Ottawa Foodies

Was in there today on Merivale and they have Quail eggs, super cute, would be good for a party appetizer.

Whole rabbits for $8. Not bad! But they do not have them all the time.

The Merivale location is one of my favorite places to buy deli meat and cheese.

There's a semi-ripened goat cheese (like a tree trunk, with concentric circles of ripeness), covered with yellow plastic straws. It's my absolute favourite cheese. It was the first food I requested after my first child was born.

The Merivale location has consistently good prices for parmegiano reggiano (watch for their specials), gorgonzola dolce, emmenthal and many other European cheeses.

Great selection - also found a wonderful olive oil that is unfiltered and freshly bottled from Italy...and they can't stock it fast enough. Talk to staff and they can recommend type of oil to suit your foodie flavours.

The Byward Market Location (at 64 on George Street) has a very good selection of olive oils from all over Italian regions (Lazio, Puglia, Sicilia, Calabria, Umbria, Toscana, and even the Alpine Lombardia). Many of these are low in acidity and light, since they're pressed at low temperatures: ideal choices for dressing any kind of bruschetta and fresh salads. To try also some Greek olive oils.

These sandwiches used to be $3 until Cheap Eats Ottawa ousted them! Anyhow it's a great sandwich that rivals that of another local Italian grocer. The paninis are smaller and softer than that of their competitors (which I prefer) and they certainly give a generous helping of your choice of deli meat (prosciutto or pastrami being my favs) Love that pickled eggplant!

If I had a picture for every sandwich I've had over a lunch at Nicastro's, I'd have a lot of pictures. Assembled before your very eyes from a heap of delicious meats (your $4 sandwich will contain more than $4 of prosciutto, I swear), fresh cheese, and tasty condiments. I'm particularly fond of the marinated, chili-spiked eggplant that they offer.

Yeah, they do have sausage casings here. I have seen em.

Typically pigs, although sometimes sheep (think haggis). Pig intestines are the classic sausage casing material. Of course they need to be very clean...

From what animal?

P.S. Yikes!

I'm told that Nicastro's is one of the places in Ottawa that sells these. Locating hard-to-find products is one of the main purposes of this site...