We do still receive emails requesting copies of our price lists via email or fax, so we've decide to treat this post as a little "user manual" for both our new and long-term customers to give you the feel of and understand the "Flavio's Italian Shopping experience". Also, if while we're out sourcing authenitc Italian products for you, we might not be able to answer your personal queries immetiately, so plase log on to our "price list area"...all the info you're looking for might already be there.

To gain access to our price lists is as easy as clicking and posting your puppy picture on Facebook.
All you need is an email address! On every page of our website you will find the "Download our price lists" panel (on the right).

• If you have registered your email already, all you have to do is enter it in the "enter email" field and click the "Enter" button... there's our price lists!
  
  
• If you haven't registered your email, well... just do it now! You don't know what you're missing: updated price lists, updated news, no spam at all.
  I said "no spam" because by registering your email you're accepting to receive our "Flavio's News" newsletter. Don't be upset about it, we don't want to write an email a day just to bother you (we've got better things to do and better ways to spend our time), we hate spam as well you know. We'll send out emails just on price changes, major news, or when there's something that you'll really need to know about our store and our products.

Going back to our price lists download page.
It is divided into "price lists". Today we have 3 (Food and Wine, Cheese and Smallgoods) but tomorrow could be more.
As I said before, ours is a dynamic environment, we change, we do and undo, we're impulsive, like in real life...
This is real Italian passionate living, it reflects on our web site and our business. ...you won't get any better than this in Fiji!

Please remember; because we import goods from overseas we're subject to an ever changing exchange rate and because we want to please you all we try to keep a balanced stock but if we don't have what you're looking for we can guarantee we've got something you’ll like just as much.

The best ways to stay in contact and know about our news, updates and price changes are

1. Thru our exclusive mailing system
2. By regularly downloading our price lists.
3. By following us on our Facebook Page
4. By calling us... well after this post you better be a new customer

I personally suggest not to download the price lists but to read them online. With the fast web we have in Fiji it's easy and it taks seconds to copy and paste the items you need in an "order email".

Bookmark our website (so you will be able to read our latest posts too) and regularly enter our "download our price lists" area.

Just yesterday we've uploaded all our wines description sheets so you can know more about our many Italian wines to allow you to create your own niche market.

Is it so easy?
Yes! all you have to do is:

1. Open our web site
2. enter you email address in the right field and click enter (after you've register it)
3. open or download our price lists or read the extra feature on the page

MAMMA MIA !!! IT IS SO EASY!

Thanks for loving our food, wine and style.

All the best,

Ivan

 Tag:  italian food,  prices,  shop,  web site 

First of all the Caprese Salad takes its name from the island of Capri in the Campagna region (south of Italy). It is not clear excatly when it was invented but it became famous in the 1950s. The tradition tells that a real Insalata Caprese is made of cow's milk Mozzarella, tomatoes, olive oil and oregano but in most of the other Italian regions you might find it garnished with basil leaves. If you're familiar with a Caprese Salad garnished with balsamic vinegar, do not be mistaken as this is an American variant to the original recipe. In Fiji you can prepare a perfect Italian Caprese Salad from ingredients you'll find at Flavio's Italian Shop or at Va Bene store in Suva... and here's how to do it:

Ingredients (for 2):

• 2 Cow's milk Mozzarella (personally I prefer to use Buffalo Mozzarella) Mauri
• 2 Red tomatoes (the bigger the better)
• Salt (and pepper if you like it)
• Oregano or basil leaves (chopped or not it's up to you)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I personally suggest the 100% Italiano Academia Barilla Brand)

Preparation
Open the Mozzarella bags and drain the water. Cut the 2 Mozzarellas in slices of about 1cm each.
Wash poperly and cut the tomatoes in slices of the same size. In 2 plates lay one slice of Mozzarella and a slice of tomato and repeat this steps untill you finish both of this ingredients. Now add a bit a salt, the oregano (or basil) and complete with the olive oil.

The right way is to add the olive oil at the end as it will spread the salt and aroma of the oregano with it. If you're going to put the oil first it will give an impermeable layer on the Mozzarella and the tomatoes thus will deliver less taste.

There you have it, Good appetite!
... and if you need a good wine to go with your salad, let me suggest you a Pinot Grigio Garda DOC.

Now a couple of facts:

Foto: Caprese What wine, PortaNapoli.com

 Tag:  italian cooking,  recipe, mozzarella,  cheese 

Ingredients (Serves 10-12):

• 1 bag active dry yeast (11gr)
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 medium eggs
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups of Riscossa Flour
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 tablespoon melted butter

Preparation:
In a large bowl, combine the yeast, water and sugar. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes, or until the mixture becomes foamy. Add the eggs, yogurt, vanilla extract, salt and lemon zest. Mix well!
Then stir in the flour a 1/2 cup scoop at a time until the dough shapes into a manageable ball. Plop it onto a lightly floured surface and begin kneading the dough for about 5 to 10 minutes (if necessary, add more flour until you can easily mold the dough and it's not sticky - this could take 4 or 5 cups of flour, so be patient!). Place dough in a large, lightly pan-sprayed bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. (My grandmother always used a blanket to cover and wrap the entire bowl for warmth). While the dough is rising, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and prep a round 8-inch cake pan with non-stick spray or paper. In a smaller bowl, toss the raisins. Punch down your dough ball in bowl, and then transfer it to a flat, floured surface - then kneed in the fruit! Form the dough into a ball, place in prepared cake pan, cover loosely with a towel, and allow it to rise for about 25-30 minutes. (Don't worry, it's normal for the dough to rise above the sides!) Brush the top of the panettone with melted butter, then bake for 45 minutes, or until it is a golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Voila! You're ready to serve this sweet treat to all your family and friends!

**Note...if you don't like raisins, leave them out or add your favourite fruite like Papaya or Mango (up to you)! Then when your cake is finished, dust it with powdered sugar or drizzle with melted chocolate - both traditional and TASTY alternatives to this classic panettone recipe!

Too much of an effort and no time to experience before Christmas day?
No problemo!
At Flavio's Italian shop we have a limited number of imported and ready made Panettone and Pandoro still available. So hurry up, come down to our Nadi store or at Va Bene (Garden City, Raiwaqa, Suva) and get your Italian Christmas dessert today.

...and Buon Natale (Merry Xmas)

 Tag:  italian cooking,  italian food,  recipe,  panettone 

Thin base pizza

Ingredients (serve 4)

for the dough:

• 500 gr of Riscossa Pizza Flour*
• 15 gr of yeast
• 2.5 dl of lukewarm water
• 10 gr salt
• 5 gr sugar

for the base of all topping ( will make a Pizza margherita):

• 500 ml of Riscossa Passata di pomodoro [tomato puree] (1 bottle)*
• 500 gr Mauri dry Mozzarella cheese*
• 100% Italiano Extra virgin Olive Oil*
• Some basil leaves

Preparation:
Dissolve the yeast and the sugar in the water and puor it into the center of a flour well on a work surface or  large bowl. Start kneading, and after a while add the salt. Knead until you have a smooth elastic dough. Set aside for a few minutes then make 4 small balls. Cover, so they do not dry on top, and leave them to rise. When the dough has risen to twice its original size, roll out into regular-shaped thin disks on floured flat trays.
Pour a ladleful of tomato puree on each disk of dough. Sprinkle on the diced mozzarella and some leaves of basil, then drizzle over some olive oil and your "pizza margherita" are ready to go in the oven for a few minute at 220 degree.

If you want to try a different topping just add your favorite ingredents after the mozzarella and before the olive oil. Some suggestions could be:

• "pizza alla Romana" (Roman style pizza) - add some anchovies* and capers.
• "pizza ai 4 formaggi" (4 cheeses pizza) - add Gorgonzola*, Fontina* and Taleggio* cheese to the Mozzarella
• "pizza ai carciofi e olive" (Artichoke and olives pizza) - add some artichoke* and olives*
• "pizza bufala e funghi" (Buffalo mozzarella and porcini mushrooms pizza) - add porcini mushrooms* and use Buffalo Mozzarella* instead of dry Mozzarella
• ...and many many more

Thick base pizza (Sicilian style pizza)

Ingredients (serve 4)

for the dough:

• 500 gr of Riscossa pizza flour*
• 15 gr of yeast
• 15 gr of salt with black olives*
• 2.5 dl of lukewarm water (1 cup)
• 2 cl of 100% Italiano Extra virgin olive oil*

For a traditional sicilian style pizza topping:

• 200 gr of Riscossa whole peeled tomatoes*
• 1 cl of 100% Italiano Extra virgin olive oil*
• 1 large onion
• 50 gr of anchovies
• 30 gr of Caciocavallo cheese*
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 pinch of oregano

Preparation:
Dissolve the yeast in warm water, make a well in the flour, and add the yeast. Knead the mixture to make a firm smooth dought, and only add the salt some time after mixing in the yeast. When you have finished kneading the dough, cover and leave it rise for an hour. Tradition has it that by puonding on the dough at the right spot, it makes a particular hollow sound, similar to that of a muted drum.

Make the so called "conza" (topping) as follows:
Slice the large onion and saute' in extra virgin olive oil over a low flame. Add the peeled tomatoes and the clove of garlic. Cook untill it becomes a thick fragrant sauce, and remove the garlic. Spread the dought out with your hands in a greased baking tin to a thickness of about 3/4 of an inch (2 cm). Press bits of the anchovies into the dough and place thin slices of Caciocavallo cheese on top. Top with a generous layer of sauce and sprinkle with grated Caciocavallo cheese and oregano. Drizzle with olive oil and put into a very hot overn at 220 degrees (430 F).
If the sauce is not sufficently dense you can add some breadcrumbs, that have been toasted in a little olive oil in a frying pan, to the grated Caciocavallo cheese.

 Tag:  pizza,  recipe,  italian food,  italian cooking 

The system has been optimized for better performance and speed but, because we didn't want to break the collections in different pages, the loading of the Poly Rattan or the Water Wyachint collection might take few more seconds with slow connections. Please note that the furniture on these pages are available only on request unless specified in one of our posts.
Hope this will help.

 Tag:  furniture,  poly rattan,  water wyachint 

First of all you must know that due to the freshness and the limited shelf life we import a very limited stock of this product. That's why we encourage you to place your order if you want to taste real mozzarella in all its richness. Do not worry, you will not wait long as we import our cheeses directly from Italy via air freight on average two to three times a month.

The types of fresh Mozzarella you will be able to order or find in our shop are:

• Mozzarella di Bufala (Buffalo Mozzarella)
  Single bags of 125 or 200 grams each in milky water
  Tray of 6 mozzarellas of 250 grams each (tot of 1.5kg in milky water)
  
• Mozzarella classica (classic mozzarella)
  Single bags of 125 grams each
  Bucket of 10 mozzarellas of 200 grams each (tot of 2.0Kg in milky water)
  
• Mozzarella per Pizza (dry mozzarella)
  Vacuum pack of 1 kg each

For all of you who still don't know what kind of cheese Mozzarella is, here's a brief description that will not offer you the incredible taste and softness of this premium Italian cheese but will give you an idea of what the fuss is all about:

Mozzarella di Bufala
Mozzarella from buffalo cow's milk made by Mauri is rigorously made with whole fat buffalo cow's milk, rennet, salt and naturally obtained milk whey. The result is a typically Italian, ready-to-serve soft cheese. It has a pleasantly acid flavour with a hint of musk and a sweet scent of fermented milk. It is pearly white in colour, has a smooth, shiny surface and a slightly elastic consistency.

Mozzarella classica (vaccina)
The unmistakable taste of mozzarella from cow's milk is exalted by the quality of the milk used and the strict manufacturing process adopted by Mauri. Mozzarella from cow's milk made by Mauri is rich in milk enzymes and is the classic Italian soft cheese, with a firm yet elastic consistency and a milky white colour. It has a sweet, aromatic and slightly acid flavour and the scent of fresh cheese.

Also, we have just added 2 new fresh cheeses to our range:

Fioroni di capra (with chillies)
Fioroni di Capra are soft fresh cheeses, white right through to their soft crust, with an umistakable delicate taste. Made from pasteurised goat’s milk, they have a less salty taste than Caprì. Cylindrical in shape, they come in separate portions wrapped in paper and weighing on average 45 grams.

Capri' di capra
Fresh soft spreadable cheese, white right through to its soft crust and with an unmistakable delicate taste. Caprì di capra are made exclusively from full-fat goat’s milk. They should be eaten fresh to fully appreciate their exclusive delicateness. Caprì cheeses are packaged in portions weighing on average 80 grams.

All these and many more fresh and hard Italian cheeses can be found on our latest cheese price list that you can download for free by accessing our price list page using the "Download our latest price lists" module on the right.

Good appetite!

 Tag:  mozzarella,  cheese,  cow,  bufala 

Sadly this web site looks a bit empty now but we will post new contents, pictures and videos on a regular basis starting from today.
Being a blog mostly means that every content we will post will be updated and you will be able to comment and leave your opinions, appreciations and to start discussions with us and other visitors.

Some of the main functionalities of our old web site are still there. You can still download our latest food shop price lists by logging in from the module on the right or you can still register if you haven't done it yet. We've improved this area of our website and for every new products we import we will also write news about it to help you be more and more familiar with our Italian style of living.

As per our furniture catalogue, we will keep it updated informing you about upcoming shipments and items... We will post about the next shipment that is coming our way tomorrow as well as uploading pictures of these items so you can place your enquiry easily before this stock will run out. Many of you know that the outdoor and indoor furniture we import changes most of the times so this new system will help you review our latest products even before they enter our doors.

Some of the new functionalities of the new web site include: better online sharing (you can share or rate our content on social networks or online book marking web sites), the creation of polls (look at the bottom right to participate in the first one), a google map to help you find the way to our doorstep, a robust internal search engines to help you find what you're looking for and a live feed of what is going on on our Facebook page.

From the very first day of this new experience we hope you will appreciate this new web site as you appreciate the fantastic range of products we offer in our Nadi store.

From all the staff at Flavio's Italian Shop, WELCOME and enjoy your visit.

 Tag:  flavio,  web site,  news,  shop