McDonald's Squid and Tomato Italian Risotto Balls (product information)

Image from McDonald's Japan

I have never wanted to put quotes around something as much as the word "Italian" in the title of this post. I'm sure that there is nothing Italian about wrapping risotto infused with either tomato or squid around cheese and deep frying it. This abomination is part of McDonald's way of celebrating one of the world's most popular sports. There is no greater way to tip your hat to feats of athleticism than to eat fried balls of cheese and risotto. 

Reko Pizzelle (Vanilla, Anise, and Lemon)

The idea that a food is better in another country than its country of origin is not an alien one, though I do believe it's something which would be hotly debated. The idea that "Authentic" cuisine using the ingredients of the country in which the dish was developed is superior to any adaptations in other countries tends to be debated. In fact, at the moment, I'm hard-pressed to come up with any food in America that people (other than Americans) think is better here than in its home country. This could reflect the limits of my imagination, of course. Readers may feel free to share their thoughts.

Reko, the company in Cananda that makes today's focus of a review, asserts that their pizzelle are so good that they export them to the Abruzzo region of Italy. That's the area in which pizzelle were reportedly formulated. They boldly say Italians think their pizzelle are better than native offerings.

I can't speak for Italians, but I can speak for me. The truth is that I have consumed very few pizzelle in my life. For those who are even more unfamiliar with them than me, they are a thin, crispy, waffle-like cookie. They are less deeply browned and crispy than a waffle cone used for ice cream, but do have the same flavors in their mix.

These cookies were available at Cost Plus World Imports. The main reason I ended up buying them was that there was a basket of samples of the dulce de leche flavor on hand. I don't even like dulce de leche, but I liked the sample so I picked up the three other flavors that sounded even more appealing to me. I figured if the one I didn't like was good, the ones I liked would be even better.

I paid $3.50 per box of 30 cookies. There are three packs of 10 in each box (which greatly reduces the risk of them going stale) and the nutrition information says that a serving is five cookies. For me, I tend to try to keep it to three or four, tops, but I can see how easy it would be to get carried away given that they are crisp, light, and only 23 calories each. You can put away quite a few for the calorie price of less than two and a half Oreo cookies.

All of these cookies have the same basic mix and prominent flavor profile. They have a slightly carmelized flavor which says that flour, fat, and sugar have come together in a toasty orgy to create a more appealing offspring. All of the flavors are relatively subtle and come through as a secondary flavor after the overall "waffle/cookie" taste. Of the three flavors, lemon is my least favorite for not other reason than it seems to add a little too much of a citric sourness and not quite enough of a floral sense. That is not to say I dislike it. I do, but vanilla is my favorite with anise being in the middle of the pack.

The shining star of these cookies is the texture and subtlety. They are the perfect light accompaniment to tea or coffee as a light treat. The web site and packaging show them with fruit toppings, cream fillings, and chocolate between them like a waffle sandwich, but I love them plain. I think that appreciating them as a simple treat while attending to the delicate flavors is a treat and I'll definitely have them again.

Montebovi Amaretti Cookies

If someone drops you in the desert with a knife, a canteen of water that'll last one day, a blanket, and three protein bars and it takes three days to get out of there, you're going to have to be pretty creative and innovative to survive. You might even come up with some unique and impressive ways to manage survival that others will find laudable.

Compare this to what would happen if someone dropped you in the desert with just one thing for your survival. In this case, it's a set of keys to a fully-stocked RV that is parked just around the corner with enough gas to get you out of the desert and then some. It even has a GPS. Who is going to care about your little adventure?

I've often felt when I'm playing a game that the most interesting time is when your character has nearly nothing to work with. The challenges are less difficult, but you have less to meet them with so you've got to be crafty. Sometimes, I look at modern cuisine and I think that we have too many options and the results are far less impressive that our ancestors came up with when they were working with fewer ingredients and cruder tools.

Amaretti are small, crispy cookies made with almonds that are sometimes referred to as "macaroons". They were first tracked in Italy during the Renaissance and there are varying recipes. Most American recipes that I've read include almond extract.

They are called "macaroons", what they remind me of more than that are meringue cookies. They have the same sweet crispy quality with the added benefit of nutty richness. Their ingredient list is quite small, usually consisting of egg whites, sugar, and ground almonds or apricot kernels. This simple recipe yields an immensely satisfying cookie which has both flavor and textural delights.

This mass produced amaretti, which I picked up for a mere $2.19 at a Russian market that carried world foods, includes "flavours", milk solids, and baking soda, so it's not quite the classic recipe from days of old, but it doesn't seem to be greatly modified. Whatever the case, these are delicious amaretti that are shelf stable and don't lose their crispiness even after the rather airy package has been opened. They cleave easily and almost melt in your mouth.

They're not as dry as meringue cookies, but have the same textural quality that makes them crumble apart a bit like honey comb. The combination of a good shatter and the melting quality make these satisfying on two fronts in terms of texture. The amaretti flavor can be a bit intense, but I love it, and I loved these cookies.

The truth is that I haven't met an amaretti cookie that I didn't like, but these were definitely more modestly priced than some. They were also the sort of thing which I rarely located in Japan and aren't incredibly common in the U.S., but also not difficult to find either (at least not in my area). I loved these, and I wish I'd bought 3 packages of them, especially since 5 small cookies are only 97 calories and I can feel pretty indulgent.

Some Renaissance cook was dropped in the desert with very few ingredients and made something amazing. I'm glad he or she didn't have more to work with.

Antonelli Cocoa Cream Italian Croissant

There's a multi-lingual message on the back of this package which says: "The pictures shown are pictures of a fantasy that does not represent the contents of the package itself." You have to respect that they put some truth on the package, even though I missed this message when I first purchased this and expected something a little closer to what was pictured. Absolute truth in advertising would require that this not be called a "croissant", though it is genuinely Italian.

Though these have Japanese writing on them, they are made in Italy. Though I tend to favor reviewing items actually produced in Japan, sometimes it's hard to resist an odd offering from another origin. I found these at Okashi no Marche discount snack shop for a mere 100 yen ($1.30) for a 1.76 oz./50 gram serving. If these are even halfway decent, that's a pretty good price. You can get 100 yen pastries in Japan, but most of them don't have a shelf life of about 7 months. This has an expiration date of May 26, 2012.

The "croissant" portion is really a sort of cake-like bread. It's like a slightly buttery hotdog bun. When I opened the package, I got a whiff of something vaguely familiar and the flavor also had an essence of something I'd had before. I realized that it was the same scent and taste that I'd had with some lemon chocolates a student brought me back from Italy some time ago. I thought that it was a part of the flavoring in those candies, but now I think it might be something else. It's not a bad thing, but it is very distinct.

The bread is soft, but still seems a bit dry. This is common in bread products that are prepared for long-term preservation. It tastes slightly sweet and a little rich. This is likely from the high amount of egg in it. The cocoa cream filling is dotted through it and doesn't have a very strong chocolate flavor. Mainly, it adds a fatty dollop of texture and extra sweetness. There were also lemon and strawberry versions available, and my husband sampled both of them and found them reasonably good, though not amazing.

I try to accept products for what they are rather than what I might hope them to be. These are extended shelf-life (ESL) baked goods and it's unfair to expect them to be like a fine quality fresh-baked pastry. For something which you can put in an earthquake survival kit, toss into a backpack, or just keep in a cabinet or desk drawer for just that time when you just want a bread-based breakfast but don't want to feel pressure to eat it at any given time, this is actually pretty good. The bread has a nice flavor by itself, the filling has a decent texture (though there could be more of it), and it's only about 200 calories for a good-sized bun. It's kind of a good "bad" food. And, yes, I'd buy it again.