The packaging of Pasta Martelli is particularly visible. It puts you in a good mood just to look at it on the shelves of your specialty store, or better yet, in your pantry! It puts you in an even better mood, when you realize whatever you make with it (even add just olive oil - but it MUST be good!), it's going to be a great dinner!
The package of Pasta Martelli says it all: Famiglia di Pastai, since 1926. For over 80 years, the Martellis have been making pasta in Lari, a medieval village perched on a hill, near Pisa, in Toscana.
So, only family members work in the "Pastificio". How exceptional is that??? I wouldn't last one day with my family! I talk to the Martellis very often and see them regularly in Lari or wherever... Last time I saw Dino, the patriarch, Lucia, his wife and their beautiful daughter Laura in Firenze, during the Taste food show. They really seem to love each other!!! There must be a secret. It would be great if they would share it.
They do share the secret of their incredible pasta, though, in a lovely, short and informative video (in Italian). The video is at the end of this post and it explains that theirs is a traditional and artisanal "pastificio" and therefore they make ONLY 4 shapes of pasta. They make pasta as it was made fifty years ago: using the best wheats; bronze dies; and giving particular attention to the most delicate phase of production, the natural drying process. Why is it so important? Dino explains that it gives more taste to the pasta!!! Try it to believe it!!!
Look at the video below, even if you don't speak Italian. You will see the beautiful village of Lari, the castle on top of the village and the "pastificio' across the street (street? what street? path.) from the castle. What Dino does not say, because he is too humble, is a consideration that I made the first time I went to see them, many years ago. I love the Martellis not only because they make an exceptional product. I love them because they contribute to the balance of the social and architectural structure of the village. If the Pastificio were no longer there, the old building in which it is located, will immediately be converted into a commercial mega store, or a bank, or some fancy offices. And we don't want that! Now, you can watch the video! Buy Martelli pasta and long life to the Martelli family!!!
Do you think we are competitive? You bet!!! With these products, we think we are the best and we want the world to know!
After the Piennolo Tomatoes went to the SOFI, now it's the oils that are going to California, to the Los Angeles County Fair International Extra Virgin Oil Competition. This competition started 12 years ago with only 50 olive oils, mainly from California. Now approximately 500 olive oils participate from all over the world. Of course, California is still very well represented (30%), but the oils from Italy (20%) and from Spain (13%) are also relevant. It is curious to see that oils from France were only 6, last year.
At Easter you MUST have Colomba Pasquale. It's a sweet bread, moist and luscious. Ours is baked by master pastry chef Luigi Biasetto in Padova. It is patiently made with mother yeast, stone milled flour, fresh eggs, fresh butter, bits of Sicilian candied orange and almonds from Noto. A bite melts in your mouth, gradually letting you taste each of the superb ingredients. Luigi baked it last week, and it has just arrived. I just read this article, where Biasetto's is listed among the best artisanal Colomba in Italy. And the most expensive, at €35 each!!! We sell it at $60, which is less than our landed cost (no boat, for this colomba, only first class air). Why should you buy it, if it's the most expensive in America??? Because it is the best Colomba you can find in the world!!!
Francesco made the plaque out of a piece of wood that came from a centuries old olive tree that fell last winter during a storm. When you say recycle! The plaque will leave today and it will be very soon on Spiaggia's wall.
It's a beautiful story, the only flaw here is that it should have left 3 weeks ago. So sorry!!! To pay amends, let's do this: you go to Spiaggia, you have a beautiful dinner, you take a picture of the plaque, you send us the picture, we send you 3 bottles of Il Tratturello. Ok???
Pasta Latini made with Taganrog wheat is FINALLY back, after a worldwide absence of two years!!! Why this long? This wheat is very delicate and did not want to grow in 2008 and 2009. You cannot believe how painful it has been to receive the complaints of so many American fans who were left hungry for such a long time. No other pasta maker uses Taganrog wheat and, once you try it, you become addicted!!! You can order Latini Pasta Taganrog, the one and only pasta made with Taganrog wheat here.
This wheat was originally cultivated in Russia and it takes its name from the town of the same name, a port on the Sea of Azov. From here, this wheat was shipped all over the world, including, of course, Italy. Interesting to learn that in the 13th century, Taganrog was a colony of the Maritime Republic of Pisa.
Six centuries later, legend has it that a sailor named Giuseppe Garibaldi made frequent voyages to Taganrog to load cargoes of this wheat for the Italian market. While there, Garibaldi met Giambattista Cuneo, a sailor from Liguria who inducted him into the revolutionary Young Italy movement that launched Garibaldi in his role as a hero of the unification of Italy.
The fact that the Latinis were able to resume the production of Taganrog pasta in the exact year when Italy celebrates its 150th birthday is a wonderful coincidence that makes us feel very hopeful that this pasta will have an enormous success!
Long life to Italy, long life to Taganrog Pasta!!! And thank you Carlo and Carla Latini for making us dream, again!
Another year, another Fancy Food Show. What's new? Two things this year: it will take place in Washington DC, instead of NYC; and Gustiamo will not go. But Gustiamo's Piennolo Tomatoes will be there as a candidate for the Best Product of the year, the SOFI competion,, whose results will be announced at the Fancy Food Show on July 12th. We just sent a jar of Piennolo Tomatoes to NASFT, the organization that puts up the SOFI awards, and from now until the 12th of July, we will pray and cross our fingers. Do the same with us, pls. It might help!
If the judges accept that there is a life beyond "local", we think these tomatoes should win. Why? The New York Times likes them; They are the MUST ingredient (together with San Marzanos) for the authentic Pizza Napoletana; They are made by Casa Barone, an organic farm on Mount Vesuvio; They are a species of tomato in danger of extinction, protected by a Slow Food Presidium; No irrigation is used to grow them; If the farm did not employ many workers, many more people would join the camorra; The foot print to bring these tomatoes to the Bronx by boat is equivalent to a trip from the west coast. But, really, WHY should they win? They are very very good!!!
Verona will host Vinitaly and SOL (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) trade shows from April 7th to the 11th. If you see fewer people around, it is because everybody is in Italy, these days. What's new this year? Gambero Rosso, famous for publishing the "Guida ai Vini d'Italia" where the wines are star rated with "bicchieri" (glasses), the "3 bicchieri" being the highest, this year will publish its FIRST "Guida agli Oli d'Italia" where the stars are "foglie" (leaves) and the "3 foglie" is the maximum.
We are very pleased to announce that the following EV Olive Oils received the "3 foglie" by Gambero Rosso: - La Quagliera, made by Prisca Montani in Abbruzzo; - Colle Nobile, made by Giorgio Tonti in the Marche Region; - Il Tratturello, made by Francesco Travaglini in Molise. Particular mention goes to Francesco Travaglini's Il Tratturello, since this is the ONLY EV Olive Oil with "3 foglie" from the Molise region. Bravissimi Tutti!!! If you are in Verona, go see Francesco, Giorgio and Prisca and give them a big 5 from us. If you are in America, you can buy their olive oils, here!!!
I just had my second spiritual experience in a restaurant, after Le Calandre, but this one is not worth a detour because it's located in the center of Florence! So, you have it, if you go to Italy, of course you go to Florence! No need to detour. It is called Ora D'Aria, literally, an hour of air... but it means much more in Italian. Read the explanation, here, on the restaurant's website. Chef Marco Stabile looks young, but maybe he is not. Read his resume. How can he have done all these things, already? And his resume does not even include his latest ongoing project of opening an Italian restaurant in Miami!
I was in my hotel room in Florence, trying not to collapse after 10 hours on my feet at the Taste Show. My good friend and great photographer, Giuseppe Onorati, calls me at 9pm and asks me to join him for dinner. I said, only to keep you company, I'm exhausted, I can't look at food anymore, I'll come only for the first course and then I'll leave. Last Famous Words!!! We ate all the tasting menu, including desserts, drank several kinds of wines and were the last ones to leave! This says it all!!! Marco Stabile is a great chef. He has real appreciation and passion for artisanal ingredients and knows how to use them in the most innovative way. You must go! It will be a great moment when his restaurant opens in America. Then, Miami will finally become worth a detour! Bravo Marco e grazie mille!!!
