There is a category of Italian food that exists between sweet and savoury — a territory that Italian cooks have always understood, but that the rest of the world has been slow to adopt. Fresh cheese with ripe fruit. Cured meat with honey. Bitter rocket with sweet fig. These combinations are not accidents. They are the result of a culinary logic refined over centuries, in which contrast is the point.
Délisia's Epicure Collection lives in this territory. Three panino — the Figaro, the Mélone, and the Bellini — built from a shared philosophy: that a great sandwich doesn't need to be complex, but it needs to be considered. Each combination in this collection earns its place. Nothing is there for decoration.
The philosophy: contrast as craft
The Epicure panino are named after things that feel right for what they are — a figaro's elegance, the sweetness of a mélone, the effervescence of a Bellini cocktail. But the names are secondary. What matters is the logic behind each combination: the way stracciatella's mild creaminess amplifies everything around it, the way honey bridges the gap between salt and sweet, the way rocket's bitterness resets the palate between bites.
In Italy, this kind of eating has a name: abbinamento — pairing. The tradition of pairing fresh cheese with fruit, or salumi with honey and nuts, is documented from medieval kitchens through to modern gastronomia. The Epicure Collection brings this tradition to a focaccia panino format — accessible, fresh, and made daily.
"We wanted to build panino that reward attention. Something that changes as you eat it — not just a first bite, but a full experience."
The Collection
The Figaro is the most classical expression in the collection. Prosciutto and fig have been paired in Italian kitchens for centuries — the sweetness of dried or fresh fig softening the salt of the cured meat, the honey deepening both. Stracciatella adds the creamy middle that holds everything together, and rocket provides the bitter finish that stops the sweetness from becoming cloying. On house-baked focaccia, this is a panino that tastes like it's been earned through a long history of good decisions.
The Bellini is the most ambitious of the three — and the one that surprises people most. Pear and prosciutto follow the same Italian logic as fig and prosciutto, but the addition of aged parmesan changes the dynamic entirely. Where fig is smooth and sweet, pear is crisp and slightly acidic. The parmesan adds an umami depth and a granular texture that contrasts with the stracciatella. Honey ties everything together. The result is a layered, evolving panino — the kind where each bite tastes slightly different from the last.
The Mélone is the lightest of the three — and the most seasonal. Rock melon at its peak is juicy, fragrant, and just sweet enough to carry the prosciutto without needing anything else to bridge the gap. Stracciatella keeps the texture cool and creamy, honey adds the necessary thread of sweetness, and rocket finishes with its characteristic clean bitterness. This is the panino for a summer lunch when you don't want to feel heavy afterwards. Clean, bright, and built on the quality of a single seasonal ingredient done right.
Why these combinations work
The science of flavour pairing is not complicated at its core: contrasting elements create interest, while shared aromatic compounds create harmony. Sweet fruit and salty cured meat contrast sharply on the palate, but share aromatic compounds — which is why they work together rather than fighting each other. Creamy, mild cheese (stracciatella, in this case) acts as a neutral carrier that amplifies both. Bitter elements reset the palate between bites, keeping the eating experience from becoming monotonous.
Honey in all three panino is doing specific work. It's not there for sweetness alone — it's there as a bridge, a flavour connector that links the fruit to the meat and the cheese to the bread. In traditional Italian cheese boards, honey performs the same function. The Epicure Collection borrows this function and applies it to something hand-held.
On the focaccia
All three Epicure panino are served on house-baked focaccia, available with a gluten free option daily. The bread is chosen deliberately: its mild, slightly olive-oil flavour doesn't compete with the fillings. It provides structure without demanding attention. For combinations this delicate — where balance between sweet, salt, cream, and bitter is the point — the last thing you want is a bread that brings its own strong opinion.
The Epicure Collection is available on the Délisia full menu at both Forest Lodge and Zetland. Order online for pickup, or visit in store.