I've been in Milano for 3 years now, previously I lived in California (SF Bay area) where my diet consisted mostly of "ethnic foods" ie Indian, Chinese, Thai, mmmmexican, etc. and I really miss it.
I like to cook, and am pretty good at it. I can make lots of dishes from the above mentioned, and have found sources here for most of the ingredients. I thought I'd open this thread to like minded folks to share ideas, sources, and work-arounds.
In Milano, we are lucky to have a small Chinatown, where you can buy many hard to find ingredients. Near my house there is a small Indian community with a food store, a Persian grocery shop, a Philppino shop, and some Moroccans at the mercato who sell cilantro and sometimes spearmint.
I can find Italian peperoncini (hot peppers), but they are different than the ones that I could find in the states. I have never seen jalapeños or any of the other mexican peppers here.
I got some seeds from the states, and I'm trying to grow some jalapeños, habañeros, and tomatillos. I grew a few last year, and made some (mexican) salsa verde.
A friend kindly sent me a tortilla press, so I can make corn tortillas, but they never seem to come out quite right.
I'd like to know if there are others out there sharing the same dilemma, and if so, how you've dealt with it.
Don't get the idea that I don't like Italian food - I love it. I've learned to make quite a few dishes, even my Italian mother-in-law thinks they're pretty good!
quote:Originally posted by chiaroscuro: I got some seeds from the states, and I'm trying to grow some jalapeños, habañeros, and tomatillos.
I would be interested in a couple of them (or in a few seeds). A freind brought me a few jalapeños and other varieties from the Usa ast year, but I used them and they were frozen, so when I tried to plant the seeds nothing happened. As you grow a few, we might meet (for instance at the weekly Garmin-aperitivo I have with some foodie friends in Piazzale Susa every Wednesday) and trade them. One of the above friends already offered me a dinner in exchange for a few seeds ;-P
Alice Twain -- – Che peccato, signora: lei ha partorito e suo marito non c’era. – Oh, se è per quello non c’era nemmeno quando sono rimasta incinta! Leo Ortolani, Rat Man, “Il primogenito”
Hey! I am from SF, and have successfully grown my mexican chili's here, make my own Flour tortilla's ( corn area little heavy for me) but did bring back my press too...
also my sushi mat, and wok.. am lucky as can get most of what I need in Florence at vivi market, including fresh lemon grass.... We are also getting some habanero style peppers in the AFrican shops! REAL KICK! I am going to take cooking classes in Oaxaca this NOvember, and always bring back chili's and mole.. we may have to rendezvous in Bologna! I will be glad to share!
chiaroscuro, We've had a few topic threads on finding particular foods in Italy on this board. You can either do a find or search on key words, or spend some time reading back through older threads - there's lots of information already here!
[I don't mean to imply that this thread isn't valid; only to remind people that there are many, many resources previously posted. ]
Posts: 14516 | Location: The Beautiful San Francisco Bay Area | Registered: 06 August 2001
A proposito dei semi - here's an interesting Italian site that sells seeds for peperoncini. It's also very informative about the types of peppers here in Italy.If you go to the root of the site, it's an Italian chili (cili) head site with lots more links.
I will be glad to give you some seeds if the crop comes out all right. I planted them up in Piemonte at my in-laws' place, but I put them in a little early and they got stunted by a few cold nights. I've read that this is common with jalapeños and habañeros. They've started to perk up, but they're flowering while still too small, and I don't go up there every weekend to pinch off the buds. I've got my fingers crossed.
The tomatillos, hovever grow like the weeds that they are, in some parts of the US they are banned because they can really take over.
Last year a friend came to visit from the US, and brought me a big bag of fresh peppers. I made jamaican style habañero sauce that uses curry and tropical fruit (mango, pineapple), and mustard. My Italian brother in law liked it so much that he ate almost all of it. It tastes mild at first, but you find sweat trickling down your forehead soon thereafter.
quote:Originally posted by chiaroscuro: I've got my fingers crossed.
Me too ^_^ As for the site, I will check it out, but I don't really need a huge amount of seeds, so I will only do it if I get to split it (gruppo d'acquisto) with the Gruppo Assaggiatori Ristoranti di Milano e Insubria (Garmin) group. We are a lot less serious than the name give us credit for ^_____^
quote:I made jamaican style habañero sauce that uses curry and tropical fruit (mango, pineapple), and mustard.
That is extremely interesting...
Alice Twain -- – Che peccato, signora: lei ha partorito e suo marito non c’era. – Oh, se è per quello non c’era nemmeno quando sono rimasta incinta! Leo Ortolani, Rat Man, “Il primogenito”
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