GUSTI Blog

Il Mio Vino in America - Grand Opening

Il Mio Vino is a very popular and reputable magazine but if you wanted it, you could only buy it on newstands in Italy. Until today. Finally, Il Mio Vino has landed in America and it's in English. It is only online and - best of all - it's free. Therefore, subscribe here. It covers only Italian wines and its ratings are given by a blind panel of leading Italian experts. You can't go wrong. Subscribe here.

I must also say that Gaetano Manti, the publisher of Il Mio Vino is one of our closest friends. I wish him all the best with this new venture. I, for one, would like to sell some of these great Italian wines. Shall we start? Who is in favor?

AS SEEN ON IL MIO VINO: Gustiamo's beautiful and colorful ad. You can do a search on Il Mio Vino with "Gustiamo", or, you can go directly to pages 10, 23 and 51. Products featured in this issue are: Pasta Latini, the Piennolo Tomatoes, and Antichi Uliveti EV Olive Oil.

The City Cooks Bottarga

Today, Kate is the person I love the most. She is among the first people to realize our prices are not high. What a relief! Her new newsletter, here, is about bottarga and where to buy it. She says:

A better option is Gustiamo.com, a really splendid New York (Bronx) online Italian merchant that has it for less than half of Amazon's price. 

Kate also posts a bottarga recipe in her newsletter. Cara Kate, your recipe sounds just like we do it. A suggestion: next time, try it without the tomatoes but with lemon zest and few drops of lemon juice. Outstanding!

Pasta Latini and Miracolo di San Gennaro - A Worthy Pair!

Francis Lam cooks his pasta al pomodoro with Pasta Latini and Miracolo di San Gennaro tomatoes and he writes on gourmet.com. Read here his post: Yeah, It’s Worth It.  Thank you Francis!

Interesting to read the reactions of Francis' readers in their comments to the post. Is it worth it to pay top dollars for exceptional food? We want you to try these products, taste the differrence and tell us what you think. Until february 15th Pasta Latini and Miracolo di San Gennaro are 50% off if you write in the "special instrucions" box of your shopping cart the special code "Francis sent me". Remember, we want you to try and not stock your pantry; therefore, max 2 pieces of each per order!

Tratturello Numero 1 to Obama - famous in Italy, too

Our Tratturello-numero-1-bottle-to-Obama story has become famous even in Italy and reported by blogs, there, too. Primonumero reports the scoop here, with pictures of us from the Bronx.

This story has become so big, we had to open a new category: Obama's Tratturello. You'll find all related posts, there.

Place of Origin for Produce

I didn't know that produce, now, has to labeled with its place of origin. I always wanted to know and I'll look for it, in the future. I read it on this very interesting article by Slow Foods' Sandra Mclean, here. Sandra gives tips on how to shop for produce, during the winter months when the green markets are not in full swing.

Gustiblog's Debut in the Blogosphere

It is official! Gustiblog is now a legitimate blog: It was mentioned on  MUG ! , the one newsletter we religiously read everyday. If you haven't yet, click here to receive Charlie Suisman's daily free email. It is smart, opinionated and cool.

Click here to read the post where Charlie talks about Gustiblog. It comes after The Bronx Rocks.com. How appropriate! He says:

More from the Bronx: Gustiamo, that essential north borough-based purveyor of stellar, hard-to-find Italian foods, now has a blog where you can learn about the merch, plus a lot more.

Thank you, MUG!

We Recycle - Everything

Warning to our customers: the boxes in which you are receiving your Gustiamo orders might be the result of our recycle policy. We recycle everything, now including the empty boxes from our producers. In the picture on the left, this was today's batch.

We were even thinking to use our old newspapers as filler in the boxes. On second thought, better not, for hygienic reasons. If you have any ideas re our packaging, pls email us or call us at 718 860 2949; we'll do anything it takes to save the environment.

It's Snowing in The Bronx

We get very excited when it snows. We love it. Almost as excited as when we receive a new fantastic product. When we have the two together, it's a feast.

This is Martina, in the snow, holding a bottle of the new harvest of Tratturello.

BTW, Tony Mantuano of Spiaggia in Chicago received bottle Tratturello #1 and promises he'll try to give it to Obama when he sees him. Now, the Obamas have moved to DC to get ready for the inauguration. Will he and Michelle go back to Spiaggia to celebrate Valentine's Day? Tony will give them our gift then. Care to read the Obama/Tratturello story? Click here.

If It Is Cheap, It Is Fake. Buy Olive Oil only from Trusted Vendors.

Did the Madoff saga teach anything to anybody? The ultimate moral of all this mess is: If it is too good to be true, it is not true.

A customer friend of ours told us that a well known brand (I can't say which, as I already have been threatened to be sued in the past) offered to sell him Extra Virgin Olive Oil for $7 (seven dollars) per liter.

IMPOSSIBLE. At that price you almost can't even pay the workers who pick the olives. Do you know how it is possible? It is among the biggest food scams ever. They take some nuts or rancid olives from wherever; with chemicals they obtain a fat greasy liquid; with solvents they make the liquid odorless and colorless. Then, how do you want your EV Olive Oil? Do you want it to taste like fresh cut grass? No problem, they have the right essence. Do you want it golden color? No problem, they can make it as golden as you/the market wants. In fact it is a mountan of gold in the pockets of few criminals.

If you are not an olive oil conosseur, you MUST buy your olive oil only from trusted vendors.

Mark Bittman's Fresh Start - Salad Dressing is Out

Thank you Mark Bittman, for finally joining our efforts in spreading the word. Salad dressing is a chemical product and therefore, bad for you. It's also expensive. We wrote about them in 2003, here.

In last week's article in the NYTimes, Mark Bittman says: Bottled salad dressing and marinades are the biggest rip-offs imaginable. Click here to read the article.

Thank you!