There are many places to shop for food in Sacile. Just across the street is an independently owned fruit, vegetable and grain shop. They don't sell everything you may want. I've yet to find avocados or mushrooms here. Their focus is on ripe and seasonal items only; ready-to-eat nutritious treats. That they are! I've purchased a decent amount of fruit from this store and their nectarines are the best I've ever tasted. Next door is a bread shop. Made fresh on-site, their selection of bagels, croissants, loafs, and sliced bread changes from day-to-day. It smells like a warm slice of heaven inside. For more of a grocery store location, the Super A&O has everything. Well, almost.
The July issue of Travel + Leisure gives great insight on grocery shopping experiences like my own. Market Values talks about strange supermarket foods and the lessons learned from shopping at a foreign grocery store. Perhaps it would've been useful to read this before tackling The Super A&O.
It all started when I decided to make a traditional lasagna. Preparing the sauce, the cheese filling, boiling noodles and assembling the masterpiece takes some time. About an hour, plus an hour for baking. I take the challenge every few years and each time the dish tastes different. It may seem strange to cook a traditional lasagna while living in northern Italy. I am surrounded by hundreds of family-owned restaurants that serve incredible meals prepared with locally-grown fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices. I was convinced this Americanized dish would taste a significantly better with fresh, Italian ingredients.
A bit nervous, I was on my way to the Super A&O. How hard could it be to find sausage, pasta sauce, mozzarella and ricotta cheese, parsley, basal, rosemary, oregano, and thyme? After all, I know what they all look and smell like. What a mistake. Was the sausage mild, sweet, or hot? Was it made from pork or beef? I wasn't sure and I had no way of knowing. Buying it was a gamble I had no choice but to make. Fresh basal (basale: bah-saw-aye) and rosemary (rosmarino: rose-ma-re-no) were simple. Their translations are straightforward. Oregano (origano: or-e-gone-o) too. Plus, these leafy herbs come in clear packages. Parsley (prezzemolo: pray-say-mow-low) was no where to be found, even in a jar. Or was it? This translation is much less obvious. Now, where was this store hiding the shredded mozzarella? It wasn't. It simply wasn't an option. There were four or five different brands of soft brick cheese, all with unfamiliar selling points on the packing. The one with a picture of pizza on the label would have to do. It's better freshly shredded anyway. As I continued searching for my items, I was surprised to learn that mixed among the many pastas and sauces were items commonly found in America - Old El Paso taco seasonings and sauces. The Hello Kitty snacks were something I didn't expect. Just when I thought I've seen every product in Hello Kitty form, she strikes again. After thirty minutes of walking back and forth throughout the store, I had my ingredients. I picked up a cucumber for my salads and headed to the check-out.
The cashier rang in each item, stopping at the cucumber and motioning something to me in Italian. Repeating herself a few times, she was asking me a question I did not understand. The gentleman behind me tried to help, but quickly realized how poor my Italian is. She eventually caught the attention of a young stock boy, who took the cucumber to the produce section returning with the item a moment later. He placed a price tag on the bag. Of course. She needed to know the cost of the cucumber. But, how did he find it? I later learned that each item has an assigned number. You place the produce on the scale, hit the key for the corresponding number, and a sticker prints out. As far as I know, American grocery stores don't have this procedure. Most cashiers are required to memorize every produce product number.
After ringing up my items, and then those of the man behind me, the cashier walks away. My groceries are still on the counter. As I look for a bag, I see other customers packing their items into canvas "green" bags. I don't have one and I don't see any around me. This must be an efficiency tactic. I keep searching for something. I want to believe you can purchase bags from the store, but I can't find them and I don't know how to ask. All employees were out of sight by this point anyway. So, taking the upper-hand on efficiency, I collected my items and I gracefully walked home.
It was stressful.
I assure you that my second trip to the Super A&O was much less taxing. I was prepared with my shopping list in both English and Italian. I collected all of my produce stickers and I brought bags to hold my items. Lessons learned.
*After two and half hours of cooking - sauce made from scratch, freshly-shredded cheeses, and wheat pasta noodles - I was right, this was my best lasagna to-date.
No comments:
Post a Comment