Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I don't know. Yes, the speck in Südtirol is fantastic, especially after a long hike through the Dolomites. But the picture you are showing is quite misleading - after all, Speck is the german word for the layer of fat between skin and muscle of a pig. Therefore, speck has actually very little meat to it. Your picture looks more like a portion of bressola. Also, it is simply wong to imply there are only smoked versions of speck north of the alps. Especially northern Germany is renown for their great airdried bacon.

I think you should check with another doctor. 12 to 18 hours is a way to long timeframe. In most cases symptoms of food poisoning appear much shorter after the meal.

@ beth1: You are confusing Italy with Europe. The bread and butter charge is NOT typical in the EU. Normally the restaurants actually pay their staff (weird concept, I know), tips are given up to 10% and only if the service was good. Oh, and by the way - thank god only europeans are clueless about local customs. Americans are worldwide known for their good manners, fluency in multiple languages and intimate knowledge of foreign customs.

Why would you want to throw away perfectly good food? Just because you don't know it?! Jeez... how adventurous. I really wouldn't try to grill canned sardines - they will break apart. Besides, that is what you do with fresh sardines. But they are just fine plain on toast, I like to marinate them in a bit of soy sauce and lemon juice, sprinkle with some spring onions. Or mix them up with spaghetti, capers, lemon juice/peel, a nob of butter and lots of parsley.