My husband and I are leaving for Italy in about 3 weeks. The trip is part business and part pleasure. His business contact has already been very helpful and is going to show us around for part of the time. We'd like to bring something from North Carolina/US that they might find interesting/unique but we need some ideas...
food items like maple syrup? art? any thoughts?

Hi L,

Do you folks have Mayhaw Jelly up there?

How about local honey?

Also, NC has developed a reputation for pottery.


Maple syrup? Isn't that from Canada or someplace like that?

yes, maple syrup is from Canada/New England but I was just trying to rack my brains for something that is more unique to US...maybe scuppernong jelly, pickled okra....

In all seriousness, bring some tar heels stuff. A light blue baseball hat (adjustable with a fairly curvy bill). They love that sort of stuff.

The thin spiced Moravian cookes (from NC) go well with espresso and are available in either their regular tube or in a special gift tin.
www.moraviancookie.com

Italians do like clever design and these handcrafted Lazy Spoons are a nifty idea (full credit goes to the new issue of Oprah's magazine where I first saw them). They have a notch so you can rest them on the pan. I'm going to order a few myself (I also like it that it's a small company headquartered in the PA Dutch area).

http://www.woodspoons.com/lazy.asp

These are just two ideas, but we need to know what kind of budget you have in mind and how well your husband knows these people...

Even if they're smokers, I wouldn't bring them cartons of cigarettes, despite their being a truly NC product! ;-)

wow, these are some great ideas. We just want to make it a nominal amount like $50 maximum....baseball caps? really?

in response to the other part of the question BTilke posed...my husband doesn't know this gentleman beyond purely business related e-mails. WE know he is married but that's about it.

How about a bottle or two of really good wine from the US ?

Wine is not received with the same open-minded enthusiasm in Italy that it is in North America...it is considered a bit of a slight to the host's abiltiy to offer excellent wine himself/herself if a guest brings wine. You may be better off with books of photographs from your area, and other local food specialities that cannot be found in Italy. If there are children in the family, Italian children love nut-butters and although hazel nut and almond are everywhere, good peanut butter is hard to find and expensive.

not keen on taking wine - especially since we are going to a wine region as part of our trip. Plus the fact that it would have to be in checked luggage now.

I like the idea of the nut butters and food items....

As crazy as this sounds, my cousins from Italy always stock up on Oreos when they visit the U.S. They also like our Chicago sports paraphernalia, e.g., Cubs caps, Cubs shirts, etc. Really, anything we loved as native Chicagoans, they want.

Jelly Bellys and turkey jerkey went over big to some Florentines that I know. Especially the Jelly Bellys.

Jelly Bellys would be popular. I'm not so sure about peanut butter, maybe cashew butter or other gourmet nut butters (I know there are gourmet peanut butters, but PB has a "downscale" image in Europe). Some nut butter ideas here:
http://www.futtersnutbutters.com/index.html
The almond hazlenut butter might be a nice choice; both nuts are popular in Europe, inc. Italy. The site above does gift baskets.

In a similar situation, I brought a wine chiller made by Nambe to our host family in Italy. It's unique to the southwest, where we live, is handmade and quite artful. Looks like a contemporary pewter, but its some type of proprietary metal they make by hand. It's won modern art awards, so I thought it would make sense for a Florentine family. They really liked it, used it for dinner then set it on the mantle for display. It's not inexpensive, but they do have smaller pieces around $50, like maybe a spoon rest or wine coaster.

Last but not least, you can find some small, under $100 gift items from Tiffany's and everybody knows that name and the blue box! For example, there is a sterling silver key NYC taxi cab key ring for $85, which is a little over your budget, but might be for somebody special. Or you could get a Tiffany pocket diary/agenda for $40. Or a chrome and gold plate Tiffany pen for $50.
www.tiffany.com

Baseball Caps always work.Go Tar Heels!

Our exchange student always stocks up on salsa and zip lock baggies when she visits.

Anthing to do with the Big sports teams

I'm happy you didn't go for the idea of maple syrup. It isn't a taste a lot of Europeans are used to. I know one person who hated it when they lived here for a couple of years and then aquired a taste for it. I never bring it to our family in Italy because of that.