I have been looking at a couple of delis/salumerias in Italy for an upcoming trip.
Most of the menus I have seen have had salamis, capicolas, proscuittos, those kinds of things.
But, I have seen that a lot of the little quick stop and go shops can sort of build your own panini or sandwich of some sort.
I don't eat red meat nor pork products, so the salamis and capicolas and stuff like that are not really my thing.
Is it common for those shops to have turkey or sliced chicken? Just curious...
maybe cheese and grilled veg would work for you. A temporary vegetarian is never a bad thing.
I've been to Italy 13 times and don't recall ever having a choice of turkey or chicken for sandwiches, unfortunately. Tramezzini in bars are often offered with tuna or egg or in a caprese version.
Pino's in Florence has Turkey on their menu
I had a friend come stay with me who wanted a rotisserie chicken and I informed her that we would not find one in Rome. You should make alternative plans. Perhaps stop into a bar where you can find pre-made tuna and egg salad sandwiches on white bread. Shrimp is also a popular ingredient and the grocery stores such as Coop have them for a couple of euro.
I am pretty sure you will be able to find alternatives to pork. There are lots of people who don’t eat pork or are fully vegetarian in Italy. Or, if in Florence, you could try a panino with LAMPREDOTTO, a Florentine specialty. It’s sort of tripe but made exclusively with the 4th stomach of the cow (ruminants have 4 stomachs). I’m not a super fan of tripe but lampredotto is really good.
List of restaurants in Rome with rotisserie chicken.
We love the Pollo alla Cacciatora at Trapizzino’s
Several locations
Rome, Florence, Milan
https://www.trapizzino.it/gusti-trapizzino/
There are always veggie/cheese choices.
Tuna is good when offered
Some hotel bkfts do have deli turkey.
You mean this kind of sliced roasted turkey stuff? https://images.app.goo.gl/ySD7rjU8gaWg1S3m7
Just like rotisserie chicken is quite common in and north of Rome. More the packaged version than the one sliced at the moment, but you can usually find it.
A tavola calda may offer a chicken dish on any given day. The problem I had with those in Rome is that food ordered to eat in the cafe was never heated adequately; it was always given to me lukewarm. If you wanted something to take back to a lodging with kitchen facilities, it would be fine.
I never got around to following up on it, but I read about a butcher shop in Venice that supposedly sells roast chickens. Here's the info:
Macelleria Bergamo, Rio Tera Farsetti 1837/C, Cannaregio: Not limited to uncooked meat; also sells slow-roasted chickens, deli meats and farm eggs. Mon-Sat 0830-1330, sometimes later on Fri and Sat.
Thanks everyone!
I have seen a few people mention rotisserie chicken, and while I certainly am a rotisserie chicken fan...I was more meaning a sliced lunchmeat type of chicken. Same with the turkey. Something that is comparable slice-wise to the typical deli meats on a sandwich.
I appreciate the Trappezino shoutout. That was actually on my list of places to go.
I just love the idea of stopping in a local deli/quick stop, with no plans, no prior looking....just one of those when the moment hits you kind of thing, and grabbing a deli sandwich. I just didn't know what my options would be.
I should have mentioned....I don't eat seafood either. Well....no tuna, and shrimp....only if fried, Po Boy style.
Yes, you can find turkey deli meat (tacchino) most anywhere. This week, I had a delicious freshly-made sandwich in Rome consisting of pizza bianca (Rome’s crispier, thinner version of focaccia) with freshly-sliced turkey. I had them add some of the grilled eggplant on display in the deli case. Yum. Also most any supermarket deli will have fresh bread and deli turkey; 100 grams (also called 1 etto, a 100-gram measure) of tacchino would be plenty for two sandwiches.
Edit: just to save you some back and forth at the deli counter: tacchino is pronounced ta-kee-no, not ta-chee-no.
Thanks Nelly. That sounds delicious!
I appreciate the help. I actually would have pronounced it right, believe it or not!
Chicken is pretty common in Italian traditional cuisine, so in a restaurant you can almost always find dishes base on chicken. Turkey is less common. On the other way, roasted and sliced chicken or turkey to fill a sandwich are not a standard preparation done in Italy. Roasted turkey is often an industrial preparation, so in several malls and supermarket you can find it.
In Bologna a traditional cured meat is the "galantina": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galantine . Can be regularly find in any grocery. Is not exclusive of Bologna, so maybe you can find it even in other regions.
There are several other birds traditionally eaten in Italy. In Modena is, for example, very traditional the pigeon. In Emilia is common goose meat (even to be cured in sausages and hams!): an ancient Jewish tradition. Popular and delicious could be even the guinea-fowl and the wild pheasant.
