Gourmet Italian food gifts for the Italian food lover

In general, gourmet cooks often expand their cooking repertoire, one cuisine at a time. Italian cooking is one cuisine in which almost every gourmet can't help but explore. Gourmet Italian dishes are not only delicious eating, but healthy as well. So if you know a Italian food lover, you can't go wrong with a gift of gourmet Italian foods. If they are not now a gourmet cook, you will certainly spur them in that direction.

Here are some suggestions on a gourmet Italian food gift basket. Some are fresh foods, which won't suffer shipping, so are suited to a 'fresh' delivery to your local gourmet friends. However, there are enough other choices to fill a gift basket that's traveling across the country.

1.Prosciutto is an air-cured ham, perhaps the most beloved of Italian meats. In Italy, there are many varieties, each with its own luscious taste. Prosciutto from Parma and Friuli, are considered by Italians to be the finest, so if you can find these heavenly fresh hams, your cooking friend will be stunned at the quality. The thin sheets can be used to wrap asparagus and pear slices for just two of many gourmet Italian food dishes.

2.Extra virgin olive oil of the best quality you can afford makes an excellent addition to your gift basket, used liberally in Italian cooking, contributing significantly to the taste of every dish.

3.Fine, well-aged Parmesan and Pecorino Romano cheeses are other staples of gourmet Italian food cupboards. These are famously put to use in the Tuscan version of focaccia, there called Schiacciata, a somewhat flat bread imbued with these cheeses. Of course, there are innumerable other uses for these cheeses.

4.Fresh mozzarella is another gourmet Italian food for the locally delivered gift basket. This is one ingredient of a simple and popular Italian salad, consumed with relish all over Italy. Slices of mozzarella, fresh wedges of tomatoes and minced fresh basil are dressed with a simple vinaigrette, for a fabulous salad. Naturally, fresh mozzarella finds its way into better known cooked dishes such as lasagna and stuffed cannelloni and is a highly prized ingredient for the gourmet Italian food lover.

5.While you may think anchovies are not the stuff of gourmet Italian cooking, this is not the case. What you want to look for are anchovies packed in salt, an Italian food lover's dream.

6.You can make an entire gift basket of fresh pots of herbs. In Italy, cooks disdain dried herbs whenever possible. Fresh herbs can spell the difference between success and failure of a recipe. A good selection might consist of fresh basil, sage, marjoram, thyme, flat leaf parsley, cilantro, some tarragon, popular in dishes from Siena, and fennel. Add a braid of fresh garlic for good measure.

7.A fine Balsamic vinegar is heaven in a bottle for the gourmet Italian food lover. A good rule of thumb in selecting the best is simple. The more expensive, the better.

8.Italians produce hundreds of varieties of wines. Your gourmet friend will certainly make good use of a sweet Marsala of the 'Superiore' grade, such as Vergini, which makes an exquisite addition to fruit dishes, as well as pastries and ice cream desserts.

So there you have the contents of a gift basket fit for a King or Queen. A cookbook of authentic regional Italian dishes could be the finale. With a gift such as this, you may well find your friend delivering little goodies that are the fruits of their adventures in gourmet Italian food cooking, inspired by you!