Pignolli cookies

If you are in New York, it is worth stopping by Veniero`s pastry shop http://www.venierospastry.com/ at 11th street, and buying yourself a healthy helping of pignolli cookies.

The dough is nice and soft, with great texture and taste, and the pine nuts make all the difference after all.

You can actually buy it online, if New York is not on your travel plans any time soon. believe me, you will not be disappointed.

Jarlsberg Cheese

For most people, choosing new cheeses can be a daunting task, for there seem to be thousands of different types. So people stick to what they know.

This is, of course, an exaggeration for there aren't that many cheese types after all.

However, if you are looking for something different - I am assuming you have never tasted it - the Norwegian cheese Jarlsberg is a great bet.

To me, it is an improvement over the already excellent Swiss cheese. The tast is not very harsh, it is not all smelly, and not awfully expensive as well. It will be a success in any party, believe me.

You can actually buy a 2-pound chunk of it at Costco for a mere 10 bucks.

Balas Juquinha (hard candy from Brazil)

Ok. I am supposed to be a mature, 52-year old man. Does that mean I cannot eat candy? Before you start with me, let me tell you, I have very few cavities and all my teeth.

Thus, the Juquinha candy is part of my childhood. I remember that the first time I tasted it, it came with a plastic racing car. Almost the most perfect combo.

I always liked the Tutti-Frutti one, supposed to taste like pineapple. I know candy is just empty calories, you can break a tooth, the flavor is probably all fake. However, I do not eat the whole bag in one sitting, so spare me the lecture.Lighten up, already.

JUPINA SODA

Ok, I know soda is no good for you, blah, blah, blah. I know all about the sugar, the sodium, whatnot. However, every once in a while I like to have some soda.

The Jupina is a pineapple flavored soda. It is unlikely there is any pineapple in the composition of this soda, but I like it. It reminds me of some hard candy I loved when I was little, called Juquinha, and things from childhood are priceless.

So, if you have never had it, give it a shot.

Heno de Pravia soap

Lest I be called a snob, let me tell you about a soap of more humble pedigree. It is the Spanish soap Heno de Pravia, which is widely available in the Miami area, especially in Navarro pharmacies.

I am a lover of soaps (and baths, too), so you can probably rely on my taste. Heno de Pravia is nice and smooth, not excessively perfumed, and it will not make you a poorer man - or woman - like my last referral Penhaligon. I forget what the price actually is, but should not be more than 2 bucks a cake.

They also have Heno de Pravia bath lotion, which is also good.

Badoit water

Some folks have the notion that all water tastes the same. I reckon their taste buds have been so mistreated by pepper that they cannot tell taste nuances. No, all water does not taste the same.

I like Perrier, however, I like Badoit better. Too bad it is not widely available in the United States, and when it is, the price is a tad outrageous.

So, when I go to France I drink tons of it, and go back to my Perrier and Pellegrino drinking stateside. Maybe Nestle will buy Badoit one day too, then we shall see...

Pino Silvestre

I used to buy this in Little Italy, back in the 80`s. There was a store in Mulberry Street that had all types of hard to find Italian things, including my beloved cologne. One day, the store, like most of Little Italy, disappeared, and I moved to Miami Beach.

When I went to ~Big Italy~ in 2011, one of my main quests in the expedition was coming back with a load of Pino Silvestre. I was dumbfounded with the difficulty I had finding the product in Rome and Florence. Perfume stores looked at me like I had two heads, pharmacies did not carry it, and I was told to go to supermarkets!

Then, one day we were walking in Florence, and came into a store owned by a Pakistani fellow. I told him about my predicament, and he readily picked up the phone and sent a guy to pick two bottles at a friend's store. I was excited.

In another part of town, we ended up inside a toiletry-hardware combo store (!!!, only in Italy this is possible), and sure, found it there. Not only the cologne, but also bath oil.

So my trip was not wasted, after all!