Coming back from Venice, I had a suitcase filled with nougat, biscotti and chocolate (unfortunately no gelato). Whenever I come back from France, it’s usually jams, Carambar, prunes from Agen and chocolate. From New York – bagels, soft brown sugar, Vermont maple syrup and chocolate. What does one bring back from Croatia? Well, if you want to get through customs without sweating, you probably won’t attempt to walk on by with dried hams or fresh truffles in your bag. Olive oil? I suppose you could risk the glass bottle breaking in your luggage (I did!) – not in your carry-on though, liquid’s a no no. Specialty shops in little villages throughout Istria had tons of products based on truffles and olive oil, pretty much everything imaginable made with one of the two.

So what did I bring back?  Chocolate.

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