Reading this again I had to buy some oranges. 5 kilos Moroccan for 2€ altogether. Those Sicilian ones are better just a little more expensive. I'm well aware, the best products don't reach the UK (in sufficient amounts), no idea why?

I think kerouac has it exactly right when he says that these traditions stem from a time when fresh fruits were a rare commodity in winter.

We do have a friend who lives in a remote French village and he only wants peanut butter and macadamia nuts from the U.S. And when he's over here, he goes crazy for cole slaw and onion rings. Not sure if that's relevant, but we always get a laugh over it.

Polite aside: Pecans may be a much better gift choice. Our shops carry every nut I know of except pecans. Nestle chocolate chips, instant pudding/pie mixes and over-the counter medicines are other welcome gifts. Frozen orange juice would be preferable to whole oranges.

Gee, Logos, I'll bet you're great fun at cocktail parties. Perhaps a better gift for Mimmel to bring would be an anti-self righteousness pill.

I brought back a can of raw unsalted Stuckey's pecans from Florida. In Europe you can find pecans from Bahlsen, but toasted and salted like almonds.

Dukey, you bring the pills, Cowboy steaks and salad and we'll all be making christmas ornaments out of home grown potatoEs. . You can also bring a and a few knifes, just make sure you know how to turn a into steak.

I said it once I'll say it again... regardless of customs, quality of fruit in Europe vs US, etc. a crate of oranges is going to be a difficult thing to drag thru the airports getting it to Europe with you.

I'd rather receive food than another coffee table book or art object/kitschy souvenir. I'd only give a small sculpture if I was sure it was to the recipient's taste. Ditto ceramic whatnots.

I have given scenic calendars of my home area to European relatives, t-shirts and hats to teenage boys (not so successful), and brought macademia nuts to Paris.

Have you investigated the weight limit on checked baggage? Boxes of oranges are heavy.

I think I'd be rather taken aback if someone gave me a crate of oranges. To me it just seems rather a strange thing to give someone. But if your friends specially like oranges, go ahead.

Here in the Northeast US it used to be a very common 'return from Florida' gift - a big sack of grove fresh oranges or grapefruit. That was years ago when they were not as widely available in every supermarket.

In my household such a gift was always well received. Usually the fresh fruit was accompanied by marmelade (in the little round jars) and orange blossom honey.

Hi, Mimmel,

I'm not aware of any law that says that you can't bring oranges into Germany, or any EC country. But NO POTATOES - due to the danger of bringing in disease.

so leave the spuds behind. anyway, I think you would find that the germans have already got them - a case of "coals to newcastle".

regards, ann

J62 has it = orange marmalade. It's Florida, and it's easy to take. Also try Guava jelly, another southern favorite. And I agree with the fans of nuts - who doesn't like a good nut?

Well - I live in New York and I would think it really weird if someone were to bring a box of oranges to a dinner party. We can get excellent ones at the greengrocer on the corner -if we don;t feel like going to Fairway - along with all sorts of other, much more exotic fruits.

(I do recall people bringing oranges back from Fl when I was a child - but I don;t know why. Even 40 years ago my mother got perfectly good ones from the local market for squeezing each morning.)

People generally bring wine, or fancy chocolates, a unique liquor - or perhaps even some super exotic dessert from a special patisserie.

If you can't tell the difference between "perfectly good" oranges and really good ones, then it's great that no one has taken the trouble to give you really good ones. Obviously you wouldn't apprecite them. That's why there's no point in taking really good chocolates to someone who thinks a Hershey Bar is as good as it gets. Same thing.

Someone from Florida doesn't bring oranges to a friend because he thinks the friend doesn't know where to buy an orange - it's the fact that it is from "home." A box of sunshine from the sunshine state.

It's a symbol, like many affectionate gestures.

Yea. Some people take flowers as a hostess gift. I guess some would think that's stupid because the hostess could buy her own flowers locally? I'm really amazed at the reasoning of some of the responses here regarding gift giving.
I'll agree that it is a bit of a hassle to take the oranges -- but isn't that part of the gift? Perhaps the gift giver feels the recipient is "worthy" of the little bit of effort. And like any gift, if there's a reason you'd think the recipient wouldn't appreciate them, then of course it would be silly to take them.

Neo, I certainly hope there is no one on the Europe board who actually believes a Hershey bar is decent quality chocolate. The difference in quality between a Hershey bar and Swiss or Belgian chocolate is light years greater than the difference in quality between any two oranges I've ever eaten. And I live in Florida.

As far as flowers are concerned, like chocolates, they are something special that, while widely available, most of us don't treat ourselves to--unlike fruit, which I think we all lug home with our bread and milk weekly or more often.

I feel silly arguing about this. But when my "reasoning" ability is questioned, I get riled

A bar (100g) of german Feodora costs 1.30€. Why would anybody spend more on chocolate imitations like Hersh..
Are Feodora chocolates available in the US?

http://www.feodora.de/qualitaet.php?p=8

I don't know that brand but Milka and Ritter are available in many supermarkets here in the US..

Milka and Ritter are low end, just like Hersheys (although I'd prefer them over Hersheys any time). A Milka or Ritter 100g bar is 65ct. So you can't expect much.