08 January 2011

Groceries

I never would have thought it, but I miss many items that I enjoyed while living in the States. I especially miss the many items available from Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. You know, the items we all use day to day and never give a second thought to. Many other items as well.


I took a field trip to a store I have known about for a long while now but had previously not made the time to explore. Natura Sì, Italy's answer to Whole Foods, is a short bus ride outside Florence's city walls.  Natura Sì offers many products difficult to find elsewhere in Italy, and I was on a mission to find as many of them as I could. I scoured every aisle of the store two or three times looking for many beloved products.  Unfortunately, I did not find the majority of what I sought.  Perhaps now you can understand why I beg you to bring certain products when you vacation in Italy, and I will continue to beg.  Some good news from my trip to Natura Sì, though:  I returned home with a few new products, miso* and tahini included.
*Miso, a combination of fermented soybean paste and barley, is considered a brain food.  In Japanese the word miso means brain.  It is a live, fermented food -- think prana.  Miso has so many health benefits and could not be any easier to prepare. Commonly recognized as brain food because its combination of protein and vitamin B encourages brain metabolism, making the wheels turn faster.
With tahini now in my home, dried, organic ceci (garbanzo or chickpeas) are soaking so that I can finally indulge in some homemade, roasted garlic hummus.  Cannot wait.

How about you?  What items do you miss when you travel?

3 comments:

  1. I really related to this post after backpacking for two months in Europe. One thing we found very hard to find in many cities was good affordable peanut butter. I guess it's more of U.S. food than I thought, and although I love Nutella, there's nothing quite like a lunch of PB&J sandwiches.

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  2. Yes. Trader Joe's Crunchy Raw Almond Butter. Mmmmmm! Send me some...please....

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  3. Thank you for the recipe. I can't wait to try it! Probably this weekend as it's supposed to be cold and snowy.

    We have newly discovered Trader Joe's in Nashville. Loved it the first time we went. We will be returning. What else are you yearning for from Trader Joe's?

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