Re: the pill box itself, I bought one that said it was water resistant. I filled it with water and it held the water surprisingly well, only a few very small drips. It also fits in a 1-gallon zip loc, so if there is an accident at least it can be contained. I did a test run with it on a trip a week ago and it held everything no worries.
I do get the “just get what you need when you get there”, it’s what I’ve done up until now. But there have been many times where I wish I just had a little “something” when I returned to the rental house after a local market/etc. So this isn’t a replacement for buying local, just a supplement for when you happen across a local market, buy some great looking produce or piece of meat and would rather just go back to the house, have some wine, relax and cook . . without an additional trip to a grocery store.
Several suggestions have made me rethink what I may bring, thankfully I have some time to think about it!
There’s little that can’t be elevated by a grinding of pepper (especially a standard Boars Head roast beef sandwich) and a little flaky salt. I say this to myself often: “fd [that’s what I call myself] – Choose properly … let it be an active, useful sort of pepper mill, not brought up high, but able to make a small number of peppercorns go a good way.”
[Those of you who know your P&P will know what this is stolen/adapted from. To others, it doesn’t matter. I simply seek advice on a good small useful pepermill.]
But which useful pepper mill?
It must be one that will pass TSA. The metal screws holding together parts of my aging body already cause me enough groin-clutching, ass-patting grief from TSA agents (with flashes of exhilaration).
A few years back (I was trying to fly home, to see my parents) and, my new (inexpensive) Chinese shoes were “off gassing” enough to set off the “bomb detection” equipment. The TSA agent swiped me from head to toe before a supervisor came over and figured out that my new shoes were still “off gassing” from the manufacturing process.
At least that is the explanation they gave me.
Lesson learned… I now wear older shoes when I travel.
Yes! I bought one of those filled pepper grinders from Trader Joe’s for cooking when traveling (plastic grinder, glass base).
Flaky salt and ground pepper are my minimum, though you don’t want to know me if I have gone without some form of chiles for a few days. I get a little cranky, so I stash one or two of those “emergency” tiny bottles of Tabasco in my purse. Be prepared, you know?
I do some simple cooking on holiday but what I bring depends on the place(s) where I’ll be staying (if under a week I tend to do indoor picnic meals). Research, research, research. Learn about the local cuisine and its specialities. Write down some ideas or rough recipes in case you see some good looking local ingredients.
The (super)markets in many countries are amazing and no doubt it’ll be the same where you are visiting in Italy.
Eating at one’s rental flat/house has its advantages. I like to do both eating out and in.
Tuna belly in Tavira
I always pack an oyster knife when travelling to seafood loving countries
I’m an extremely big fan of shellfish
Love to check out the conservas aisle for my indoor picnics
Indoor picnic Lanzarote
Indoor picnic Greece
Another good place to look for igredients is a cheese/charcuterie shop. Sicily.
This way I could eat pickled aubergines in large quantities (Sicily) Dandelion and wild fennel from a market stall (Sicily). I made a pasta dish with the wild fennel. The fennel dish is very typical in this part of Sicily. Caviar and bubbly. Breakfast in my rental flat, Moldova.
Cooking or no cooking, it’s gonna be great. You are visiting Italy!
I wrap the knife in a sheath made from a few layers of paper and secure with a rubber band or tape. Checked bag only of course. For spices I use baggies or little plastic containers from the camping store. Store all the little spice baggies in a larger nylon zipper bag.
Thanks to this discussion, I packed a small container of our favorite lemon pepper combination for our vacation, thinking I might cook salmon in the hotel-suite kitchen one night. Brought it back unused, but it was comforting to know I COULD have cooked – a bit like a kid with their favorite stuffed toy when travelling.
I approach this question from the perspective of a frequent camper - what will I actually need or wish to use in context? I would buy disposable salt and pepper grinders onsite for the duration of my trip. I would pack (and have packed):
Ground sumac
TJ’s umami (mostly mushroom) powder
Montreal steak seasoning
Badia Adobo sin pimienta
Herbes d’Provence
Chili flake - probably Aleppo or standard red pepper flake, or maybe not-too-hot gochugaru
Celery salt
Vanilla bean paste (probably not in your pillbox) / kebab seasoning of some type
Smoked paprika
Ground coriander
Granulated onion
Fennel seed
Cumin
Bay leaves
My husband’s answer: celery salt, onion powder, steak seasoning, ground coriander, smoked paprika, 5 spice, umami, ground cumin, Everything bagel “for sure,” seasoned salt, jerk mix, ground mustard, some kind of chili, truffle salt
Anything like oregano, basil, rosemary, garlic, etc probably best bought there where it’s freshest.
Spices are expensive and so yes, we take some with us. Penzy’s Italian seasoning mix, Sarah’s Sea Salt Tuscan blend, cumin, bay leaves, Madras curry powder, cinnamon. I also travel with various sized ziplocks, aluminum foil without the roll, and flattened, a chef’s knife in our checked bag and an instant read thermometer, kitchen shears and some throw away old kitchen towels. Also a thin stack of paper plates that serve us for picnics and to use as chopping surfaces. And a corkscrew!
Don’t forget the red Solo cups lol. During one extended weekend in San Diego, I’d bought a few & had them at the pool. Other guests seeing them asked me where I got them, so I went around sharing them. I don’t like drinking out of hotel/motel glasses anyway.
I recently decided it would be a good idea to label all my condiment jars that have white powder in them. Some had labels, but many were small labels on the lids, and if the lids accidentally get swapped … Also, I figured big labels would be better if something happened to me.
And I was amazed at how many jars of white powder I had: sugar, powdered sugar, bulk Splenda, flour, salt, kosher salt, baking soda, cornstarch, coconut milk powder, …, and that’s not counting the white pepper in its own jar (which is really grayish anyway) and the baking powder in its own tin.
