Ingredients

Where to shop:

A lot of American ingredients can be hard to find in Italy, which is why I’m compiling a list of my favorite places to shop, mostly in and around Milan. Please send on your suggestions for stores in other parts of Italy as well!

Esselunga: Supermarket where you can find maple syrup, sour cream, tortillas, and peanut butter.

Superpolo: Carries a large variety of foodstuffs from around the world with many american and English specialties. Here you can find just about anything, molasses, sour cream, maple syrup, peanut butter, pancake and cookie mixes, cranberry juice, etc, etc.
(3 locations in Milan)
VIALE S. MICHELE DEL CARSO 5, tel: 02 4986346
LARGO LA FOPPA 1, tel: 02 6571760
9, VIA PACIOLI FRA LUCA 9, tel: 02 89405749

Kathay International Foodstores: A large International foods market specializing in Asian goods, but which also carries some North American and English foods, this is my favorite place to shop in Milan, I could spend hours browsing the shelves.

Plaza Latina: Specializes in Latin American products, you can also order items directly from the website.

Conversions:

As most of us know by know, Americans usually measure ingredients by volume, while most of the rest of the world measures by weight. (We just LOVE to be different, don’t we?) While I grew up using cups and tablespoons, I’ve grown more comfortable measuring by weight. It’s a more precise calculation, especially when it comes to the exacting science of baking involving tricky ingredients like flour that seem change volume at will. I’ve gotten quite good at converting recipes back and forth between weight/ volume or metric/English, over the years, so I’d like to share with you some of my learnings.

General Measurements:
1 US cup = 16 US tablespoons = 236 mL
1 Tablespoon = 3 teaspoons = 15 mL
1 quart = 4 cups = 0.95 liters
1 ounce = 28 grams
1 pound = 16 ounces = 454 grams

Butter:
1 cup = 230 g
1 Tablespoon = 14.5 g
1 stick = 1/2 cup = 8 Tbsp = 115 g

Flour:
European and American flours are different, and can cause some confusion in the kitchen. The weight of flour varies greatly depending on the kind, and using flour with the wrong gluten content can have disastrous results. I put together this handy chart to save you all the stress I’ve suffered over collapsed cookies!

French	Italian	American	Grams per cup
t 45	farina 00	Cake/Pastry flour	115 g / cup
t 55	farina 0	all-purpose	125 g / cup
t 65	farina 1	high gluten	140 g / cup
t 150	integrale	whole wheat	120 g / cup
de grau	manitoba	bread flour	130 g / cup
epeautre	farro	spelt	100 g / cup
seigle	segale	rye	Light: 100 g / cup Dark: 125 g / cup
sarrasin	saraceno	buckweat	120 g / cup

Sugar:
White Sugar: 1 cup = 200 g
Brown Sugar: 1 cup = 220 g
Powdered Sugar: 1 cup= 120 g

Buttermilk/ Milk/ Yogurt:
1 cup = 245 g
1 liter = 1030 g

Water:
1 cup = 236 g

Baking soda and powder:
1 Tbsp baking soda = 14 g
1 tsp baking soda =  5 g