Who Invented the Deli? The Answer May Surprise You!

                                              Deli and Italy are for many synonymous

Italy is home of pasta, vino, salami, mozzarella, pesto, focaccia, prosciutto, parmigiano-reggiano, pepperoncini, panini, tiramisu…. and the deli, which sells all of these items.  The Italian deli is one of the greatest sensory shows on our food earth.  Pungent cheese mixes with the intoxicating smells of gigantic hanging hams just waiting to be sliced.  Lasagna fresh-from-the-oven causes a Pavlovian reaction.   Aisles are filled with a Noah’s ark full of olives, olive oils, capers, balsamic vinegars, and tins of San Marzano tomatoes.  And, let’s not forget the aroma of garlic---no vampire would get within 50 meters of an Italian deli.

  Labor-intensive eggplant parmigiana is  a perfect solution for Italians who don't want the hassle

Every city in Italy is replete with delis.  Their reputations are often based on their homemade ingredients which fill their display cases.  With both parents often working in Italy, the deli has become the Italian healthy version of fast food:  eggplant parm is a favorite item that can quickly be reheated.  Always popular meatballs, made from closely guarded deli recipes been passed down for generations, can become a speedy dinner by simply boiling water for pasta.   Many delis are also known for their seafood salad---calamari, shrimp and mussels dressed with olive oil and lemon (add a loaf of bread, and a bottle of wine and this makes a perfect dinner for time-bankrupt Italian households).

Eataly is a deli on steroids

There are many fabulous deli’s in Italy.   Eataly in Turin (the brand’s original location) is totally awesome.  This is a food emporium extraordinaire----a deli combined with a butcher shop, bread seller, seafood market, pastry shop, wine store, pizza parlor, foodie’s gift store, general grocery store, vegetable market, and a culinary bookstore. 

                               Peck has a nearly endless supply of gastronomic sweets

In my opinion, however, the ultimate deli in all of Italy is Peck in Milan.  Located not far from the city’s famous cathedral, Peck has always been my favorite for takeout. Many times over the years I have taken the train from nearby Lake Como to pick up ingredients for a picnic dinner on the terrace of my hotel in Bellagio.   Peck’s seafood salad with lobster and scallops is off the Richter scale.  If I’m feeling really decadent I buy a small slice of foie gras with truffles.  But, Peck’s also sells pieces of magnifico rotisserie chicken which I often pair with their pepperonata, a stewed mélange of multi-colored peppers with hints of anchovy, garlic, olive oil and a drizzle of good balsamic.

All of this time I have assumed that deli was an Italian word.  Wrong.   Deli is from the word “delikatessen,” a German word.  In 1700 the word was first used by a German food company that sold bananas, mangoes and plums it had imported from exotic places like the Canary Islands and China.  The company, Dallymar, is still in business today and remains the largest business of its type in Europe.

                      Like many things in Italy, it's all about the heart & soul of the owners

Although the word deli is not Italian, I think it sounds Italian.   That made me think of the Italian word “delicato,” which stems from a Latin word meaning “giving pleasure, delightful.”    So in my mind I’m going to keep my notion of deli as Italian.  While the Italians may not have invented the concept of a store selling a cornucopia of exotic foods, to me the delis of Italy give great pleasure and are a culinary delight.

EATALY….A Gastronomic Shrine

                             Eataly in Istanbul offers a cheese & ham counter worthy of Caesar

Ten years ago Eataly opened in a former vermouth factory in Turin.  Today there are more than 35 locations around the world stretching from Rome to Tokyo and even to Dubai.  It’s appropriate, however, that the first Eataly opened in Italy’s Piedmont district.  Piedmont is home to the Slow Food Association, a kind of Noah’s Ark of Italy’s heirloom foods that was born in outrage to the first McDonald’s opening in Italy back in the 1980’s.

                               Chicago's wine department sells the best of Italian vino

Eataly’s founder, an Italian bazillon-Euro magnate, grew up in a household involved in the grocery business.  His extended family were artisan pasta makers.  After selling his electronics firm, he took the old-fashioned concept of a food-hall and turned it into the greatest foodie emporium on planet earth.   Before doing so, however, he toured all of Italy’s regions looking for its best local food products.  He found a cornucopia of producers making foods the old way…everything from boutique pasta located in the boot of Italy, to capers from an island off the coast of Sicily.

                                 Eataly in Florence serves up a serious array of breads

Think of Eataly as a Whole Foods on steroids, then add a William-Sonoma Super Store, a cooking school, several dining venues (including a mozzarella bar, a wood-fired oven featuring to-die-for breads and pizzas, and a pasta cafe), as well as a second-to-none culinary bookstore.  I spent several hours in Rome’s three story Eataly (built in a once derelict bus terminal on the outskirts of town).  I ate lunch, shopped for dinner ingredients (to be whipped up that night in my rented apartment), bought most of my Christmas gifts, and simply wandered from department to department in awe of the mind-boggling array of Italian foodie-related products.

                              Eataly, regardless of location, has multiple dining venues

Eataly is finally opening a long-awaited outpost in Los Angeles late this year.  My birthday is in December and I’ve already made plans to spend it at their new location.  I’ll celebrate with a cooking class, but will leave plenty of time to explore, marvel, and shop for holiday goodies.

Viva Eataly!