cheat sheet: andiamo a supermercato

don’t believe anyone when they tell you
italian grocery stores are small

Just like any smart millennial, I did a lot of research for how to prepare for life in Italy…. on Youtube.

Something I found interesting in my search: There was a lot of content out there about how the grocery stores (or supermercati) were small, with little variety in options. It made it seem like a life with 30 choices of toothpastes at Target was about to be behind me, and I welcomed that change with open arms. Simplifying life was what we were looking for at the time. But what my adorable Youtube creators failed to mention was that the idea of Italian shopping being limited in options only pertained to finding American staples.

If you’re looking for peanut butter or coffee creamer, you’re going to be sorely disappointed.

But if you’re shopping for in season produce, pasta, cheese, crudo (or charcuterie, as you may prefer to call it), poultry or meats, preserves, beauty products, hoisery, cookies, flour and grains, legumes, yogurts, fresh seafood, fresh pastry, fresh nuts (noci), chocolate (cioccolato!)…. you get the idea. You’ll have more than enough options to choose from.

The first time I went to an Italian grocery store I was completely overwhelmed. It was so much bigger than I expected and based on how clumsy I was weighing and barcoding my own produce, I felt like I had a big fat “Help! I’m new and obviously American!” sticker on my forehead. I didn’t have the right coin increment to withdraw my shopping cart. I couldn’t find where they hid the spices. I forgot to bring my own bags and didn’t know how many plastic ones I needed to purchase. Why are the eggs not refrigerated and next to the potato chips? And where in god’s name is the all-purpose flour?

Not to mention I was using Google Translate for everything because I was terrified of accidentally coming home with ground horse meat (that’s a thing).

Years later I am a pretty seasoned veteran and almost exclusively shop at our local supermercato (Note: as a military family, we do have the luxury of shopping “on base” at a grocery store a lot like a Publix in the ‘90s. But we decided we didn’t move here to still eat like we’re there.) Anyway, considering limited Italian restaurant hours and the fact that there is nothing like UberEats where we live, all meals are cooked in our cucina everyday and it’s made me into a much braver cook in the kitchen, and I don’t use that word lightly.

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I recently purchased a local guinea fowl for Christmas Eve dinner. Guinea fowl is a very popular, highly nutritious, white meat option where we live. A whole bird, “I’ll roast her like Ina Garten does chicken!” It’ll be great, so cute. I’ve roasted dozens of chickens in my life, so this will be a piece of cake.

Well… upon opening her, tucked tightly into her saran wrap packaging, I discovered she had feet. Claws. A long neck. Long. Oh my god, a head. A face! A beak. But wait, there’s more… This bird hadn’t been gutted. Completely closed. Yup. Heart, liver, kidneys…all there. A hesitation fell over me at the same time as a cold sweat. I hadn’t dove hand-first into an animal since that pig in 11th grade Anatomy & Physiology. I looked down at my daughter for support, but she was too busy chasing our cat to help me. I had not signed up for this.

Porca vacca! So like a real Italian Nonna, I rolled up my sleeves and gutted my first bird on Christmas Eve.

I can’t say that I’m a different person after going through 35 years of life never having lived through a surprise bird-gutting. But let that be an example of just how fresh Italian ingredients can be, and how skilled the average home chef has to be to keep up.

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Eating well, and being health conscious, is in the Italian DNA. Many people find that interesting because when they think of Italian food they think of two things: Pizza. Pasta. (And wine, does wine count?) But upon living here I have learned that while everyone eats that way while dining out, the “fatti in casa” experience of cooking is much less indulgent and much more simplified. Probably using whatever is growing in the backyard garden. It’s the most seasonal we’ve ever eaten, and I feel privileged that it’s the diet my daughter is consuming while her little body develops in the first years of her life.

The laws pertaining to food regulations, managed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), are far more strict here than in the United States. Their regulations include everything from food dyes, additives, chemical enhancers and GMOs that are banned within the EU. There are entire communes near us that are non-GMO abiding. Additives like bovine, used in the U.S. to increase milk production in dairy farms, are illegal here. Other growth hormones like ractopamine and additives such as potassium bromate, BHA… all banned.

Aside from the obvious when shopping for your proteins here, what this means is your local produce is fresh and must be used fast. Fruits and vegetables that we were used to buying once a week and living off of for the next six days wilt and go bad quickly because they don’t have so much “stuff” pumped into them keep them alive longer. So the result is you shop lighter and maybe more frequently.

This is not the bulk buying lifestyle, and the all the tiny refrigerators reflect that.

Anyway, cutting to the chase: I figured I’d include some helpful info that I wish I had heard in those YouTube videos years ago so that you’re more prepared when you live here (because you might, you never know.)

And even if you just travel through Italy, do yourself a favor and find a supermercato to make yourself cena one night. Maybe don’t de-gut a bird, but at the very least pick up some pesto fresca and mortadella with bread. You really wont regret the experience, trust me.

Before we begin… some things to remember:

Always have a €1 or €2 Euro on you for dispensing your shopping cart

Be mindful of Holy Day closures, and most small stores will closed on Sundays and everyday between 12 - 3pm

Coffee, tea and dolci are a plenty and should be on your list each week to live a well rounded life

Larger supermercati will have a bar for espresso and limited cocktails (like a spritz) for after shopping

Dairy & Formaggio

I’m pretty sure the last time I went shopping I counted four separate aisles just for cheese alone. This is not including the bays full of parmigiano reggiano, all at varying age limits.

The dairy section of your local store is going to be set up by type of cheese, not by brand or cut. So you’ll have hard cheeses, docli (asiago DOP), burrata, mozzarella. Different stylings and cuts follow. And then over in the deli you’ll have the full roster of everything from Bleu to Asiago to Feta from Greece fresh cut and packaged by the deli team.

Butter will usually be somewhere near the burrata and will come in pacakges weighed by the gram, not by the ounce.

Milk and non-dairy milk will likely be on an end cap of a cheese aisle. Non-dairy nut milks can also be found in the produce section.

And eggs, not refrigerated, will either be on a random end cap of an aisle or burried near the bread and potato chips. I’m serious. Sold by 6, 10 or 30 increments.

Produce

The usual suspects here: fruits, vegetables, roots and herbs can all be found in the produce section. Seasonal specialties like nuts, noci, and bulk pomodori secchi, sundried tomatoes can also be purchased.

How to buy: Some items like broccoli, berries and others will be barcoded individually. But others that you’re used to bagging yourself must be weighed and barcoded in the produce section (not at the cash register when checking out).

Larger supermercati will have someone there to do this for you, smaller supermercati you will do this yourself at a machine. It’s easy, just type in the number to the type of item and slap the sticker on your bag.

Not just a COVID thing: but please wear gloves, they’re located by the product bags for you.

Crudo

Crudo, salami, prosciutto, speck, mortadella pancetta… the anchors of the Italian deli.

You can purchase these as shown, in bulk casings, if you are hardcore and have your own equipment at home for slicing.

There is an entire separate aisle for prepackaged cured meats, slices and in smaller casings from a variety of brands across Italy.

An entire deli counter with fresh sliced cured meats of the particular supermercati brand.

And finally, you can be brave and order whatever you want custom from the butcher.

That’s a total of four aisles, just for salt cured meats varieties. No shortage of options here!

Seafood

Depending on where you are in Italy, the seafood section will look different. Always check what is fresh and what is vacuum sealed (fresh frozen) in the freezer section.

Fresh in our area means lots of white fish like Cod (also used in the very popular Baccala dish), octopus, gamberetti (shrimp), rainbow trout, salmon (from Trentino), and more. So we are very lucky.

Frozen options, as shown can come from all over Italy and include fresh frozen Lobster tails, whole scallops on the half shell, crab legs and a variety of fish types.

Sushi grade seafood is also available in Italy, believe it or not, sushi is super popular here.

Bread

Something that might surprise you about Italy is how many senza glutine (gluten free) options there are when it comes to bread and pasta.

Be on the lookout for the main types of Italian breads: Foccacia, Grissino, Ciabatta. But you can easily also find typical baguettes, sliced bread, toasts and more.

If you’re looking for fresh dough to bake at home, like pizza dough, it’s usually going to be in the back bakery counter.

Same for brioche, a variety of fresh baked tutti giorni will be found in the back bakery counter. Available in packages or for individual purchase.

Alcohol & Grappa

You can get everything from beer, wine, spirits, mixers, liquor and grappa all at your basic supermercato.

Doesn’t matter if it’s a large or small location. A variety of this fare will be there. The wine is probably regional, at the most, just with Italy (maybe France).

Your beer selection will be found shelved at room temperature in the same area as soft drinks, which could be on the entire opposite of the store.

A silent moment for the wine shown, which could have been the sponsor to my entire 20s. You’re reading that right, it’s about €7 here.

Poultry & Meat

In case you’re wondering, this is our friend the Christmas Eve guinea fowl.

The poultry and meat department wont look very different to the naked American eye. But know that little things, like how chicken breasts are sold (by the pair with the breast bone attached), and macinata (meat that has been ground or minced) can be blends of different kinds more often that we are used to.

For example: pork and beef (maiale e mazno), so just brush up on your Italian vocab before you walk out of the store.

Flour & Grains

Farina! Easily one of the most intimidating aisles. It’s gorgeous to walk into any basic store and be able to have such an array to choose from.

Farina di grano tenero, 00: Best use for cookies, cakes, biscuits or scones. Basically, “cake flour”
Farina di Manitoba grano tenero, 0: Best use for baking bread! Basically, “all purpose flour”
Farina per pizza, pasta: Self-explanatory, but yes, there are specific flours for each. Also gnocchi.
Farina integrale: Whole wheat flour
Senza Glutine: This will be a tag near the price in front of any gluten free flour. Buckwheat, chickpea, peas, rise, etc.
Farina di saraceno: Buckwheat flour
Farina di ceci: Chickpea flour
Farina d'i riso: Rice flour
Farina d’avena: Oat flour
Farina di mais: Cornmeal

Pasta

In addition to aisles and aisle of dried, boxed and bagged pasta, it’s no surprise you can find a huge assortment of fresh pasta in the refrigerated section near the cheeses.

Here you can find a variety of different cuts, ravioli, tortellini and fresh flat pasta for free use. Note: This is sometimes what is used for lasagna, as you wont typically find a “lasagna noodle” here.

Takeaway options can be found here as well. Everything from spinach and ricotta lasagna to Viva la Mama’s Risotto al Tartufo (truffle risotto) all within an arms reach.

And don’t forget gnocchi! Regular potato blends, pumpkin and spinach are year round staples.

Beauty

Finally, the personal care aisles… There really should be another post spent on beauty items and where to shop for them in Italy, like the farmacia, but know that you can hit these items on your list here too.

You’ll notice many brands you recognize from the States can be found in the personal care aisles, but with different ingredient profiles. Shampoos, conditioner, night creams, toothpastes and more.

But also local brands like my personal favorite, Acqua alle Rose, made in Florence. It’s the perfect gentle year round toner. I keep a bottle in each bathroom of our house just in case.