Keeping Up With Maury
Gallucci's - the hidden Italian ethnic market
by Maury Feren

I stopped at my favorite ethnic store the other day. When I was in business there was a group of people who promoted Cleveland who would select merchants and exceptional points of interests and call them treasures. The promoted them that way. Gallucci's at 6610 Euclid Ave. is that kind of store. The Cleveland tour buses (Lolly the trolley) always stop at Gallucci's. You have to see this store - it is everything Italian.

I have to tell you a little bit about the many foods they have that are truly ethnic and can only be founded in the store. If you are looking for pasta dry pack, gluten free, and true Italian imports they have them all, thick, thin, shaped, and in every style from the best there is in Italy. Don't ask me why Italian pasta taste different. The soil is different, it is treated differently so it does have better taste. Do you want prepared pasta? They have that too.

Mama Gallucci's pasta sauces as well as nationally known Italian sauce any kind you can think of. The olive selection will mind boggle you. There is so much to choose from. Stuffed, big, black, green, pimento stuffed and on and on. They carry their own brand of olive oil as well as competing brands in every classification.

Balsamic vinegar from the lowest end to the highest. Balsamic vinegar from Barrel, something new if you need a quantity. When you see all these foods you don't know what to choose. They have a special pizza you can stuff yourself anyway you prefer. Cheeses from all over the world including 2-3 Feta cheeses, from different counties and style.

When you talk about wine especially Italian wine there is nobody in this town that comes close their variety. The highly price Chianti Estate wines that are frequently mentioned by the Spectator Magazine as wines you should seek out. When you go to their meat counter you want be able to figure out what to buy.

Every kind of ethnic meat that we know about. Prosciutto from Italy and Canada. Salami - every kind including the famous dry salami by Genoa and others.

There is so much there to choose from. I was amazed to see the wonderful choices in salads and ideas for appetizing additions for meals. Holiday time, people are in line around the end of the entrance. They are so intent on enjoying those exceptional delicacies. First of all there is no other place you can find these foods. I only began to give you a touch of what there is to see.

They have their own on-going bakery. The breads that come out are the best in the market place. Ciabotta, pugliese, and others include stuffed meats inside one of the breads. You never saw a bakery like this one. They also have a full line of Italian cookies but the best is yet to tell.

They have a special selection of cakes for affairs that can't be matched. Giant sized chocolate, red velvet, plus two of three varieties of chocolate, Italian strawberry cakes and others like a vanilla covered cake that I don't know the name. People stop at lunch time for their well organized cafeteria style service with light meals that seem to have enough interests for it to became a big part of its operation.

I can always find things of interest beside the selection of roasted peppers, egg plant, soups, herring, anchovies, tunno in small cans, capers. Their canned fish department with smoked fish and sardines cannot be duplicated.

I will finish off with choices of every kind of utensils and colorful artistic plates for serving. Ray, the owner, imports directly from Italy. Ray goes to Italy twice a year and to the international food show as well as the Italian show in New York.

This is why Gallucci's is termed a Cleveland treasure.