I'd almost call it a necessity: like milk or eggs to most. This is another of those things I don't have Walmart deliver. It's fresh at the Oriental place I buy most of my spices from.
I've used it in quiche recently with thick sliced, smoked bacon. Chili, Onion, Garlic powder, some paprika and sea salt, oregano and some ground cumin...had a nice southwestern feel.
I've never had that. I've seen it a few times when someone else ordered the meal. It seems like the last time the place the staff was pushing "it's veal."
Was your's over potatoes, in a bowl over rice, how? I have mental images of both.
Italian. There's a subject that has qualifiers. A LOT of qualifiers.
Italian ingredients? Love them. Going somewhere to have someone else's (commercial / resturant) Italian food? Rarely. Very rarely. I can say I haven't walked into an Italian restaurant that wasn't recommended by someone I trust. It's the only ethic place I'll avoid.
Just like the beans, the shell fish...it's so easy for people to screw up a sauce.