My favorite edible Roman souvenirs that you can pack in a carryon

Because nobody needs more stuff

I feel pretty strongly that none of us need any more things.

I love having things. I love books and hand-painted ceramics and beautifully made shoes. I love expensive candles and cashmere scarves. The truth is that I love to shop. I find that I can usually cure that craving by shopping for food. Italian product packaging is beautiful and/or amusing. A trip to the deli counter or the bakery means coming home with a collection of beautiful individually paper-wrapped items sometimes even tied up with a length of ribbon.

When I travel back to the states to visit family and friends I bring consumable gifts. I do have a few exceptions, but they are long-lasting and made for everyday use. My advice for your Italian gift-giving is to head to the neighborhood alimentari or grocery store. (I like Coop best) Nothing on this list is considered a liquid so you don’t even have to check a bag at the airport.

Italian food gift ideas

Tinned fish is having a moment. Not to boast about being ahead of a trend, but, I have been buying the brightly colored tins of wild-caught Pollastrini  Sardines from Anzio for years. You can usually find them at the Coop or at the Pewex City on via Merulana. This brand has become increasingly more difficult to find. Eataly stocks them online. The Consilia brand found at Gros (I like the one underneath the OVS at Santa Maria Maggiore) and Elite (the via Cavour branch is terrific for gift grocery shopping) is a good alternative.

Dried pasta is just better here. Look for pasta made with 100% durum wheat. I particularly like "Pasta di Gragnano IGP.” The Garafolo brand is easy to find. (but check the provenance of the wheat, sometimes it is Arizona!) I always buy in bulk when I spot the deep forest green packages of Delverde. At smaller alimentari look for artisan brands like Pasta Mancini, Pasta Martelli, and Pastificio Faella.

Collect packages of dried porcini mushrooms, tins of Carnaroli rice and saffron from Abruzzo (I buy mine from Drogheria Innocenzi in Trastevere) and you have the best ingredients for making risotto when you are back home.

Pocket Coffee is always a hit. Before a trip, I buy 10 boxes at a time. You will find them near the cash register. Chocolate is not sold In many places in the summer. The summer version of Pocket Coffee, called Espresso to Go is a teensy tiny juice box (including a straw!) of chocolaty espresso.

You can’t bring home a spritz or cedra flavored soda in your suitcase but you can bring a box of Pastiglie Leone spritz flavored candy.

The chocolate-covered Pan di Stelle cookies are now a frequent request when pals learn that I am coming for a visit.

The baking section has thin envelopes of baking powder and boxes of Perugina cocoa (look for amaro, that means it is unsweetened) You might even find birthday candles that say Auguri.

Caffe Sant’Eustachio is practically one-stop shopping. You can buy freshly roasted coffee and my favorite, tiny boxes of chocolate-covered coffee beans.

Made in Italy Shopping

Socks

Gamerelli has been making clothes for the Pope (and priests, cardinals, and bishops) for more than a century. The socks in Cardinal red or Bishop purple. There is also a baby version. This is my go-to new baby gift.

I love stripes. I also wear a lot of black. I often chose a pair of Gallo socks (or tights!) to liven up an otherwise monochrome outfit. I have a collection of the no-show version. There is a pop-up kiosk inside Termini train station. Now a permanent store.

Dishtowels

Dishtowels are incredibly versatile. My dining room chairs are upholstered with those dishtowels that every Italian tourist town sells. You know, the ones that are garishly printed with the town’s main sites. I buy a dishtowel from just about every place I visit. It makes drying dishes and cleaning up spills in my Roman kitchen also a memory journey of trips to London, the eastern shore of Maryland, New Orleans, Capri, and Ponza. Get a stack woven with iconic Roman sites or printed with artichokes or lemons at Gioren Biancheria near the Pantheon.

Moka Pot

Italians have more than one Moka pot in their kitchens in a variety of sizes and conditions. I have a particular weakness for the tiny one in the colors of the Italian flag.

Cotton neck scarves

Individually wrapped crisp striped pajamas and a rainbow of thin merino wool sweaters are stacked on shelves behind a long counter at this Roman institution. To be completely honest these kinds of old-fashioned Italian stores still make me a little nervous. You don’t have to be nervous at Schostal dal 1870. Find the manager, Shirley Braine, and she will show you how to tie a cotton square like the most elegant Roman signore.

Listen to this podcast about the mind/lifestyle shift to In Real Life shopping

I love this idea from Design Mom. Buy a spool of Italian flag ribbon to wrap up your gifts.