Mediterranean Wholesalers on Sydney Road is a favourite among Melbourne cooks.
Australia’s largest continental grocer is fan favourite among die-hard Melbourne cooks. It’s perfect for grabbing the most essential ingredients with which to stock an Italian pantry – when you have a great olive oil, can of sweet tomatoes and a beautiful pasta, you’ve got dinner in 15 minutes.
Grab cheeses like parmigiano reggiano (aged cow’s milk cheese with a complex, nutty flavour), grana padano (like parmesan but not aged as long, simpler in flavour and cheaper!) and pecorino (sheep’s milk cheese essential in carbonara and cacio e pepe sauces) at the cheese counter and deli.
Case Di Latomie olive oil from Sicily is grassy and beautifully bitter from the health-giving polyphenols (powerful antioxidants), while San Marzano tinned heirloom plum tomatoes are grown in the volcanic soil near Mount Vesuvius and are sweeter and less acidic than other varieties, with a complex, concentrated flavour. These tomatoes also make a killer pizza base: crush them by hand, then grate in a clove of garlic, a scrunch of oregano, salt, and a glug of olive oil.
There’s also Carmelina passata, Gentile pasta from Gragnano, Riseria Gazzani brand from near Verona, and bunches of dried oregano still on the stem, plus jarred goods, festive cakes, tinned legumes and more.
Good to know: Mediterranean Wholesalers also has a cafe inside serving $2 espresso and fresh cannoli.
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