Carluccio's Food Gifts

All food lovers have been at least once at one of the many Carluccio's restaurants and I am sure that nobody could have resisted from buying  at least one of his delicious products. Sadly Mr Carluccio passed away recently and I've had the privilege to meet him in several occasions. But his legacy will stay forever because Mr Carluccio brought to UK special Italian food personally sourced from several regions in Italy. For this Christmas, his shops have got a great selection of gift as well as traditional cakes for the big day. I've picked a few just to tempt you.

This box of Gianduiotti is the perfect gift when we receive a dinner invitation. Gianduiotti are the traditional hazelnut truffle from Piedmont in Northern Italy. It is a classic since mid 1800 and its shape never changed. The traditional is wrapped in gold  foil and in  the box there are four other flavours: dark chocolate, white chocolate, with almond and with pistachio.

Any pasta lover will be thrilled to receive "Il Pentolone" a beautiful scarlet box shaped like a hat box filled with four regional  pasta  shapes like Orecchiette, Scialatielli, Strangoloni  and Gigli. These pasta are paired up with four delicious sauces : spicy arrabbiata, porcini, venison ragu and vongole. To top everything up there is a cotton tea towel with a spaghetti theme.

This gift box will be appreciated by anyone who likes the bubbles/choccy combination, or buy it for yourself to celebrate the festive season. Carluccio's has put together a sparkling Prosecco bottle from Veneto  and a box of traditional Gianduiotti. It is a nice idea for office bosses to gift their employee with this combo.

 A cheese lover will give the right amount of enthusiasm when presented with this wooden cheese board, serving spoon and a artisan made fig  jam jar. I like when a gift lasts and a cheese board is always very useful.

For the first time at Carluccio's it is possible to buy a Gluten Free Panettone. With more and more people being intolerant to gluten, this time of the year was quite hard because they could not enjoy in full all the traditional food. This panettone is unglazed, it is made with natural yeast and it tastes delicious. I've sampled it and I was very impressed of how tasty it was.

This  "Il Porcino Cestino" (The Porcini Basket) is a gourmet little hamper from Carluccio's filled with delicious treats like truffle oil, mushroom and truffle sauce, porcini pate and dried porcini. Everything is carefully sourced from the regions where these products are typical.

Among the many food gifts, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar can't be missed. "Lui e Lei"  is a gift box with a bottle of EVO oil and one of Balsamic Vinegar from the region Emilia Romagna where, especially the vinegar is a traditional product.

Limoncello has become very popular and as well as drinking it neat, it is delicious over ice cream or fruit salad. Carluccio's has sourced this Limoncello and paired it up with some milk chocolate cups to use as a shot. Put them in the fridge and enjoy this Mediterranean liquor.

This is my favourite treat at Carluccio's and I am sure it is one of the best sellers in the catalogue. They are Candied Clementine wedges coated in dark chocolate and they are so decadently scrumptious that if you buy some as a gift it is better to buy a box for you just not to be tempted and keep the one you've bought as a present.

This glass jar is filled with gianduja star shaped truffles that are great to be scattered on the table as a decoration and a great gift when visiting friends and family. You can reuse the jar once the  Gold Stars are gone to put bits and pieces or in the kitchen for loose tea bags and more. Check the website at Carluccio's for more ideas and to locate the nearest store to start shopping at www.carluccios.com