The best ethnic food is often the most difficult to find. So each week we'll spin the globe and search for a new other-worldly spot to expand our eating horizons around the Valley.

This week we go to Italy at Niccoli's.

Carrie Wheeler

Inside Niccoli's Italian market, bakery and deli.

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Authenticity-rating: Italian dining didn't necessarily feel like a dining adventure...until I stepped into Niccoli's Italian Grocery - Deli. The small strip-mall restaurant/bakery/market is filled with canned, bottled and packaged Italian foods and cases of fresh meats, cheeses and breads. Hand-written posters note fresh pasta prices and available seafood (cleaned squid?). What's available is what they've just made. 

The bread is fresh. The meats are fresh. 

Read what to eat after the jump.

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New Times

Simply Challah!

​Sundown tomorrow evening marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the "head of the year" or Jewish New Year. Challah, traditional egg bread served on the Sabbath in the form of a loaf -- plain or braided -- is shaped into a round spiral for the holiday. The round shape symbolizes life's continuity and the cycle of the seasons.

Challah and apples are dipped in honey to begin the Rosh Hashanah meal as a prayer is recited asking for a sweet year ahead. 

Sweet flavors are not limited to the beginning and end of the meal; savory dishes are laced with honey and sweet fruits as well. Which means, challah has a lot of competition on the table.

Great challah is a stand out, able to lead the way and complement the traditional holiday dishes. It is bread that invites you to indulge for a night. Our ideal challah has a crust that is deep golden brown, a slight yellow interior color that appears naturally from eggs in the dough, a substantial crumb that allows the bread to be pulled apart, and a hint of sweetness from honey.

Find out where to buy it after the jump.

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We couldn't resist checking out a coffee-table cookbook called, Entertaining From an Ethnic Indian Kitchen because the author Komali Nunna bills herself as the "Indian Martha Stewart". (Nunna is a California-based cook born in Southern India).

The book is full of pictures, recipes and tips for entertaining Indian style and Nunna's central theme, Indian cuisine, is not just about eating; it's about entertaining. See the Martha connection? About 80 percent of the recipes are vegetarian and there are also some American holiday fusion dishes for Christmas and New Year's.

The production level of the book may not be as exacting as those offered by the Martha Stewart empire, but Nunna does offer menus for entertaining with different themes with an Indian flair such as "Snack and Chaat party", a "Moghul Banquet", or our personal favorite "Dinner by the Fire".

​Temperatures in Hyderabad, India will be in the low 80's this week, but here in Phoenix we are in the upper 50's so it's the perfect time for us to try out this "Dinner by the Fire" menu. More >>

In search of some authentic Italian sausage worthy enough to play a supporting role as a side dish to our Christmas Eve dinner of eggplant parmesan, we decided to pay a visit to Phoenix institution, Schreiner's Fine Sausages. Schreiner's offers over sixty types of sausage, including Italian, Polish and German, all handmade on site. After chatting up owner Nancy Schiller, we were invited to pay a visit to the wholesale and processing area to see how the sausage was made.  More >>

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Are gerkins, kimchi, fancy Dutch gouda and Chinese shumai on your shopping list? Then the House of Rice is the store for you.

This tiny Scottsdale grocery and kitchen supply store stocks Asian and Dutch food. The combination might sound odd at first brush, but actually makes perfect sense: The Dutch colonized Indonesia for years.

The food items are pretty limited--so don't plan on a one-stop grocery shop. Still, where else are you going to find fresh gyoza, red cabbage, mochi, fine Lindbergh cheese, almond fingers (filled with marzipan), dutch beef rolls and crunchy Asian snacks all in one place?

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