1

Given that I live in Cape Breton ...
*Italy's blood oranges
*Jamaica's juice oranges and just about every other fruit in the market
*The yogurt & rice pudding on Corfu in 1971

• Lamb chops the size of silver dollars (Athens 1971. I don't even eat meat any more.)

*My Aunt Rita's braciole and "wedding soup" ( She's in Niagara Falls but the recipes were from the old country.

• An omlette I had in Avignon
• Scolio di Friso's (Rome) cannelonni
• Actually, practically everything I ate in Rome in 1966/'67

2

Can I include "while living abroad" as well as "on holiday"?

Saudi Arabia:

The bread from either of the two bakeries in my neighborhood in Riyadh. Burr, a wholewheat bread like pita but doughier, and tameez, Afghani, baked in a tandoor and sprinkled with sesame, both bought hot from the oven.

Laban, sort of like kefir but better and cheaper.

The dates from my garden. Not sticky and less sweet than the dates I get here. And free. I had to buy pollen for my one tree, though.

Italy:

Finnochiono salami from Florence. Various organ meats that I never see here: udder, etc.

Cyprus:

Sheftalia (large meatballs wrapped in caul fat) (I could also get these in a Cypriot supermarket in Riyadh)

Libya:

Loquats

Germany:

Griebenschmalz

Obatzda

Kölsch

Tony, i would think you could find blood sausage the if you looked for it. Are there butchers near you that serve a Polish clientele? It wouldn't be the same as Spanish morcilla but it would be good.

3

Vinny, I can get Kölsch down the street. Should I try to get some to you?

I wish I could get:
-Good croissants. There are 2 places in my general vicinity where they are good, but they're not too easy to access. I often drive to Quebec province from here, and croissants and hot chocolate both become delicious the second you cross the border. We could do better.

-Mandelhoernchen from Germany. I don't have a favorite bakery for them, but I do for German pretzles. It's in Tuebingen, where I used to live. Of all of the bakeries in town, this one was the least likely candidate but was the absolute best.
-Lobster from Maine. It's not the same from anywhere else, and I am extremely biased towards seafood from Massachusetts. So that's saying something.

-Stuffed quahogs from Cape Cod. They just don't even show up on menus here.

-Clam Chowder from Captain Parker's in West Yarmouth, Massachusetts (that's Cape Cod.) I've tried them all and this chowder is the best.

-Passionfruit Fanta ("Fanta Passion") and extreme spicy ginger beer ("Stoney Tangawizi") from Tanzania

-These sesame/peanut balls I used to get from one specific bakery in Chinatown when I lived in London

-Capogiro Gelato from Philadelphia. I've never had better gelato, and I sure looked for the best all over Italy. There's a place in Rome that comes in second (Al Settimo Gelo, which I see is now in LP.)

-A specific dish at an Asian restaurant in Seattle. I am drawing a blank but will look it up if anyone requests it.

-Sourdough bread from San Francisco. We have sourdough here but it's not the same. I like Boudin.

-These dumplings from when I lived in Tokyo. I can get them in my neighborhood now but they're not right. The sauce is too gloopy and bland.

4

sadly, almost everything!

one simple example: German bauernbrot (the dark, dense, heavy kinds). and a staggering variety of cold cuts to eat with the bread of course.

5

The fresh juices made on the spot in Ecuador and Colombia, many from fruits I have never seen before: chirimoya, lulo, tomate de arbol, mora...

Delicious ripe mangoes, like you can find on the coast in Kenya.

Sweetish rolls for breakfast like those we found at a small bakery in Kreuzberg, Berlin.

6

I probably should have said draft Kölsch. But maybe what I really mean is draft Kölsch in Cologne.

7

Ok, got it.

8

Good papayas. I ave yet to find one here as good as the ones I've had in tropical countries. And fresh jackfruit.

Turkish food in general. There isn't a Turkish restaurant anywhere closer than an hour drive away.

Ceviche, Ecuador style. What I've tried to make just isn't the same.

A full English breakfast, served to me in a restaurant, not one I've tried to make for myself. With the right kind of bacon. I'll even take the beans. There are a couple of places here that purport to serve it, but it's not right.

9

Italy, gelato

10

You live in a gelato-free zone, Usher? Or are you just not satisfied with the gelato you can get at home?

11

I haven't found anything that compares to the black cherry gelato I had in Rome last year.

12

The number and range of German sausages on sale at the bistro at Berne central railway station, served with fries and lashings of mustard, and washed down with wheat beer.........................It is now more that 30 years ago since we were there, and i still dream of them!

13

Oh, dear heavens! The gelatos of Rome. The zabaglione semifreddo. The sausage and mustard in Innsbruck. The croissants.The beers. Jack fruit and real papaya and aresh-from-the-tree mangos and bananas.... Stop this thread, PLEASE.

14

Vinny, I had it in my mind that we were talking about Kirschwasser, even though we were clearly talking about Kölsch. We have both in my neighborhood package store. But now that I realize we're talking about beer, I understand what you mean.

Nutrax, you should come here. I'm 5 min from two very good Turkish restaurants, and there are more in the general vicinity than I can count. You might also like Persian food, and there's a great one in NYC that I frequent.