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We're All About Italy

Shopping in Italian Mercati, Supermercati and Alimentari: Eating and Cooking in Italy

5/4/2016

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Abbondanza!
When you travel to Italy, there are a few choices of how to plan your accommodations, some limiting your options for meals, while others leave a lot of options open, especially if you would like to try cooking for yourselves in Bella Italia.  First, there's staying in hotels, which usually (but not always) include cornetto and other pastries, jam, honey and espresso breakfast, and then eating dinner in their (typically) over priced ristorante (if they even have one). 

Perhaps you'll book yourself into a small and cozy Bed & Breakfast, where you normally receive an Italian style breakfast, or worse--a colazione Americana (American Breakfast)--a poor impersonation of the egg and bacon breakfasts that you are used to--picture scrambled eggs sitting out all morning, fatty, greasy bacon and the packaged, hard dry bread that Italians consider "toast".

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Yes, there are McDonalds in Italy... Look the other way and pass it by.
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Ok... Now THAT's a real colazione!
But there is a third option... staying in an apartment, house or an entire villa, or an agriturismo (a suite or room at a working farm), each with a full functioning kitchen. Yes, you can cook your own meals whenever you're inspired to do so. It's these options that afford you the most flexibility.

But of course, you'll also be eating out...  when you discover that little, homey, non-touristy trattoria in the back streets; having sweet pastries and espresso while standing in the local bar/tabacchi like a real Italian (remember, they are more like snack shops in Italy); and eating pizza in a ristorante tourista just because it's right across the street from the Colosseum (yes, we did it). Or perhaps you feel a need to say you had a Big Mac in Rome (don't do it!) or you just have to have a foot long at an Italian Subway. (ugh) Eh, to each his own. You might even want to check out a gigantic slice of pizza at
Spizzico--where one slice is a quarter section of a whole pie--an Italian fast food pizza chain owned by parent company Autogrill, a fast food restaurant you might want to stop at while driving on the large Autoroutes in Italy. Hey, I hear their panini aren't bad. 

But other times you'll be buying pastries, a special blend of coffee, some fresh ricotta  and honey, and buying some of those multicolored eggs with deep orange yolks (Italians call that part "red") in the mercato... just so you can sleep in a bit and make your own breakfast the nest morning. Or simply stocking up in the local market so you always having a backup plan--picnics and bread & cheese snacks on the road,  or cooking at "home" with some new found authentic Italian ingredients: local pasta, tomatoes and veggies, prosciutto, cheeses, sausages, breads, wines and balsamic. We saw delicious produce and ingredients everywhere we went--even the supermarkets have amazing choices. Remember, you can do some culinary exploration while in your own Italian cucina (kitchen). Suggestion: a simple frittata with a new type of cheese, a sausage you never heard of or using those odd green tomatoes you saw at the market. And of course, there's always the breads. Chop some olives, tomatoes sprinkle with sea salt and olive oil and top off your bread for your very own bruschetta!

Having a home base is a wonderful way to expand your culinary horizons while using the amazing ingredients from the region you are staying in. As a plus, if you stay at an authentic agriturismo (a working farm that also rents rooms or apartments), you might be able to take cooking classes on how to make pasta, make cheese, cook regional recipes and more.

Your first day in Italy will be tiring, but as you travel toward your apartment, you will need to stop for basic supplies--if it's not to late in the day. Before booking your accommodation, ask about the kind of kitchen equipment they have for you to use (some might have a cooktop but no oven), and how much basic pantry items they keep in the cupboards. For example, in one agriturismo apartment we rented in Tuscany, they had coffee, tea, sugar, spices, salt, pepper, olive oil and even had little breads, pastries, honey and jam (the owners live there and farm the land). It was easy to have a snack the first night, make breakfast the next morning and other meals thereafter. They really had a complete kitchen and pantry. 

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Agriturismo Podere il Casale near Pienza, an organic working farm: cooking classes, pasta-making, cheese-making, pigs turned into prosciutto, sheep for their cheese and more.
PictureAgriturismo farm experience or just a hotel? You decide.
Beware: Phoney Agriturismos
Yet, in another of the new breed of overdeveloped faux agriturismo, created by investors who don't live or work there, you will find little authenticity, no hands-on farm experiences, very little history, young and handsome or pretty smartphone-clinging staff (who live in the nearby cities), cheap tourist wine, terrible olive oil, and an overpriced on-site cafe. Everything is extra. The wine, the oil, the soap for the washer.

In Mormoraia, an agriturismo we rented outside of San Gimignano, as chic and stylish as it was, they didn't have salt, pepper, coffee, tea, oil, ice trays, a cutting board or even a single good chef's knife. (The TV didn't even work--and no one seemed to care). The place produced their own wine and olive oil--but they didn't think to supply small samples for the kitchens in their apartments so guests could cook with them. These types of places are built by a recent wave of out-of-region (or foreign) developers who buy up old farms and vineyards, renovate them to look pretty as a postcard, put fancy labels on their wine and oil, but are about authentic as a Brit wearing a "Kiss me, I'm Italian" T-shirt. I really emphasize due diligence on your part in researching beforehand--and reading all the reviews of an agriturismo you're considering. If you want to cook while in Italy, make sure your accommodations can handle it. 

Another tip... look at the photos people post on sites like TripAdvisor. If the agriturismo looks too clean and neat, if their are no dogs, goats, pigs, or kids running around, and if you don't see photos of the actual proprietors cooking and engaging with guests, it's more than likely a phoney-Bologna imitation of the real deal.


Where to Buy Food

If you have your agenda well planned ahead of time, you can use a tool like Google Earth or Google Map to find places to shop in the area. Zoom into the area you will be staying in and search for "supermarket" or "supermercato". Google speaks all languages. I did this before we left and put my custom Google pin maps on my Kindle and smart phone before we left. Stop at an alimentari (literally translates as "food")  or even a
supermercato. Here are the types of places you can stock up:


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Typical alimentari that also sells wine
Alimentari are small, often locally owned and operated, Mama and Babbo food stores. They will have bottled drinks, wines, deli and cooked meats, pastas, fruits, vegetables, and basic dry goods like toilet paper, paper towels and the like. They are usually very affordable--even the wine is cheap, and good (how's $3-6 a bottle?) In addition, I've found that these shop owners to be some of the friendliest, helpful people I've met in Italy. Some have bags, but I suggest going shopping with a mesh bag or fabric style shopping bag.
  • Supermercato are like our supermarkets, but there are three types. Some are branded as "city" stores in larger towns--a smaller size supermarket designed to compete directly with the local alimentari.  (Many Italians still prefer to shop at smaller alimentari, bakeries and delis).  You'll be surprised at how small and unassuming these look from the street, but go inside and often they expand into neighboring buildings. Some have no parking lots, so be careful that you park legally. Others are full blown supermarkets with large parking lots--as we know them--usually on the outskirts of a town. Still others are "superstores" which means they sell more variety and even some non-food items.  You'll find a few of these in each region, depending on population. Hints: supermercati charge for bags (10 cents Euro); you must wear plastic gloves when handling produce; some have coin-operated pay corrals to get a shopping cart.  Supermercati have amazing produce and cheese departments. They have decent bread, too. The interesting thing is how large the wine aisles are in some. Milk is found un-refrigerated in cartons and chocolates take up an entire aisle. As for cookies... Italians don't like overly sweet cookies like we have in the U.S... think "biscuit". It's the same with chips and pretzels. They have them, but far less variety. If you have kids, let them find recognizable brands... Kellogg's "Frosties" or Rice Krispies (the packaging looks different), Philadelphia Cream Cheese (tastes much richer), Coca Cola, Fanta (made with real orange juice in Italy), etc.
  • Mercato all'Aperto literally means "open air market", or simply il mercato. Many towns have them, although I must confess that the way we traveled Italy, moving from town to town every day or two (our longest stay was 4 days in one place) we never came upon a single local market. Farmers and vendors move from town to town, each town having a different market day, or giorno di mercato. Look for signs in a village's piazza listing the day and time of the Mercato--usually warning about no parking during Market Day. Plan your market shopping early... most vendors close up by 1 or 2 pm. And bring cash--credit cards aren't usually accepted by market vendors.   Don't pick your own fruit and veggies. You can try pointing to individual fruit you want. Otherwise, vendors do the picking for you (unless you ask "posso scegliere?" and they give permission). It's a hygiene thing. Follow this link to find Open Air Markets in Italy.
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Many local alimentari have extensive deli offerings
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Picnic or dinner... you decide
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Conad City Store is still a full blown supermarket
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A Conad Superstore in the outskirts of a town
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There are definitely a lot of supermarket chains in Italy!
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Giorno di Mercato (Market Day)
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Frutta e verdura (fruit and vegetables)
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Spezie (spices)
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Look for the gloves - they supply them

One more thing... small towns will have alimentari and other small shops with little or no signs. Often it's difficult to tell what type of shop it is. They will have metal roll-up doors that will more than likely be closed (either partially or all the way) from 12 - 3pm. Try to do your food shopping earlier in the morning to be certain to find the shops you need open. If need be, ask someone "dove si trova la (il) ______ più vicina?", (Where is found the nearest _________?")  filling in the blank with the type of shop you need.

Specialty Stores
  • Panificio          Bread baker (also, panettiere or forno--literally, oven)
  • Pasticceria        Pastries, cakes (sometimes bread)
  • Enoteca             Wine shop (in our experience, mostly packaged tourist wines. Supermarkets and alimentari also have wine and liquors)
  • Formaggeria    Cheeses
  • Frutta e Verdura    Fruits and vegetables
  • Gelateria           Ice cream (gelato and other frozen treats)
  • Latteria             Dairy (milk, butter, cheese)
  • Salumeria         Cold cuts, cheese, salami, some canned goods (also called a Pizzicheria in some regions)
  • Macelleria         Fresh meat, salami, and sausage
  • Rosticceria        Take out and eat-in roasted foods, usually meats and vegetables
  • Pescheria           Fish
  • Pizzeria             Pizza (many offer other dishes for lunch and dinner)
Non Food Stores
  • Farmacia            Pharmacy
  • Bar-Tabacchi     Breakfast bar, pastries, sandwiches for lunch
  • Edicola                News-Magazine shop
  • Drogheria          Dry goods, canned goods, kitchen and household items 
  • Ottico                  Optician
  • Parrucheria        Hair dresser (women)
  • Barbiere             Barber (men's) 
  • Lavasecco          Laundry-Dry Cleaners
  • Lavanderia a Gettone      Laundromat                  
  • Mesticheria       Hardware
  • Sarto                   Tailor
  • Libreria              Book shop
  • Immobiliari       Real Estate
  • Scarperia            Shoe store
  • Sportivi               Sports
  • Cartoleria           Stationary Store
  • Gioielleria           Jewelry 
  • Negozio di Abbigliamento        Clothing shop 
  • Negozio di Giocattoli                   Toy shop

Late in the day (4-7 pm) is the best time to shop in boutiques or gift shops. A new trend in Italy is to put "-eria" at the end of a word to describe a shop. Yogurteria, Hamburgheria, Fruiteria, Disceria (for CDs), Vineria (wine), etc.  

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How to ask for what you need

In Italy you will be dealing with the metric system... kilos, not pounds. Una etto (abbreviation of hectogram) is asking for 100 grams, 200 grams would be due etti, three... tre etti, and so on. I even asked for simple, "cento" and got 100 grams, which is about a quarter of a pound--about the amount of cold cuts for one or two sandwiches, or enough cheese for your lunch. If you want a wedge of cheese, hold out your fingers to how thick you want it sliced and say "Come questo" (like this). If you want thicker say "
più spessa" (more thick), for thinner say "più sottile" (more thin). Point close to you for "questo" (this one) and point away for "quello" (that one). 

When thinking in kilos, think about half of what you would ask for in pounds.
(A kilo equals 2.2 pounds).  If you want about a pound, ask for a chilo (pronounced KEY-lo). In Italy, a kilogram is chilo. Half a kilo would be mezzo chilo. 

Be careful about these two...  one quarter kilo is "un quarto chilo". Four kilos would be "quattro chilo".  If you want to ask for something "to-go" you ask for "
portare fuori" (literally, "bring out").

Remember that numbers for pricing are written a bit differently. Decimal points and commas are switched around... a leather jacket can cost €1.000,00 but never would cost €1,000 (that would be one Euro with an extra zero). A house might cost €1.000.000,67 (one million plus 67 cents... don't know what the 67 cents is for). A gelato might cost €3,50 (without the decimal point).

Pantry Staples
    • ·         Salt                                     sale
    • ·         Pepper (ground)             pepe
    • ·         Oregano                             origano
    • ·         Basil                                    basilico
    • ·         Coffee Grounds               caffè  machinato (whole beans are Caffe in Grani)
    • ·         Milk                                    latte 
    • ·         Bread                                  pane
    • ·         Cream                                 crema
    • ·         Sugar                                   zucchero
    • ·         Butter                                  burro
    • ·         Balsamic                             aceto di balsamico
    • ·         Olive oil                               olio d'oliva
    • ·         Garlic                                   aglio
    • ·         Onion                                   cipolla
    • ·         Tomato                                pomodoro
    • ·         Canned Tomatoes             pelati (canned/jar peeled tomato puree)
    • ·         Bell Pepper                         peperone
    • ·         Cheese                                 formaggio
    • ·         Eggs                                      uova
    • ·         Water                                   acqua (naturale or gassata, without or with carbonation)
      • Bottle                                   bottiglia (ask for a "bottiglia d'aqua gassata")

I'll do a separate post on numbers soon. You definitely need to know how to say and hear numbers when shopping, in hotels, restaurants, taxis and trains.

I hope you'll get a chance to do some food shopping in Italy... and don't miss the Italian supermarket experience. Soak in the differences, try to translate the names on boxes and cans, and enjoy trying to figure out those odd veggies...


PictureIt's called Cardi, or Cardoon and tastes like artichokes
Magia bene!

--Jerry Finzi


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