All over Europe, the holiday season means special cakes. Each country or region has its own distinctive confection, eagerly awaited by one and all. At Gourmet Pantry, we carry a good selection of these wonderful treats.
Most Americans know only Stollen, an oval bread with candied fruit, as a traditional German holiday treat. […]

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There’s a nearly endless variety of Italian cookies. Since every town and region has its own local favorites, you might find a dozen variations on a basic recipe. Amaretti, for instance, are small almond macaroons from Soronno. In Siena, they are flavored with orange and called Ricciarelli. A Sicilian version uses […]

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Tapenade is much beloved in the Mediterranean countries. This rich and savory spread can be made from a variety of ingredients, though olives are traditional. Keep a jar or two in your refrigerator and you’ll find endless uses for it.
The classic presentation is simply to spread it on rustic bread. You can […]

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Panforte is a traditional Italian Christmas confection from Siena. The primary ingredients are honey, spices, candied fruit and almonds, baked into a shell made from unblessed Communion wafers. Panforte goes back to medieval times at least, and there are many legends about how it came about.
One legend takes it back to the Nativity. […]

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In Italy, each region prides itself on its own signature pastries, especially at Christmas time. They make Panforte in Siena, Pandoro in Verona, Struffoli in Naples and Caggionetti in the Abruzzo. It’s Pannetone, the specialty of Milano, however, that is by far the most widely recognized.
Pannetone is a very soft, moist […]

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Italian tuna and American tuna are so different they hardly seem to derive from the same fish. American canned tuna tends to be both mushy and dry simultaneously. It’s fine for making tuna salad, but if you haven’t tried Italian tuna, you’re about to discover what tuna should taste like.
In the Mediterranean, tuna […]

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Italian sodas are known for their bracing refreshment and true fruit tastes. Bottled sodas such as Agrumi are all natural, with no additives or colorings. At Gourmet Pantry, we carry Agrumi in four flavors: lemon, citron, tangerine and grapefruit.
More often, however, Italian sodas are freshly made by combining flavored syrups with seltzer or […]

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One of the most striking aspects of Italian cuisine is the astounding variations in standard recipes. Regions and cities argue endlessly over whose version of amaretti or zuppa de pesco is the real, the best, and, in fact, the only one. In no category is this more true than with sauces. Forget […]

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Antipasto is not the name of a specific dish, but is more akin to the term appetizer. It refers to the first course of an Italian dinner, the one “before the pasta.” Most often, what we refer to as antipasto is a collection of foods, artfully arranged on a large platter, like an […]

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The American palate is gradually broadening to include more foods from other countries. Ethnic restaurants, once confined to “red sauce” Italian, Mandarin Chinese and perhaps Mexican in the southwest, now include Thai, Indonesian, Ethiopian, Hunan, Brazilian and a wide range of others. For the adventurous home cook, imported foods make it possible to […]

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