GUSTI Blog

Piero Selvaggio Reveals Our Secret and Discovers the Obscure Ingredient: Colatura di Alici

 Mike Riccetti is the author of "Houston Dining on the Cheap", the local Zagat editor and a regular contributor to "My Table". He writes frequently about food, drink and some less important topics.

He recently attended a dinner at the Valentino restaurant in Las Vegas. More than a dinner, because if you see who attended, it seems to be more of a culinary gods symposium. 

 So, he went to this dinner and heard Piero Selvaggio describing an "obscure ingredient", the colatura di alici. Selvaggio said replacing the anchovies or anchovy paste with some colatura makes for an even more enticing and nuanced Caesar Salad. It is even easier, too.

So, here you are. If you thought this was a secret between you and us, no more. Colatura is going to become the next balsamic, I'm sure. Hurry up to buy it here. We think we have the only colatura made with anchovies from Italy. If you need recipes and/or suggestions on how to use it, call us in the office at 718 860 2949. And grazie mille Mike Riccetti!

food52.com: Gustiamo's tagline is "Italy's Best Foods" and it's really true.

Food 52 is a website, a community and a contest created by Amanda and Monica. Every week they give you a new theme (it recently was meatloaf, then spinach): you submit your favorite recipe; they cook it and take pictures (BEAUTIFUL pictures); every week the community votes the best recipe; the best recipes of the year (52 weeks) will be featured in a book. Giving Amanda and Monica's experience and talent in food books writing and publishing, this 52 book is already a huge success! It is week 41, therefore you've got to hurry up if you wish to participate.

Amanda and Monica are clearly obsessed about good, authentic, artisanal foods. This is what they write of Gustiamo:

 "Gustiamo's tagline is "Italy's Best Foods" and it's really true. They scour the country for delicious products made by small, artisanal manufacturers, and their enthusiastic descriptions bear that out -- each item, each artisan, each region is celebrated with a personal story. We even love their imperious commands when it comes to cooking instructions. It's as if your very own uncompromising nonna is looking over your shoulder. - The Editors"

Amanda and Monica, thank you! Working too much, these days and not coooking. But I'll submit my recipe when food52.com chosen ingredient is bottarga. I'll contribute with my secret recipe of pasta with bottarga and I'm sure to win!!!

From Camille - A Culinary Adventure with Gustiamo - Maida Farm in Cilento

People always talk about Tuscany as one of the most beautiful places in Italy (if not the world), and while I haven't been there yet I don't doubt it. But I'd like to add to the list of beautiful places in Italy: Paestum, in Cilento, Campagnia.

After eight days in crazy, over-the-top Napoli, the Cilento countryside felt like a break from reality. Even though it was cloudy and rainy (as it has been everyday), the overwhelming majesty (while cliché, that's not an exaggeration, I promise) of the mountains and valley stretching to the coast seemed magical. Pictures really don't do it justice. Nestled in these rolling hills is Maida Farm.

 Although Francesco speaks only a tiny bit of English and I speak even less Italian, he welcomed Zac and me into his family's home and showed us generosity that, in his words, is only typical for southern Italians, but to us felt extraordinary. Through hand gestures and lots of pointing, Francesco led me on a tour of his factory and surrounding fields. He pointed out the pressure cooker where they blanch the freshly-picked vegetables, the grill where they grill artichokes (carciofi - I'll never get tired of that word!) and onions before jarring, and the machine that fills each jar with the highest-quality extra virgin olive oil. I watched his employees trim and cut artichokes in preparation for jarring.

 I saw his storage room, with all of his amazing preserves: pumpkin, sundried tomatoes, olives, beans, peppers, apple, pear and fig jam, and more. Such simple ingredients yet complexity of taste all in one jar!

It's all about capturing what's in season and preserving it so that it's enjoyable all year round. The fruits and vegetables are picked at their prime, and all are specific to the Cilento region. That day, it happened to be artichokes and onions (Camille and onions crates, left). Next season, Francesco said he will move on to tomatoes, eggplants, and other summer crops. And the freshness is obvious. I can say that with confidence, because Francesco's generosity didn't stop with a tour of his production - he also invited Zac and me into his home for lunch, dinner and breakfast. 

I know it's good when the producer himself eats his own products at every one of his family's meals! And so would I, if I had a storage room full of Maida's amazing products. I guess there's always the option of stocking up...

Camille Frazier

ps from Gustiamo - we want you to try all products by Masseria Maida. If you buy at least 3 items by Masseria Maida, we'll add a jar of yellow tomato puree, on us. Magic word (to be added in the special instruction box of your shopping cart) is "Camille". Why? Cammille loved all Francesco's products and thought the yellow tomatoes were very interesting, tasteful and perfect for a light tomato sauce. We want you to try them, too. This "promozione" is valid until April 30. Grazie.

Fine Cooking Finds Gustiamo's La Valletta from Colfiorito National Park

In the April/May issue of Fine Cooking magazine - Great Finds section:

"LaValletta organic dried beans and grains, produced by a sister and brother team on their family farm in Umbria, Italy, have a robust, nutty flavor, thanks to the rich soil in which they were grown. $8 to $13 at www.gustiamo.com"

Thanks Fine Cooking and glad you found us! Even better news for your readers and our customers: prices of La Valletta grains and legumes have DECREASED. Thanks to the good heart of the producer, better exchange rate and our desire to make you eat healthy. Remember the US Dietary Guidelines and that you have to eat 4 cups a week of these wholesome grains? You can buy them here.

From Camille - A Culinary Adventure with Gustiamo - Terra Amore & Fantasia Tomatoes

Sergio’s hospitality didn’t end with Faella – he also made sure that I had the best meal of my life! After visiting the pastificio, we drove through the surrounding towns to Santa Maria La Carita' where Sergio dropped me off at Sabatino of Terra Amore & Fantasia tomatoes’ home, where a Slow Foods meeting was in progress. As the meeting ended, notepads were whisked away and the table was set for the 7 course meal that was to come. I joined the others at the table and stared in amazement as course after course was placed in front of me. My favorite by far was the lasagna made with artichokes rather than pasta, smothered in sauce made from Sabatino’s amazing tomatoes. I could have just eaten a vat of the sauce and been very, very happy!

The meal centered around the carciofo violetto di Castellammare, a beautiful, red colored artichoke specific to the region. After I had eaten so much I couldn’t have swallowed another bite, Sabatino took me to his artichoke and tomato fields, set against a backdrop of rolling mountaintops. Although tomatoes aren’t in season so only artichokes were growing at the moment, Sabatino explained that he follows time-tested methods of alternating fields to ensure that his crops are grown sustainably with constant soil regeneration. He truly cares about the land and his product, and it shows!

I can’t thank Sergio and Sabatino enough for showing me their amazing products. I can only expect that Gustiamo’s producers I have yet to visit will be just as welcoming. There are many more amazing meals to come!

From Camille - A Culinary Adventure with Gustiamo - Legendary Pasta Faella from Gragnano soon @ Gustiamo

Gustiamo proudly announces: Pasta Faella will soon be in our warehouse!!! Camille pays a visit to the historic pastificio in Gragnano and writes her lovely journal, below.

I’ve been looking forward to visiting Faella, a pastificio located in Gragnano, a historical center of pasta production, for a month now. So when Sergio came by the hostel Sunday morning at 9 am to pick me up, I couldn’t believe I was actually on my way! Luckily, being a Sunday, the roads were relatively clear and we made it to Gragnano from Napoli in about 30 minutes. Along the way Sergio pointed out Mount Vesuvius, Capri, and the Sorrento coast. We wound through the tiny streets of the surrounding communities, including his hometown, Castellammare, before beginning the descent into Gragnano through the Valle dei Mulini (above), a ravine that makes Gragnano perfectly suited for pasta production (Gragnano was the first center of pasta production in mainland Italy, and Faella has been around for a century . Today, there are only 8 or 9 pastifici left in Gragnano, but Faella is committed to offering the same quality of pasta they always have – this is pasta with a history, something we don’t see much of in the U.S.).

Because Gragnano is at the base of the valley, between the mountains and the sea, a strong wind blows through the valley and the tiny, curving streets of the town, where the pastificio of old used to grind their semolina grain to flour and dry their pasta. Via Roma (left) is the most famous of these streets, and 50 or 60 years ago it was lined with hanging pasta. Today, due to government restrictions on hygiene, you won’t see any pasta on the street. But Gragnano still has the advantage: the water from the nearby mountains is still used and the climate of the town is well suited for pasta production.

Sergio explained the difference that the temperature makes: industrial pasta is dried at temperatures around 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit), whereas Faella dries it pasta at around 48-50 degrees (118-122 Fahrenheit). Because the temperature is so much lower, it takes a lot longer to complete the production process: around two days start to finish, and the drying can take anywhere from 20 to 50 hours depending on the length and thickness of the pasta. But the extra time is worth it – have you noticed that when you pour a box or bag of mass-produced pasta into boiling water, the first smell you get is one of the packaging it came in? (very cardboard or plastic-esque). Pasta dried at lower temperatures keeps the taste and smell of its semolina much better than pasta dried at hotter temperatures. You’ll have to try it to experience the difference!

Faella is every bit “artigianale” - while they have several machines (mostly to mix the semolina with water to form the dough), they also do a lot of the work by hand. The pastificio produces around 2,000 kilo (around 4,400 pounds) of pasta per day with around 7 employees, so while small-scale, they really invest the time and effort necessary to make the best product possible. They use trafila al bronzo (bronze plates) which gives the pasta its rough texture and they make around 40 different shapes of pasta, corte (short) and lunghe (long), many of which I’ve never before seen or heard of.

Since I know how hard it is to find anything other than industrially produced pasta in the U.S., and now that I understand the difference with artisanal pasta, I’m really looking forward to having Faella’s pasta available through Gustiamo!

Sergio’s tour of Gragnano and his pastificio was unforgettable, but that’s not even the end of my day – there’s an 7 course meal to tell you about and a visit with Sabatino of Terra Amore & Fantasia! To be continued...

Camille Frazier

From Camille - A Culinary Adventure with Gustiamo - Buongiorno from Italia!

I'm happy to report that I have safely arrived in Napoli! My boyfriend, Zac, and I will be spending a week at Hostel of the Sun, which I already love. The staff are so nice and we've met so many interesting people from around the world. We're staying here for an entire week, so I'm sure there will be many more people to meet and many more local favorites to visit.

My first two days in Italia have been amazing but completely exhausting. After traveling for over 24 hours, I was asleep by 9 pm. But after 12 hours of sleep I had more than enough energy to visit Napoli's Centro Storico, which was just as frantic and awe-inspiring as I'd hoped.

Zac and I haven't been here long and already I don't want to leave! I've wanted to come to Napoli since I was young for many reasons: the food, the sights, the chaos, and I am NOT disappointed. There's nothing I love more than pizza, so of course I'm overwhelmed by the number of pizzerias we pass - I wish I could try every one! And the sfogliatella (although hard to pronounce) are amazing.

Gustiamo has many producers in the region and I definitely understand why. The ingredients are pure, unadulterated and delicious. I'm looking forward to my visit with Sergio Cinque at Pastificio Faella, Enzo at Nettuno, Franco Vastola at Maida Farm, and Francesco Travaglini at Parco dei Buoi.

 We have many more sights to visit and many more meals to experience, so I'm sure you'll hear from me again shortly!

Buonanotte from Napoli!

Camille Frazier