Friday, May 4, 2007

There are certain errors one is prone to...

...when one is bad at numbers. Not that I'm naming any names. Sigh. This morning, I went to this food store I have fallen in love with to buy some cheese and proscuitto and salami and a bottle of wine, etc., etc. It's a real old school kind of place, with sausages hanging from the ceiling, fresh bread and cheeses and meats from all over Italy. Anyway, they've been very nice to me, patient with my Italian, getting to know me, etc. Usually, I come in and when I ask for amounts, I'll say un picollo, per una persona, and they get the idea and give me a few slices of this and that, and I'm set for a lunch or two. Well, today, I thought I'd get fancy, and asked for a "mezzo kilo" of tuscan salami, a mezzo kilo of pecorino, some other kind of spicy salami and proschutto di Parma. Then I started looking around at all the stuff in the store, the wine, etc. I glance up at the guy, he gives me a taste of the cheese, of the proscuitto. Delicious. Then I notice that his arm is cutting and cutting and cutting at the machine. And I realize, hmmm, they are being EXTRA nice to me. And this is taking WAY longer than it usually does. And I peek over the counter and see piles of meat and cheese--really, truly--enough for me to throw a sizable party. YIKES. Of course, I was too embarrassed to say anything, because they are so nice, and they can't use that stuff once they cut it. So I bought my bottle of wine, a carton of milk, a large bottle of water, and 60 euros later.....
I guess I'll be eating breakfast, lunch and dinner in for the next week.
Question: How long can I keep this stuff in the refrigerator without dying of food poisoning? I'm a Derrow, it's in my genes to throw food out because of a fear of it going bad. So I need help with this one. Can I keep it a week?!
Yours in dumbness,
Paola

1 comment:

Billy said...

Paola,
I'm sure it will keep the week (At last! Something I feel capable of answering!)--if it starts to smell bad it is bad, but if it looks/smells ok it should be fine in the fridge for a week, even 2 if you are lucky. Maybe you should invite a friend for lunch...
Billy