ottawa foodies

I just noticed today that the price of Parmesan cheese at Loblaw's has risen from $39.90 to $49.90! There were still a couple of old stock pieces left at the lower price, marked as 'special'.

I went to Nicastro's and got it for $34.95.

All prices quoted are per kilogram. Who knows if that is going to go up? I stocked up a bit.

There was an earthquake in Italy last year that caused a lot of Parmesan cheese to topple from the shelves as it aged. The price increase could be a result of those losses?

There's an article here about the earthquake and pictures of the toppled shelves:

www.nydailynews.com

Thanks for the info. I may have to go get another couple of giant shards to help me to offset the inevitable cheese inflation.

Rizak FWIW I bought some grana padano at La Bottega this afternoon and paid only $21.99. It's on special right now... There's more info on prices here: ottawafoodies.com

... and Nicastro on Merivale this week's flyer:

www.nicastros.com

has parma at $26.99/kg.

Roughly $13 kg in Europe, $11 in Mexico, $14 in the US...

It's ridiculous what we have to pay for dairy products in this country & be rest assured that it's NOT the farmers ripping us off, it's the Dairy Board of Canada!

I don't remember it being that cheap in the US. Are you comparing wholesale prices?

Anyway, Costco has good prices on it but when we bought some there once we weren't happy with the quality. All reggiano cheese is not created equal.

Inkling - Costco had a couple of different varieties last time I was there, one was younger and the other older... two different producers. Do you remember the producer?

No, it was a while ago and I don't remember the brand. We don't have a Costco membership ourselves but have someone who can purchase for us - maybe worth another try.

Yikes! and I just placed my order for parm and pecorino. To be picked up from the producer in Italy. Maybe I need to bootleg some extra home.

lovetoeat - I was in Italy recently and bringing hard cheese back to Canada is not a big deal. Sausage, on the other hand... don't even bother!

Chimichmi - I won't mention that some sausage happened to fall in my suitcase on my trip last year. oops! ;)

lovetoeat - I know, isn't it strange how that happens? :)

Was the suitcase in your possession the entire time since you packed it?

... and were the sausages in your possession the entire time while you packed them into the casings ?

Lucky you didn't have the beagles at Montreal airport that discovered my friends "luggage" from Florence!

I had a drug sniffer dog go nuts for my knapsack while waiting for my luggage at the carousel at Ottawa airport returning from England. The officer in charge asked me if I had been carrying food in my bag at anytime. I responded that I had, in fact, had a few sandwiches in my bag at some point during my flight but because I was flying Air Canada, I had to eat them all. The officer just smiled and dragged the dog away.