Bring Back Gifts With Good Taste

France
Skip the Brie and Beaujolais, and sample some of France’s regional finds. Among them: Maille mustard from the company’s Dijon or Paris shop; Brittany’s galettes de Pont-Aven, a buttery cookie; Drome’s nougat de Montelimar, a confection made of nuts and lavender honey; and Perigord’s foie gras and truffles—sold separately or indulgently mixed in one can. In Languedoc, cassoulet of Castelnaudary, the hearty meat-and-beans dish, is sold ready to transport. Normandy is the hub of salted-butter caramels and alcohol-tinged apple cider, while Ardeche has the lock on chestnut cream, tasty on cake or out of the container.

Italy
Lavazza espresso is unique to this country of strong-coffee drinkers, as is Amaro Averna, a Sicilian after-dinner liqueur. Limoncello, squeezed from Sorrento lemons, comes from the Amalfi Coast, and tortellini from Bologna is world-renowned. For friends you really like, get a bottle of vintage balsamic vinegar from Modena. Another indulgence: white truffles from the Piedmont region or black truffles from Umbria.

Thailand
Many hotels and public places ban durian, alias the ‘‘stinky fruit,’’ but when it’s all tarted up, no noses will be the wiser. Try the fruit as a paste, chip or hard candy. Less odoriferous are tamarind fruit (dehydrated, chewy, wet slab snack, etc.); luk choop, a jellied bean and coconut dessert moulded into fruit shapes; and pandanus leaf candy. Canned sticky rice puddings come in such flavours as mango, coconut, black rice and durian. Bet you didn’t know Thailand had vineyards. The proof is in a bottle of Monsoon Valley (red, white or rose). Non-alcoholic choices include bottled drinks made of chrysanthemum, grass jelly and pennywort leaves, and Krating Daeng, the Red Bull of Siam.

Japan
This country is big on seafood, noodles, sake and sweets—all of which you can bring home in some form or another. Take back snackable sea life, such as dried fish flakes, seasoned roasted nori or seaweed and shrimp-flavored chips. Also popular are prepackaged udon and soba noodles. Look for sakes by Takara Nigori and Takeno Tsuyu, and high-quality green teas encased in decorative metal containers. Sweet bean paste cakes are for dessert adventurers; for more traditional candies, there’s Pocky’s straw-shaped biscuits dipped in strawberry or chocolate, and the ultra-kitschy Hello Kitty and Pokemon candies.

LA Times – Washington Post