox.com/chi-siamo/), a young StartUp with the mission of making Italians abroad feel at home.
We offer an online sales service of Italian food products throughout Europe and the UK. We pay particular attention to the packaging (in recycled cardboard), to the packaging of the products up to customer assistance.โ
They then offered to send me a sample of some of the items.
I may not be Italian but I dearly love all things from Italy so of course I said YES, please.
Last week the box arrived:
This is what was insideโฆ. The site is in 4 languages, BTW: English, Italian, French, & German
โBiscottificio del Sassello Canestrelliโ โ Traditional Shortbread Cookies topped with sugar. Just as sweet as they look, perfect with coffee or tea.
The Chocolate is โChiacchiere ripiene di crema Buenoโ. Itโs kind of hard to describe this. I served it with coffee after my dinner party and it was a huge hit. There is a very thin wafer of some sort, and a soft cream, all covered in chocolate. One person said they were like SโMores.
The โTaralli Napoletani Sugna e Pepe Extra Mandorlatiโ This one surprised me. I glanced at it and decided it was like a cookie, with nuts and chocolate. I was right about the nutsโฆ. Itโs like a crunchy salt, pepper, and almond breadstick. Lots of pepper. Very good but I think even better with a cold beer (which I didnโt happen to have).
Pasta and Pesto di Pistacchio. I have not tried this yet but Iโm really looking forward to it. I love pistachios and pistachio pesto? Fantastic !
The salami looks wonderful, as does the focaccia. Weโre saving them for a bike-ride picnic, which we hope will be very soon.
Iโm really excited about the cheese.
Yes, I know I live in the land of 400+ cheeses, but Iโve never found a smoked cheese here. This โLatticini Staiano Scamorza affumicata Vico Equenseโ is a smoked scamorza cheese. I havenโt cut into that yet, either. itโs over 16oz (600gr) and I want to have my plan in place so I donโt waste a smidgen. Of course I could just eat itโฆ. with the focaccia and salami.
Hmmmmโฆ.. that could be the plan.
The nice people at Vico Food Box have given me a discount could to offer anyone who wants to satisfy their Italian food cravings.
The code is: thymeforcooking3 and itโs worth 3.50 euro off an order of 40.00 euro or more.
Check out their site โ itโs a huge Italian online supermarket.
Did I mention that the shipping was very fast? Just a few days. And there is an online chat to help.
I need more of that chocolate nowโฆ
Now this is a food company I could get behind if they delivered here! A slice of that focaccia with a thin slice of the cheese, salami and some coarse ground mustard sounds like heaven. Everything looks wonderful so lucky you!
I took a look at their store. We have a store near me, about 40 miles away, called Cantoroโs. Similar, I think, where I can get authentic Italian, but I rarely go there because itโs a direction I rarely drive anymore. Driving that way is more populated the farther you go and anymore, I can feel my anxiety rising with every mile so I avoid that if at all possible. ๐
Thatโs exactly what I plan to do with the focaccia !
There was a tiny Italian grocery store we went to when we lived in Minneapolis. Aisles only wide enough for 1 person, the whole store was the size of a closet. But they made all their own pastas. It was wonderful ! It had been there forever, but not any longer. Couldnโt compete with the big stores, Iโm sure. 2 old brothers owned it.