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A Happy, Healthy 2010!
Time to make resolutions and budgets, do some creative thinking, explore new ideas, use our time more efficiently and .... make decisions. This GustiBlog is a lot of fun to write but it also takes a lot of time. More often than not, I feel I write in the void, not in the cloud, which is not a good feeling. Time to take a break! Of course, in the meantime, you can still learn about our new products and special offers on Gustiamo.com, our facebook page and/or on twitter.
We are obsessed with recycling and those who aren't should be.
In Italy, when i was a kid, I do remember my parents receiving boxes where the padding was old newspapers - mainly Corriere dello Sport. We have so many newspapers in our homes... would it be so bad to use them as filling in our boxes? Perhaps only with the orders with glass bottles and jars? 2 good things would happen:
- we'll use the old newspapers and less fancy and costly kraft paper and
- we'll make you fluent in Italian.
Giacomo Di Mattia is not your ordinary accountant. Since I was an accountant, also, in my prior life here and in Italy, I know what I am talking about. First of all, he is good looking. More important, he is fun. Much more important, he is quick and very knowledgable. Giacomo came to visit us the other day (left, already hard at work at my computer) and in two hours, we discussed most of our accounting and tax issues. It was great to receive suggestions from somebody who looks at things with a fresh eye, has a positive approach and business acumen. When he left, I sent my friend Giuseppe Brusa, senior partner at GC Consultants and Giacomo's boss, a thank you note for having sent Giacomo our way.
Ah... and did I mention Giacomo's exquisite taste in food? He loves our food and on the telephone, after finishing discussing our accounting of foreign currency transactions, he gave me some wonderful feed back about the two products he had tried so far: the carnaroli rice and the sottolio squash by Maida Farm: he said he made his best risotto and he opened the jar of squash and devoured it. A good beginning for a long and successful business relationship.
It is common to hire people to post comments on blogs, forum and the likes. I certainly don't disagree with the practice. We are all so busy... who can keep up with what is going on out there? But if you do hire somebody, you should make sure they know what they are doing and you should monitor their job.
The other day, there was a comment on this blog to an old post about pasta with colatura. We originally wrote the post because we were excited about how good this dish is and how easy it is to make. (In fact, I will serve pasta with colatura tomorrow night, Christmas Eve.) We tell you and, hopefully, you buy this great product from us.
A couple of days ago, three months after the original post, Jennifer Blag (fake name) wrote the following comment:
"You can buy Colatura for $XX (about 12 oz.) at XXXX (company's name). You can find them online. My shipment just arrived! :)"
Jennifer Blag is not a frequenter of this Gustiblog and XXXX is a friendly competitor to whom we supply certain products we import, at wholesale prices. This is the first time I have ever deleted a comment. I don't fear competition but I didn't want to embarrass the merchant!
These are the final days of the Holiday rush at Gustiamo Gift Central. It's all concentrated in very few days as everybody in the business knows. No matter how well you plan, it's always very stressful. Shipments are coming from Italy; FDA drives us nuts; gift crates and boxes need to be prepared to perfection; orders to be billed, charged and fulfilled; little crises here and there; coordinating the work of the people in the warehouse and in the office; dealing with customers who prefer to place their orders on the phone and demand unlimited attention and explanation of the whole catalog; ordinary issues which, giving the bigger volumes, are multiplied accordingly. I am amazed! Anne does all the above and much much more with the utmost care, patience and intelligence. Her sense of organization is impeccable. Of course, she is lovingly assisted by her great team, ie. Anne's boys, from left: Antonio, Ben, Gerard and Kunle. Brava Anne. You are the best!
We are HAPPY TO REPORT the Dried Figs from Cilento were cleared by FDA this morning at 8:52 am. You can place your order now!
Read in this previous post why they were detained and why we were in so much pain. A "minor labeling violation" which took 75 days to clear only as a result of our daily emails and telephone calls to various inspectors in various cities. Finally, we received the Go Ahead and you too (not only the FDA inspectors) can taste this incredible treat.
These figs have a dense white pulp that is extra sweet, more tender and fine seeded than the coarse Turkish, Greek or Calabrian figs one usually finds in the market. Stuffed with almonds, soaked in rum and fig mollasses with citrus peel and raisins, they are gift wrapped in fig leaves. The packaging is artistic, the scent and flavor of the figs irrestible. Beautiful to eat or to give, this is a delicacy you won't want to miss.
We love this magazine and always read and use it, as our mothers did, and do, in Italy. In fact, La Cucina Italiana magazine is an offshoot of the Italian "La Cucina Italiana", which is the oldest cooking magazine in Italy (in the world?), being published since 1929. If you went in our mothers' kitchens you would see the full collection proudly displayed in their kitchen or nearby, somewhere convenient where it could be easily and constantly consulted.
We do the same in our kitchens in America. We really use it. For example, I saw a recipe for "sformato di cavolfiore" in its November issue. Now, I make it all the time, including last week for our Gustiamo Holiday party. It's not too quick, but it is easy, delicious and looks like a real chef cooked it. We want you to enjoy the magazine, too and struck a special deal with our friends who run it. If you place an order over $80, you will receive a FREE yearly (8 issues) subscription to the magazine, compliments of Gustiamo and our friends of the magazine of La Cucina Italiana. You must tell us you want the subscription, though. Pls, write in the special instruction of your shopping cart "Cucina".
As an added bonus, HERE is the my recipe of the "sformato di cavolfiore" and artistic photograph of end result. I wrote it here for my own benefit, too. My copy of the page with the recipe is so stained and greased, I can hardly read it anymore. Make it, ask questions... you'll be amazed how good it is!
A cozy little restaurant in the middle of nowhere, or at least it seems so if you are not among the cool people who live in Brooklyn - Fort Green, to be precise. Roman's is the most recent idea of Andrew Tarlow, of famed Marlow and Sons. It is so recent, it does not even have a sign outside the restaurant. It's like you are going to a private club. When you arrive, what a lovely warm welcome and professional service you get from Sandy and Justine (picture below)!
A great menu of few choices is a testament to less is more - Gustiamo's mantra, too.
Chef David Gould, in the middle in the picture above, changes the menu every day and executes it to perfection. We know, because we tasted everything. The tortellini filled with chicken and spinach were sublime. My favorite among the favorites was a dish of bucatini with anchovies and bread crumbs, so crispy and tasty. Dave says that the secret is to heat them with olive oil and some garlic. David, correct? It is bread crumbs to a higher level. Please, go to Roman's. You'll love it too. Bravo David.
Casa Lombardi not only uses basil genuinely from Liguria - it's particularly the famous basil from Prà (a small village on the southwestern outskirts of Genova). Prepared with infinite passion and expertise by Francesco and Lorenzo Lombardi, who have succeeded in combining the classic ingredients – basil, of course, but also extra virgin olive oil, pine nuts, garlic, Parmigiano and Pecorino Romano – this condiment has an arresting aroma that will not only delight your senses, but prove hauntingly persistent in your memory.
Moreover, making pasta with this pesto sauce is really simple. Cook and drain the pasta, put in back in the pot, pour in the sauce, add some water from the pasta to taste, stir and you're done! A jar is good for 4 people.
Now, the official and formal commercial: If you want to use the perfect pasta shape for pesto, you might like to try Trenette by Latini, made in the Marche region by Carlo and Carla Latini.
