The best part of foreign travel is renting a place with a kitchen and roaming through markets and small shops to assemble dinner like a native. Seeing as that may not be happening until later in 2022, assembling a food basket is the perfect gift (along with an off piste item or two) for that friend who, at this point in the pandemic, would happily swim to Europe if they thought they could make it.
If I found this beautiful bottle in Europe, i would be ranting about how much lovelier everything is over there. But surprise! it’s available at the LCBO and it’s only $27.95. More subtle than the amaretto you may be familiar with, Luxardo Amaretto di Saschira is sweet but also nutty. It’s nuanced as opposed to one-note and the sheer grandness and arresting beauty of the bottle demands that you build a drinks tray around it. Great as a digestif or in cocktails, it also makes the cleverest and fastest dessert: an Amaretto Affogato. It’s the classic ‘hot espresso poured over vanilla ice cream', but with a generous slug of amaretto added to the bowl as well.
Add an unexpected treat to a food-centric gift by including the perfect red lipstick (nothing more Italian than Gucci) that an Italian hostess would quickly swipe on before receiving guests. Gucci rouge à lèvres satin lipstick in Goldie Red, $55, Sephora.ca is a vibrant true red that looks good on every complexion.
Yes, I know hand soap is not food. But I am so thrilled that this gorgeous and reasonably priced Italian brand is now available at Eataly. Their amber and spice scented Gattopardo Ambra Nera Glass Plate and Soap, $20.90, Eataly.ca makes a perfect practical but glamorous hostess gift.
This year, let’s normalize using vibrantly coloured panettone tins as sewing kits. Definitely one step up from the ubiquitous blue butter cookie tins. I found this Dolce & Gabbana panettone at my favourite Italian grocer (Toronto’s Lady York on Dufferin street) so it’s worth seeking them out at your local shops. And then you aren’t at the mercy of overstretched shipping companies.
Mimi Thorisson’s Old World Italian, Chapters Indigo Books $45, is equal parts tour through Italian cookery, interior design inspiration and straightforward, easy to execute recipes. FYI, The Cacio e Pepe is on p. 160. (Maybe mark it with a Post-it if you are giving pasta and cheese as well?)
Did you read about the bucatini shortage exactly one year ago? All the more reason to include it in your gift. Add a hunk of pecorino and some black peppercorns and you have everything you need for Cacio e Pepe (except the starchy pasta water. You’ll have to make that yourself.)
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Storytime!
In my twenties, I visited the Toronto home of an up-and-coming film producer and his lovely Italian girlfriend. According to the friends of his who brought me, he apparently wouldn’t marry her, even after years together, because he didn’t want her to get his money in case they broke up.
She was warm, welcoming and low-key cool and kept all her beautiful dried pasta boxes casually displayed in a wicker basket on top of the fridge. When I got home, I immediately put all my pasta in a basket too, and 30 years on, I still store it that way. I googled him for this and no, they are no longer together. If you and I are friends, just ask and I will tell you who he is.