So, now that it’s over, I can let you in on a big secret.
Yesterday, a package arrived, long overdue and highly anticipated. Quite overdue since my estimated time delivery window expired a few weeks ago and usually with Amazon I never have problems with on-time deliveries to Italy. So I opened a troubleshooter email and wondered how I could prove that it hadn’t arrived.
When my package arrived, I had a little surprise waiting for me:
Presentazione in Dogana €2,50
Spese Postali €3,00
IVA €4,75
Presentation in Dogana?? Postal costs? Tax, on what? I have never had to pay duty on an Amazon package. But I have learned to treat the Italian postal system as a child I’m babysitting – one that has no discipline and will do what they want no matter what you say. Some other expats have reported problems with the postal system and even avoid it entirely and use a “higher” postal system from the Vatican.
Besides the actual mechanism of moving around and delivering the mail, one of the biggest hurdles is actually getting mail into the country. In fact, they have a package graveyard near my house, conveniently disguised as “Dogana” (Customs) where packages go to die (or are “put down” if you prefer that gentler term). If you look closely, there are letters missing in front of Dogana which I believe read “Cimitero” (Cemetary) until angry and grieving package relatives decided to scrape them off. Maybe.
Here are some prohibited items that cannot be sent to Italy – the complete list of prohibited/restricted items is available on the US post office site. Make sure you check it so you can avoid sending restricted items, or at least labeling them correctly as such. Besides the things you’d expect to see on a restricted list such as arms and weapons (check), a few raise eyebrows like exposed photographic and cinematographic films or albums (no family Christmas card, Michelle!)
Some that stand out from the pack, and may have you scrambling to change things last-minute in your packages are:
- Haberdashery and sewn articles of any kind, including trimmings and lace; handkerchiefs; scarves; shawls, needlework including stockings and gloves; bonnets, caps, and hats of any kind. (The fact that they have used the word haberdashery here makes snort)
- Hair and articles made of hair. Guess no sending a hair shirt for a Sweet Sixteen, eh?
- Human remains. But carrying them on a plane is probably fine.
- Live bees, leeches, and silkworms. Can you imagine if the bees got out after being handled by the Postal Service?
- Nutmeg, vanilla; sea salt, rock salt; saffron. Now, this is just unfair. We are stuck with vanilla “aroma” instead of good extract.
- Playing cards of any kind. Vegas can’t offshore their old playing cards anymore – who thinks this is mafia-related?
- Toys not made wholly of wood. This has particular significance for me because I received several care packages when studying in Italy labeled with “wooden toys” on the customs label, stuffed with all kinds of crazy prohibited items like a kilo of saffron. Ok, not really. But they didn’t question.
Now, what you can bring on a plane is apparently different. I “have heard” that people have brought over cheese, toys not wholly made of wood.
So if you made it this far, you’ve realized I still haven’t told you my big secret.
The big secret is, up until yesterday, I didn’t have a single cookbook in my house! Before moving I gave away or sold the few cookbooks I had. I love using the internet to exchange and discover recipes, but I finally decided things are settling down a little for me after four years of living here and I want to start having a “home” feeling again, so I selected a few old and a few new books (including David‘s The Perfect Scoop which I had been waiting for forever) to dip my toes into cookbook water and decide which books will make it into my closely-guarded traveling bookshelf.
Who’s got some other cookbooks to recommend to me?? Or what’s your favorite?? Easiest? Most-used? Put them in the comments and next week I’ll send a random commenter a package of the digestive sugar I recently talked about (and they are GOOD!).
Ughhhhh, my package delivery date is June 25th. I hope I get it before the end of summer. And the dogana charges are going send me into a cursing fit. I paid shipping and handling already and it was around $70! I feel like….
Oh, have fun with the cookbooks. My mom just gave me the Jamie Oliver one and it seems pretty good but I ain’t cooking in this heat.
Jeff
Oh man, you mean to tell us that you got charged Dogana fees, for a package of books? Boy, am I in trouble! My Mom just sent a package with a whole lot of goodies inside. I can just see “fees” written all over it. YIKES Hopefully, it wont become a permanent resident at the Dogana cimitero! :(
I’d love to recommend a cook book, but I don’t own one. I rely on the internet to get recipes when I need them. :)
I was going to recommend you Nigella Lawson, How to be a domestic goddess, but you have it now!!! And it’s a great book!!!
I have hundreds of cook books I could recommend you, just let me know in which kind you are interested, but for sure Donna Hay book are awesome!!! Or go on my Anobii shelf (http://www.anobii.com/people/piperita/) and you’ll find some!
I have the deepest love for cook books!!!
Well, I prefer Kinsella to Nigella (the undomestic goddess ;-) anyway…
Sara, let me say that it is better to order your books with amazon.co.uk or .fr (they have english books as well) – ’cause due to the EU deals, they cannot charge you with VAT, customs taxes or similar.
Was this from .com or .uk? I ask because they tried to collect from me on a .uk shipment that included CDs and I laughed in their faces.
When I insisted that uk was an EU member and that I would not pay a cent, they sheepishly handed the package over.
They’ve never collected or tried to on books (cultural objects) from .com, either. Maybe I am too fierce looking?
i bought a wamagama book containing a cd and it arrived regularly.
I love the Silver Spoon. Btw, its crazy what you can and can not send :s
Yes, this list never fails to have me in stitches. I just sent it to Jessica in Rome when she was wondering if she could have shoes sent. I always tell my mom to mark packages with “printed matter” and zero value, works like a charm! No matter that you can hear my vitamins shaking inside, or that it smells like a vanilla candle. Whatever!
I hardly ever cook, but the one cookbook I like a lot and have used a lot is Betty Crocker’s New Cookbook. Probably very amateur compared to all you food bloggers’ standards, but, it’s all I’ve got to offer…
Hi, I just came across your site and was wondering if you could recommend any of the best places in your opinion to eat in Venice as I’m heading there w/family next month. Or maybe you know someone who could recommend some places? Thanks!!
Italians belong to two fields: “Silver Spooners” and “Little Treasuries” I am a little treasury girl, so I suggest “Il tesoretto della felicità” by Ada Boni. I also tend to love a series of Italian regional cookbooks published by Newton & Compton. You can find them for dire cheap in remainders. I have the ones on Piedmontese, Bolognese, genovese and Lombard cuisine.
I have a bunch of cookbooks . My favorites for the last few months are:
The Foster Market Cookbook
Giada’s Everyday Italian and her Everyday Pasta Cookbooks
Barefoot Contessa at Home
The New Basics Cookbook (Rosso & Luckin)
Dean & Deluca Cookbook
The Buttercup Bake Shop Cookbook
All should be available on Amazon.
I just ordered Chocoloate & Zucchini..looking forward to reading and using it. Let us know how The Perfect Scoop is. I was thinking about getting that one. I have an ice cream maker I need to use.
I’m ashamed to say that I received “The Silver Spoon” as a gift for Christmas and I haven’t even used it. My biggest complaint is that it is too darn heavy to sit around and browse through.
So……..anyone who loves this book. Please, Please, email me your favorites to save my poor hand from trying to hold up this paperweight.
Here’s my email…no spam please.
mjcesa1(at)excite(dot)com
Thanks.
Edited by Sara : Last name removed. Others, feel free to leave your favorite recipes in the comments as well
Here’s my favorite Cookie Book.
“bigfatcookies” by elinor klivans, available from Amazon.
The Black and White, New York bakery favorite, is fabulous. Page 54.
None of these are whimpy cookies.
LOL. You say something completely new to me. I didn’t know that there are things you can’t send to Italy.
;)
@Jeff – let’s hear about your cooking results! Saw the J.O. book here in Milan, in English. Was tempted.
@Giulia – I hope your mom “disguised” the contents!
@Piperita, thanks for your offer! I might have to babysit a few of your cookbooks to see how I like them!
@Bruna – I will try .uk except I am using a US credit card so I try to save the currency exchange fee.
@Judith – it was .com – I think that if the order can be filled from the German warehouse, they send it from there – I have received others mailed from Germany, ordered from .com, but I’ve never paid duty before. Maybe it was the size (quite heavy)
@pm10 – from .com?
@Meril – share your S.S favorites!
@Shelley – that was one of the ones I had back home!
@chris – try the forum at slowtrav.com – excellent resource!
@typesetter – I didn’t know about the two factions! I will check out the other one, too!
@nyc – lots of cookbooks! I don’t have an ice cream maker – will be interesting.
@Micki – thanks for the suggestion! PS: there’s a blog that is doing only SS recipes, can’t remember it off the top of my head. Google it!
@napolux – I have a feeling maybe the US restrictions are worse! Maybe Italy’s are stranger, though.
Anything by Cooks illustrated and/or America’s Test Kitchen. Yuhri swears by their recipes.
First, I now know where my $52 (!!) package to Shelley back in 2003 ended up. I’m certain it’s lying in Dogana waiting to be “put down”. Too funny.
Favorite cookbooks: If you like lemon (and who doesn’t, right?) Luscious Lemon Desserts by Lori Longbottom (hello, another “L” please) is fantastic. I’ve made nearly all the recipes and none of them suck.
Joy of Cooking – frankly, I don’t think a kitchen is complete without it. Any time I need to know a cooking time for anything, how to bake bread, etc – this book has it.
The bound versions of Cook’s Illustrated are awesome – all their issues over a certain period of time bound into one big beautiful book. These are the most incredible and perfect recipes.
Surface mail is the main way to go to avoid the dreaded Dogana. One package of my assorted things from the states, they were asking 300 euros for and I said that I would pay but they sent it back anyway after I complained and it took 6 months for it to make the return voyage back to the US(the same thing happened to a small Christmas present sent to me also). So I had a friend repackage it into smaller boxes and sent it surface and it came quickly and no more “customs”. Alas the surface mail guys have gotten in to the act of asking for a bit of pocket money, but it is far less painful than regular mail customs.
One of my favorite baking books is an out of print (I think) “The Art of Fine Baking” by Paula Peck. Comprehensive, and simple, thorough instructions, a classic. Everything I’ve made out of it is wonderful. I found it at a yard sale for $3. Worth looking for.
I love The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Right now I’m baking a lot from KAF’s Whole Grain Baking.
Those are some seriously good ones you’ve got right there! I can’t wait for you to start making Dorie recipes!!!
I’m on a huge ice cream kick right now too, so I’m dying for the David Lebovitz book.
I’ve found Donna Hay’s books to be beautifully photographed and pretty straight forward too.
I had the same experience a couple of weeks ago! I ordered books from Amazon.com several times, they even took a week only to come to my home. Last time I decided to buy from Amazon Canada three books from Lonely Planet about Canada & Canadian cities…. Amazon said to expect 10 weeks for the books to be delivered! And in fact, ten weeks later I had my book…. plus around 5 euros to pay for duties!!! I went to the office to collect my stuff and i was very upset. They said that that duties applies randomly…and I replied that we are in democracy so I don’t see why I should pay and another one not. In the end I paid anyway since I already spent 55 euros for the books and waited two months for them, and now I had them across the bar for 5 euros. I hate this postal service! HATE IT! (I love the vatican one from the linked post, though. Too bad I live only 400 km from Vatican City!)
Btw, one of them looks like “il cucchiaio d’argento”, which is a classic also here. It was a wedding gift for my mom.
Italian post…pfffffffffT! I restrain myself from saying anything further otherwise you’ll think that a scaricatore di porto was lurking on your site!
Where’s my Xmas care package from Hawaii two years ago you, you, you * &%£$#!!!!!
from uk.co
The Silver Spoon is the most popular but not my favourite.
If you are looking for a real classic this is the father of all the books:
http://www.amazon.com/Science-Kitchen-Lorenzo-Italian-Library/dp/0802086578/ref=sr_1_1/102-4684601-9248958?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182522764&sr=8-1
If you want more fancy-latest-fashion than look out for chefs like Pierangelini, Oldani, Santini, Sadler or Cracco.
I personally love “La Cucina Italiana” but that’s a magazine, not a book!
I’m not a cook – that’s the husband’s department – but we both like The New Best Recipe and Baking Illustrated (I think those are the names) – both are put out by Cook’s Illustrated. Not only do you get great and reliable recipes, they also spend quite a bit of time (and pages) explaining their methods for coming up with said recipes. So when you’re reading one and thinking, “Why on earth would *that* be important to do?” you can go back and read why it’s important. They also have a smaller version of The New Best Recipe that has “light” versions of recipes in the original book.
I’ve not seen The Perfect Scoop before, but I’m going to have to check it out – I make gelato all year long! My favorite recipe came from a local gelateria (yes, we have a good one here in Portland, Oregon!), though, not a book…
Thanks for all the suggestions, guys! Keep ’em coming! I’ll pick one of the commenters to get the digestive sugar next week.
It’s nice (and sad) to know I’m not alone in my “troubles” – this is my “excuse” for why I rarely mail anything.
Don’t buy books from amazon.US, try instead the UK site or FR and DE version (only the first one is in english language). This is a way to cut all the extra taxes requested for extra-UE products.
Hi there! Guess any of Donnay Hay’s a good choice! I DO NEED :) to have Reinhart’s book and wondering whether I’d better buy the spanish version since I’m afraid it would take long to receive the english from Amazon…
My collection is pretty large, but I find myself using certain books over and over. They are:
The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison
Louisiana Real and Rustic by Emeril Lagasse
The New York Cookbook by Molly O’Neill
Patricia Wells at Home in Provence
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan
Here’s a tip – order books through amazon.co.uk and you wont get hit with dogana or other fees since they are coming from within the EU.
all of marcella hazan’s books are excellent. her instructions and proportions are always spot on. authentic italian cooking.
I received the Nigella Lawson book for Christmas one year, from my father of all people, and was almost put off by the title too much to open it. I am sooooo glad that I did, because the pictures are beautiful, the recipes I HAVE tried are good, and the ones I want to try sound delicious.
I have to say that I have been tempted by the Silver Spoon cookbook, but haven’t purchased it because of the same thing that bothers Micki about it: the sheer size of the blasted thing. Otherwise it would be on my shelf.
I love the 1951 edition of the Fannie Farmer cookbook. The newer ones are just too slick and not versatile enough for me. And they take out ALL fat at the expense of taste, which I have issues with at times. This is the edition my grandmother used most as a reference cookbook.
The original (1977) Moosewood Cookbook (Mollie Katzen) is awesome, but another that was slightly dumbed down for it’s re-issue. My mother has served meals from this book since I was teeny.
For bread books, The Tassajara Bread Book (Edward Epse Brown) is very good, as is Beard on Bread (James Beard). The first has lots of variations on recipes and is very health-conscious, and Beard’s book is very good for learning all the fun of baking your own bread from the beginning.
I love From Our House to Yours (Chronicle Books). The recipe for Curried Pumpkin Soup is ESPECIALLY good. The pictures are attractive (a big plus for me), and the recipes are VERY clear and complete, so it is especially good as a gift cookbook for someone who doesn’t cook much and wants to, but has some little surprises that make more experienced cooks pleased, as well.
And, to round it all off, I will always have an exceptionally soft place in my heart for the Better Homes & Gardens Jr. Cookbook, the meatloaf recipe from which I still use as my favorite.
As you might notice, I have a fondness for older books, preferring to make my own changes to reduce fat or calories instead of relying on someone else’s idea of what can be done without ruining the dish. There are SOOO many other books I love, but these are my absolute favorites. I might go make some Curried Pumpkin Soup this week….
I also just got hit for 6 euro for a book from Amazon that took forever to get here.
I wish to purchase good running shoes online please
suggest the technical details to be noted when I purchase a running shoe online.
Why can’t Amazon.com ship certin things to Italy…
I like “Taste of Home” books. I subscribe to several magazines that also have their own books. “Taste of Home Simple and Delicious”.
I want to send a bunch of old classic cookbooks I inherited to my son who has theme street food restaurants in Milan. What’s the cheapest way from California? They weigh about 20 lbs.I think.
We would like to send 3 Seahawks scarves to our friends in Italy. Is there any way we can do it without getting into trouble?
If you want more than recipes, like you want to understand the principles behind various cooking techniques so that you can eventually make up your own recipes or vary them without using a cookbook, I have never found anything better than the old Julia Child Mastering the Art of French Cooking, 2 vol. For Italian recipes, it’s easy enough to follow in Italian if you pick up something at an edicola; you just need to look up a few words, and no conversion of the temperatures for oven cooking, nor the measurements. All you need is a small kitchen scale to weigh out those grams!
@janis – Thanks for your comment – this post is 10 years old so I’ve definitely done a lot more since then. Actually this post about the book Ratio does exactly what you’re mentioning – learning how to make recipes your own :) https://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/2013/04/17/lemon-almond-cake-recipe/