Over the course of many years, I have visited Milan on many occasions. During those visits I have never met an interesting taxi driver or policeman, have never gone fishing, have never had an encounter with a ghost, never been locked in a cemetery, museum or cathedral after midnight, and never had a discussion with a prostitute. I have, however, had a chance to come to understand the Milanese, a group of people who simply refuse to fit into the stereotype of what Italians are supposed to be like.

Unlike the relaxed, easygoing attitude of most Italians, the Milanese are so organized and industrious that they put the Japanese to shame, and they are so punctual and careful in their social rituals that they embarrass even the Swiss. Although the city has one of the world's most exquisite Cathedrals, a medieval quarter that has changed little over the last six centuries, and a history of art unsurpassed by any other European city, the people here are the ultimate yuppies. Milanese are what they do, and, because they are so concerned with the worlds of commerce, fashion and finance their city is famed for, they have little patience for leisurely strolling or sitting in cafes. Milanese are actually proud that theirs is one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Fortunately, I learned many years ago that the city has saving graces, perhaps the most important from my point of view is that Milanese love to eat. More than that, they love to eat well and in addition to more than one hundred and fifty restaurants that are listed in the Michelin guide, there are at least two hundred more that are worth visiting. Despite that knowledge, on several of my trips to the city I have made a point of not entering even a single restaurant, choosing instead to have all of my meals at those unique Milanese institutions known as salumerie

Specializing in prepared foods for take-away and appearing on nearly every street of the city, these shops sell not only salami (as their name implies), but anything you might want for a five, six or seven course meal. Some of these shops are ultimately simple in design. Others are outrageously ornate. Nearly all have certain things in common. Most have black glass frontage and their name written in curly gold lettering over the door. Inside, bright lights beam out counters full of hams, cheeses, homemade pasta and pastries. All of the food is meant to take out and many provide ready to eat meals - baked pasta, roast meats and cooked vegetables are found everywhere. Best of all, many of these shops feature foods that are magnificent and some even have places on their premises where it is possible to eat your purchases on the spot.

On one recent visit, I started my day at about ten in the morning by making my way to Via Spadari. Not far from the cathedral, this is the most famous gastronomic street in the city and before setting out to eat stopped at Bar Zucca for a bit of fortification. Situated in the Galleria Vittoria Emanuel, the immense shopping arcade that links the Piazza del Duomo to the world's most famous opera house, La Scala, this Art Nouveau bar, with its walls wreathed in garlands of flowers and its heavy black wrought-iron chandeliers is a treat for both the eyes and the palate.

After a Campari-Soda, I made my way to Peck. Located at 9 Via Spadari, this is the most famous and sophisticated salumerie in the city. Peck's is actually four different stores, all within a few minutes walking distance from each other. One specializes in wine, another in cheese, another in sausages and the final one in home-made pastas. Founded in 1884 by a Czech immigrant from Prague, the enterprise is now run by the four white-coated Stoppani brothers. The building at number 9 houses their main store, in which I found enormous wheels of Parmesan cheese, counters piled high with different kinds of sausages, and mammoth displays of cooked meats. There were also row upon row of pates and huge piles of red, green and white tagliatelle are rolled up like balls of yarn. In the background, wherever I looked are jars of pickled peaches, artichokes and porcini, the wild mushrooms that Milanese so adore.

I could have made an entire meal simply by going from counter to counter and sampling a little bit of this, a little bit of that, but I decided to be "serious" and purchased a pair of roast quails stuffed with wild rice, and took them to the tiny park across the street, there to enjoy my purchases. One of the great pleasures of my meal was that I knew no one would criticize me for eating with my fingers, the only way you can do justice to aquail.

From here I again crossed the street, this time to visit Peck's Bottega del Maile, where the windows team with sausages and every kind of pork product imaginable. In addition to long, short and round sausages, there were sausages that were fat and thin and that ranged in color from dark brown, marble colored, blood red, black, brown and white. There were sausages from every area of Italy and there were also Hungarian salamis, Swiss Bunderfleish and viande sechee from the Valais in France. After a bit of tasting, I bought a single sandwich, of exquisite proscuitto ham on a fresh, hot roll which, with just the tiniest hint of mustard and a glass of the house red wine (a simple but delightful Chianti Classico), went down marvelously.

By noon I arrived at Peck's Casa del Formaggio or cheese house which is just two blocks away at Via Speronari 3, next to 15th century church of San Satiro. Every fine Italian cheese may be found here. Gourd-shaped provolone cheeses hang in clusters like giant grapes from the ceiling; there are three meter high pyramids of gorgonzola and Parmesan; and there is an unbelievable variety of ricotta. At the suggestion of a sales clerk, I sampled the malga cheese, a goats' cheese that is wrapped in vine leaves and aged in special mountain huts for several months. Rich and ripe like Camembert, but stronger in both taste and aroma, the cheese is deliciously unforgettable.

Further down, at Via Victor Hugo 4, I found Peck's "Bottega del Vino", where one can drop in for a snack accompanied by the wine of their choice. The wines here come from all over Italy, and nearly all can be sampled by the glass. Nor could I resist trying two Milanese specialties - a salad made from huge white bean and tiny red mullets had been baked together with mozzarella, Parmesan and celery. I also sampled the carpaccio, thinly sliced raw salmon topped with artichoke hearts and sprinkled over with oil, lemon juice and coriander. It is possible to eat in the restaurant on the ground floor, but I chose to eat at about half the price by standing up at the special long-legged tables in the store itself.

By now I was in the mood for a sweet, so I strolled over to Via Victor Hugo 3 to Garbagnati, a bakery that is also an Austro-Hungarian pastry shop and in which the Sacher and Linzer torts and the strudels are every bit as good as you will find anywhere along the Danube River. I merely admired these, and chose to go just across the street, to Galli, at Via Victor Hugo 2, where I had two of the best marron glaces to be found anywhere in Europe. With their crunchy sugar crust on the outside and a moist almost liquid chestnut heart, these are so good that they would make most French pattissiers weep in jealousy. Having started with sweets, it was difficult to end, so I made my way to the corner to Passerini, a traditional ice cream parlor where I gained enormous pleasure from a granit di caffe (coffee ice) topped with freshly made sweet cream.

By now, if the truth be told, I had eaten so much that I needed a break so I stopped for a glass of tea at Pasicceria Marchesi at nearby Via Santa Maria alla Porta. One of the most charming tea shops in Europe, the ceiling is coated with century old gold leaf vines, the shelves are lined with tall candy jars full of crystallized Parma violets, and the tea, cakes and cookies are superb. I congratulated myself on having enough willpower to avoid temptation and restricted my intake to two leisurely cups of Darjeeling tea with lemon.

After a half hour's break, I continued to Via Monte Napoleone, the most famous shopping street in Milan and there tried hard to ignore the fashion houses and fine jewelry as I made my way to Salumaio at number 12. Here the windows abound with coquilles Saint-Jacques, fresh goose liver, and pastel colored layered vegetable terrines called bavaresi. Once inside the store I also found a remarkable variety of fresh pasta, barrels of lives, artichoke hearts and pickled cucumbers. At the urging of the store manager, who could not possibly have imagined how much I had already eaten, I sampled six different types of olives, a salad of red and green peppers, and a cold pasta salad that had been tossed with mayonnaise and capers.

Further down, at number 1 Via Monte Napoleone, I stopped not to eat but merely to talk to Angelo Moretti, a greengrocer who specializes in primizie, the first of any fruits or vegetables to appear in every season. Here, slim bunches of asparagus stood next to green beans no thicker than toothpicks and young grapes so perfect they might have been hand-painted. I also peeked into the narrow windows of the shop to admire the jars full of exotic preserves, caviar and honey. Moretti likes to boast that his honey comes "only from the most noble bees".

Further down the same street I found Della Via Spiga, a shop that offers 1,200 different forms of pasta, a rotisserie on which they grill chickens, pheasants and quails over a wood fire, and counters weighed down with cooked tongues, artichokes and other goodies. Further down the street I entered the shop of Pescis Primizie, another greengrocer, but this one famous primarily because he owns his own private mineral water spring. The spring is actually located at the back of the store and even though the water comes out of an inauspicious looking tap it is refreshingly smooth after tasting the harsh water of the city. I also made my way to the store known simply as G. Lorenzi, at via Monte Napoleone 9. This is one of the world's greatest kitchen supply stores and a place of interest to anyone who wants to buy high quality cooking utensils. From truffle slicers to oyster openers, from mortars and pestles to strainers, almost whatever you can dream of is sure to be found here. (If it is specifically knives, or other tools made from stainless steel that interest you, visit Alessi on corso Matteotti 9. This is the store where the great chefs of Europe buy their knives and other stainless steel cooking tools).

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© Daniel Rogov