european sips and snacks
The other night I was texting my friends from my teen tour this past summer when my friend Natalie sent a photo of a piece of half - eaten truffle cheese that had teeth marks in it. Unconsciously, I responded by saying “ew”, thinking it was moldy cheese. Natalie responded, saying it was truffle cheese, similar to what she had carried for us in her purse for two days in Italy. One night at a restaurant, she pulled the cheese out of her purse and began spreading it on a piece of bread. I grabbed a knife, and took a piece for myself. We almost finished the hunk of cheese in one sitting. At that moment, reading the messages, I was transported back to a time where we relied on weird and addictive snacks while in Europe. They were snacks that we couldn’t buy in America, and so we longed for them when we returned home. Here is a list of the ultimate snacks and casual foods you must try, and will probably rely on, when you are traveling through Europe.
San Benedetto Peach Tea
Before you travel to Europe, you must know that they don’t believe in water. The average bottle costs more than you think, and finding water is a difficult challenge, especially when you are visiting Italy during a heat wave. You should also know that when you sit down at a restaurant after hiking to it, you won't be greeted by a server pouring you cold water. In fact, you must ask for the water, (and the ice!!!), and pay for it. At dinners with the seven of my friends, we would sit down and immediately order around twelve bottles of water. But, during the day, the luxury of having cold water wasn’t on demand. So, as we explored and toured the towns, we relied on San Benedetto’s insanely sweet peach tea, because it was sold everywhere in refrigerators. I was hesitant at first, drinking sweet tea as a means of refreshing myself after walking many miles in the heat. The sweetness was intense, and the peach tasted completely artificial. Its texture was velvety, like a mix between an iced tea and a syrup, which makes sense based off of its sugar content. But, if a friend had it clutched in her hand while walking, and it was one hundred degrees out, I would snatch it and take a sip. Somehow, despite the taste, it always managed to cool me down.
2. Galletti Biscuits
Over the course of the teen tour, we took over a dozen trains, spending the hours looking through the windows to the scenic views of hills and beaches. Despite how calm these train rides may sound amidst our bustling itinerary, it was always chaotic. At one point, we even boarded a train going to Italy when we wanted to head to the French Alps. The only way we survived the long trains, schlepping our cargo from one train to another, was through eating good snacks. We created the tradition of hosting food parties at our cramped train tables. Each of us would buy something from the overwhelming mall-like train station, and we’d gather on the train and eat and laugh. One of our favorites was the Galletti Biscuits. These golden, sweet, and buttery squares acted as the perfect treat to our hefty train travels. We always kept a bag in someone's hotel room, as a safety net in case the food tasted bad at a restaurant, or because we needed to refuel after a long day. They are addictive, so proceed with caution.
3. Nutella Biscuits
On every train ride someone, or all of us, fell asleep. Our days ended on the next day, and so we always caught up on sleep while traveling. While one would hope that those who dozed off would feel at peace and remain unbothered, it was impossible to keep those standards. Some of my friends slept with their mouths open, and we had a little game we would play. It would start with one of us grabbing a Nutella biscuit carefully out of the crinkling bag. In the meantime, everyone else would pull our their phones and start recording. Then, the cookie would be dropped in the slumberer’s mouth, and we’d wait about a second until they would wake up. I’ve got numerous videos of this joke, and every time I think about the quick awakening and realization of having a cookie in your mouth, I laugh a little. Like the Galletti biscuits, Nutella biscuits were a must have and the favorite of the snacks. We went through a bag as fast as it would take to travel from one Italian town to another. I’ll hyperbolize and say that we ate than a lifetime of Nutella biscuits while on our month-long excursion of Europe, but I just couldn’t give them up when I returned home. I went through withdrawal. About a week after I returned home, my father ordered three bags of Nutella biscuits on amazon for a whopping $45 so he could experience the treat himself. It may not have been the most cost-effective or thoughtful purchase, but he was able to experience the cookie just as I had, and he was not disappointed.
4. Original Goldfish
I had just assumed that the original goldfish were the orange, salty, and cheesy ones that get stuck in your teeth. However, when I saw the blue, shiny bag with no images of orange cheese on it for the first time in Geneva, I was humbled. They weren’t made by Pepperidge Farms, but by Kambly. They are the original goldfish, but I consider them to be the anti-goldfish. Not cheesy nor salty, these small crackers seem to be goldfish but lack many of its American qualities. If you could compare them to any American goldfish, it would be the pretzel ones. They were shaped like goldfish, however they aren’t topped with salt grains that cover half of the fish's surface area. They are light, delicious, and do not get stuck in your molars. The anti-goldfish was my favorite savory snack on my trip, and I miss them everyday. They too were a part of our weekly food parties, and they were gone before the train even left the station.
The best part about these snacks is that you won't get away from them for the duration of your trip. You’ll always end up finding them, even when you least expect it. You may be in the mountains of the Alps where your phone won’t connect, and unexpectedly you’ll find Galletti biscuits waiting to sooth you. Or, you’ll be at the beach in Capri and find the coldest and sweetest drink sold in Europe. Honestly, they’ll be the foods that bring you back to American culture. Processed, overly sweetened, addictive, you’ll be thinking about these snacks when you arrive back to the processed land.
