Photo by Francesca Tosolini
This cestino di Natale all’italiana (the Italian Christmas basket), which I spotted today at Eataly, the high-end food store/restaurant chain that is becoming so popular in Italy, clearly shows which food represents the Italian tradition, especially when it comes to gift-giving.
That is pasta, balsamic vinegar, Parmesan cheese, tomato sauce, olive oil, dried mushrooms, gourmet chocolate, coffee, wine, pesto sauce, cotechino (a large pork sausage, typically served with lentils and eaten on New Year’s Eve), honey, orange marmalade, chestnut cream, spumante (sparkling wine), and so on.