Italy In The Box! Part 1.

Those of you who follow my social media activity know that I am an ardent fan of Try the World, which every two months sends its paying subscribers (myself included) a box of food products curated from a certain country, city, or geographic region. (Btw, I don't throw around the verb curate will-nilly as I believe this word has become inappropriate synonym for collect. The peeps behind Try the World really do 'curate' in that they make selections that not only attend to a theme but also complement those products appearing alongside.)

The exterior of box. Ignore awkward shadow from girl snapping photo.

Recently, I was contacted by the co-founder of another food subscription service with a related but slightly more specific mission: to provide customers with a box of edible specialties from Italy, specifically, "hand-picked products...curated to narrate a story linked to regions, seasonality, and festivity." Intriguing. My general philosophy toward food subscription services is that you can never have too many, so I accepted (disclosure) one sample box. 

Italian picnic components

Inside was the following: a jar of pesto, crackers, lasagna pasta sheets, cake, anchovies, and chocolate. I have yet to sample all these treats and this first post focuses only on the Agostino Recca anchovies and the Niasca Portofino pesto, which I paired with some Italian bread for an Italian picnic snack.

The anchovies were pleasantly supple and were overly salty like other less-quality versions I have tried. Furthermore, the olive oil bath in which they were ensconced had a terrific floral flavor, which prompted me to try to soak up as much of it as possible with pieces of bread. In strong competition for carbohydrate space was the pesto, unctuous, botanical, and with a violent hue that suggests it was made from basil picked at the peak of freshness.

So, Italy In The Box so far in one word: delizioso. Stay tuned for more updates.

For more information and to support the kickstarter funding this promising start-up, go here.