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Mediterranean Gift Basket Ideas

© Sonia Michaels

Do you know someone with a passion for pasta or a taste for tapas? Mediterranean-themed gift baskets are original, easy holiday gifts or wedding presents, especially for people who may be planning a European vacation or honeymoon. You can stick with packaged or preserved ingredients, or include fresh items such as cheeses, cured meats, or fresh fruit and vegetables – just make sure the recipient knows if the gift contains perishable goods!

Here's a list of possibilities for an Italian-style gift basket. Just choose four, five, or more items that seem to work well together, then wrap the whole thing in cellophane and add some pretty ribbons - perhaps in the colors of the Italian flag. You can stick with basic ingredients like pasta and olive oil, or add more luxurious items like pine nuts, wine, and porcini mushrooms, or even books, videos, and CD's, depending on your budget.

Italian gift basket:

- wicker basket, or pasta pot with built-in colander

- checkered cotton tablecloth or kitchen towel

- assorted gourmet pasta shapes

- good Italian olive oil

- balsamic vinegar

- gourmet pasta sauce

- dried porcini mushrooms

- pine nuts

- bottle of Italian wine or grappa

- garlic press

- gourmet antipasto or tuna packed in olive oil

- marinated eggplant, artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes or roasted red peppers

- biscotti, home-made or store-bought

- vinsanto to go with the biscotti!

- some pecorino or parmigiano reggiano cheese, or some prosciutto or salami, if you want to include perishables.

- arborio rice for risotto

- some green, red, or white candles

- some Italian espresso

- a pair of majolica mugs

- CD of Italian or Italian-American music (Italian opera, Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," the "Big Night" soundtrack or even "Mob Hits!")

- video or DVD of a movie about Italy or Italian-Americans ("A Room with a View," "Tea with Mussolini," "Moonstruck," "Big Night," "Stealing Beauty"...)

- Italian cookbook (something by Nick Stellino, Marcella Hazan or Giuliano Bugialli, perhaps?)

- travel guide or other book about Italy ("Central Italy, the Collected Traveller" is my current favorite – look for a detailed review soon.)

Ingredients for a Spanish gift basket may be harder to find – I get them at the Spanish Table in Seattle (just below the Public Market), but you can also find them online at http://www.tienda.com/

- wicker basket (lined with a tablecloth or pretty kitchen towel) or a paella pan ("paellera")

- Spanish cookbook (Penelope Casas is the best-known author of Spanish cookbooks)

- small jar or packet of saffron

- some good-quality paprika

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