Food, Drink shopping in Europe
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Fürst
The Mozartkugeln (Mozart balls) at this speciality chocolate shop are based on Paul Fürst’s original 1890 recipe. The chocolate-coated nougat and marzipan treats cost €0.90 per mouthful.
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Louis Patisserie
One of London's oldest coffee and cake shops, Louis Patisserie was started by Hungarian immigrant Louis Permayer in 1963 and it hasn't changed a bit since. Eclairs, almond pretzels, marzipan cookies, cream slices and macaroons wink at you from the window, and they're packed in a pretty striped box for you to take away. You can also sit down in the breathtaking little tearoom, best on Sundays when Hampstead's old-skool Eastern European ladies and gentlemen come here for coffee and cake.
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Antica Caciara Trasteverina
The fresh ricotta is a prized possession at this century-old deli, and usually snapped up by lunch. If you're too late, take solace in other creamy specialities such as burrata pugliese (a creamy cheese from the Puglia region), or simply drool over the fragrant hams, bread, baccalà (salted cod), cheeses, peppers, Sicilian anchovies and local wines.
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Pegna
A good selection of Tuscan and regional Italian specialities such as pâté, cheese, coffees, preserves and other stuff too good to be called just groceries can be found in this mini-supermarket.
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Manuel Tavares
For a lingering taste of Lisbon, nip into this wood-fronted store, tempting locals since 1860 with pata negra (cured ham), pungent cheeses, ginjinha, port and other Portuguese treats.
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Xampany
Since 1981, this ‘Cathedral of Cava’ has been a veritable Aladdin’s cave of cava, with bottles of the stuff crammed high and into every possible chaotic corner of this dimly lit locale.
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Markthalle
Self-caterers can try the Markthalle, which sells picnic fixings and has Italian and Swabian restaurants.
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De Biertempel
Beer specialist shop where you can even pick up a well-priced bottle of Westvleteren.
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Antonio Mattei
Practically every tourist shop in Florence sells them; they are dunked in Vin Santo as sweet dolci world-wide and have become synonymous with Tuscany at large. Yet it is in Prato that these rock-hard, seriously crunchy rusk-like biscuits studded with almonds were cooked up. Known around the world, sure, but the Real McCoy only comes in a thick paper, cobalt-blue bag, tied with string and embossed with the mark of its maker: Antonio Mattei. Created by the artisan biscuit maker in 1858, biscotti di Prato or cantucci (as they are also known) are still baked up on the very spot where they were born.
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Roy René
Aix's sweetest treat since King René's wedding banquet in 1473 is the marzipan-like local speciality, calisson, a small, diamond-shaped chewy delicacy comprising 40% ground almonds and 60% fruit syrup, wrapped in a communion wafer and glazed with white icing sugar. When the Great Plague came into town in 1630, calissons supposedly staved off the disease. Traditional calissonniers still make the sweets, including Roy René, which also runs guided tours at its out-of-town factory/museum.
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Nave De Oro
Wine is as important to life for Venetians as water and a fine take-home tradition persists in Venice for tipplers unable or unwilling to spend on big labels. These wine-stores are crammed with huge glass damigiane (demijohns). From these monsters, each containing a sea of modest Veneto table wine, you make a choice and have it poured into whatever you bring - used wine or mineral-water bottles, it's up to you. You will be charged per litre. There are many branches of this chain around.
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Eataly
Adjacent to the congress centre is the Slow Food Movement’s ‘supermarket’, Eataly. This vast converted factory now houses a staggering array of Slow Food–affiliated food and beverages, with a separate area for each, including cheeses, breads, meats, fish, pasta, chocolate and much more. The best time to visit is around 12.30pm to 2.30pm, when each area has its own little restaurant serving lunch. There’s also a high-end restaurant here, for which you’ll need to book ahead.
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Tierenteyn-Verlent
Ghent's traditional mustard-maker, the 1790-established Tierenteyn-Verlent, has occupied this heritage-listed shop since 1860, and it retains its original interior of tall glass cabinets of apothecary and spice jars behind varnished timber counters. Mustard is still made using original techniques and only natural ingredients: vinegar, salt and ground mustard seeds. Each jar comes with its own little wooden spoon (plastic spoons can also be used, but not metal, as it separates the vinegar).
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Cantina del Canton
Wine is as important to life for Venetians as water and a fine take-home tradition persists in Venice for tipplers unable or unwilling to spend on big labels. These wine-stores are crammed with huge glass damigiane (demijohns). From these monsters, each containing a sea of modest Veneto table wine, you make a choice and have it poured into whatever you bring - used wine or mineral-water bottles, it's up to you. You will be charged, on average, around €2 per litre.
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2be
Occupying a 15th-century Gothic mansion, this sleek emporium stocks a tantalising array of artisan chocolates, wines, jenevers, conserves, sweets, biscuits and other 100% Belgian goodies including a superb selection of beers, such as the local Brugse Zot, which you can try at the canalside café. Ask staff to fill you in on the escapades of the resident ghost of Perez de Malvenda, the former Spanish mayor whose house this mansion once was.
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Systembolaget
The state-owned alcohol monopoly is the only place to buy real booze to take away. A complete listing is given online; the following are some handy central branches: Klarabergsgatan (21 47 44; Klarabergsgatan 62; 10:00-20:00 Mon-Fri, 10:00-15:00 Sat); Lilla Nygatan (411 65 06; Lilla Nygatan 11; 10:00-18:00 Mon-Wed, to 19:00 Thu & Fri, 10:00-15:00 Sat); Regeringsgatan (796 98 10; Regeringsgatan 44; 10:00-19:00 Mon-Fri, 10:00-15:00 Sat)
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Augusta Perusia Cioccolato e Gelateria
Giordano worked for Perugina for 25 years. In 2000, he opened his own shop, Augusta Perusia Cioccolato e Gelateria, creating delectables from the old tradition, including baci (hazelnut ‘kisses’ covered in chocolate) from the original Perugian recipe. Delicious handmade chocolate bars come in boxes with old paintings of Perugia – great for gifts – or pick up some of the city’s best gelato for yourself.
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Chocolate Museum - City Centre
Despite the misnomer, this place is not a museum. While you are welcome to come inside to peruse the artistic pieces, it is unlikely you will leave without procuring your very own chocolate chess set or chocolate 'Fabergé' egg. This outlet is in the basement of the Stroganov Palace, but there are others inside Gostiny Dvor and Passage . So rest assured, you'll have no trouble finding that chocolate bust of Vladimir Ilych.
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Cadiot-Badie
Bordeaux's greatest chocolate maker offers the gourmand a whole range of delicious specialties to take home: chocolate Bordeaux truffles flavoured with liqueur brandy and grapes, fanchonettes (flaky pastry tartlets filled with pastry cream and covered with meringue) and tourny, a ball of praline. With its crystal chandeliers and carved moulding, the shop itself, which dates from 1826, is worth a visit.
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Ischia Sapori
This savvy little produce shop is the home of rucolino, a local, liquorice-flavoured digestive made with rucola (rocket). The recipe is a guarded secret, but the liquid is yours for the taking. The shop also sells its own wines, gourmet food stuffs, limoncello-soaked babà, olive-oil soaps, and fragrances, all reasonably priced and gorgeously packaged with trademark Italian flair.
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Fish Shop
Trailblazing chef Rowley Leigh has flown the coop, leaving Kensington Place in the hands of the successors to the Conran chain. But that’s not such a bad thing for the budget-conscious, with identically priced set meals served at lunch and dinner. The impressive glass frontage, design-driven interior and attached Fish Shop, which is always helpful for inspiration, remain in place.
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Temmerman
Run by the 8th generation of this family of confectioners, glass jars filled with sweets line up behind the counter of this old-fashioned sweet shop, which has been in its current location since 1904. All of its sweets are made by the family's factory, including typically Belgian neuzekes (hard, triangular cherry-red 'noses' filled with soft jelly) and mokke (aniseed biscuits).
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Antica Macelleria di Francesco Esposito
For a perfect picnic hamper head to this century-old deli. Drop in from 08:00 for fresh mozzarella and wood-fired casareccio bread. Fill the latter with a lip-smacking choice of cheeses, prosciutti, homemade peperoncino (chilli) salami and marinated peppers. Then wash it all down with a bottle of falanghina (dry white wine). Meraviglioso! (Marvellous!).
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