La cucina italiana: How to prepare and send pacco da pacco da giù. https://www.lacucinaitaliana.it/article/pacco-da-giu-cosa-come-si-prepara-spedisce/

In general, the north of Italy is far richer than the south. Many people from southern regions like Calabria, Campania, Basilicata and Puglia, ‘emigrate’ to the north to work, to cities such as Milan or Turin (in Lombardia and Piemonte).

But, contrary to what you might expect sustaining food packages don’t tend to travel from north to south, from the richer émigrés to the poorer stay-at-homes, but rather go the other way around, from the south to the north. The reason is that the southern Italians simply think that their food is so much better and that their loved ones are missing out on tasty products  and dishes that only their home region can provide. They call them pacchi da giù, ‘packages from down there.’

As well as seeking work, many young people also leave their communities in the south to study at northern universities. And their families, particularly their mums, worried that they are not getting the proper nutrition, send them regular pacchi da giù to keep them going.

The contents vary from region to region, but there will usually be home-made pasta sauces, pickled vegetables , biscuits, cooked meats and cheeses like mozzarella di bufala. How can anyone survive without a regular pacco from home and a reminder of their roots?

Don’t worry that you’re going to miss out on the splendours of regional Italian cooking at The Watermill: as well as Tuscan dishes like panzanella (with a Watermill twist) snd involtini (rolled chicken breast stuffed with ham and cheese), our cooks will also prepare mouth-watering dishes from further afield, such as bresaola (air-cured beef with slivers of parmesan cheese) and torta di cioccolato da Capri (chocolate cake made with crushed almonds instead of flour).

Buon appetito!