GUSTI Blog

Sant'Eustachio Coffee - On NASFT Newsletter

As seen on Nasft - Specialty Foods' NEWS:

Whole Foods Markets is now stocking Gustiamo's Inc. wood-roasted Sant'Eustachio Coffee from Rome in its northeast stores.

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Whole Foods Market the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods is now stocking Gustiamo’s Inc. Sant’Eustachio Coffee from Rome in its North East stores making the wood roasted iconic Roman coffee widely available to its American fans.

Sant’Eustachio coffee is roasted on the premises of the omonymous Caffe’ in Rome, steps away from the Pantheon, the destination of choice for any serious coffee lover in the know since 1938.

Roberto Ricci, owner of Sant’Eustachio Caffe’, personally selects the 100% Arabica beans traveling the world in search of the best coffee plantations. The highest quality beans and the gentle roasting, on a machine fed by wood logs, allow for an exceptionally smooth coffee, with no trace of acidity and low in caffeine content, therefore also ideal for cappuccino.

Sant’Eustachio selection is available at Whole Foods Market North East stores and at Gustiamo, Inc. in

-         Espresso

-         All Purpose Ground

-         Whole Beans

-         Decaffeinated Ground

DaniCoop - On NASFT Newsletter

As seen on Nasft - Specialty Foods' NEWS:

Gustiamo, Inc. is newly importing DOP San Marzano tomatoes from Agro Nocerino Sarnese by DANIcoop. These are varieties grown from a cooperative of 200 farmers with the mission to preserve the quality and authenticity of the San Marzano tomato.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

GUSTIAMO LAUNCHES NEWEST TOMATO IMPORT TO AMERICA: DOP SAN MARZANO TOMATOES FROM AGRO NOCERINO SARNESE BY DANICOOP – THE REAL THING

Gustiamo, Inc. - Italy’s Best Foods - importer and distributor of authentic Italian foods in America introduces the latest addition to its ever growing tomato family: DOP San Marzano tomatoes from Agro Nocerino Sarnese by DANIcoop.

The tomatoes are grown in the DOP certified area for San Marzano in Italy, the agro Nocerino-Sarnese, in the Sarno Valley, near Naples, in the minerally rich soil of Mount Vesuvius and the Sarno River. The ecotype San Marzano is known as the "red gold" of this area of Italy.

While “San Marzano style” tomatoes are readily available in America, the production of authentic San Marzano tomatoes is extremely limited and only a small percentage of it makes it outside Italy. Gustiamo sources DOP San Marzano tomatoes directly from the San Marzano Consortium on the Agro Nocerino Sarnese, a cooperative of 200 passionate and knowledgeable farmers with the mission to preserve the quality and authenticity of the world famous San Marzano tomato.

Listed in the Slow Food Presidia, DANIcoop tomatoes’ intrinsic San Marzano characteristics - distinctive sweet taste, very low acidity, rich flesh and bright red color - are enhanced by the cooperative century old cultivation methods such as manual spring water irrigation and hand-picking at harvest from carefully tended tomato plants.

Pamela Sheldon Johns' New Book, Cucina Povera

"Cucina Povera", or Peasant Cooking, is out.

Is this perfect timing or what? This is the time when we are all feeling poorer, we are revisiting our finances and our food shopping priorities.

Pamela Sheldon Johns is the author of several great books about Italian food and food artisans, including the lovely book "Balsamico!".

In "Cucina Povera", she teaches you how to cook simply with few but healthy ingredients and how to use all your food leftovers.

There are many Tuscan recipes in the book (farro and beans and olive oil, of course), but also lovely stories of villages and people.

I loved the story of Pitigliano, in the South of Tuscany, a hill town where religious tolerance allowed a Jewish Community to grow and prosper. Not any more, unfortunately, but Pamela's story prompted me to put Pitigliano on my agenda for when I am next in Italy.

The book has nice, vintage (looking?) photographs.

Pamela is in America, these days, to present her new book. We met her in Sara Jenkins' restaurant, Porsena. We learned how to make pici and asked her about the book, in which Gustiamo is mentioned as a source of artisanal Italian food in America. (Click on arrow below to watch the interview.) Good luck, Pamela. 

Gustiamo, Molto Batali's Favorite Online Source!!!

As the expression goes, Mario Batali put his foot in his mouth as his comment about bankers/Hitler/Stalin traveled the world. Of course, he took it back. Bravo. To me, the incident is over.

However, when it comes to food, for us Mario is the King and his opinion is very important. For example, in his new book, "Molto Batali",  the title is important; after Molto Mario, Mario here, Mario there, this new book is signed with Mario's last name. It makes it more official, like his Opera Omnia. Everything he knows, the benefit of all those years of hard work, goes into this book, including his selection of Italian Food Sources. In the list, Mario writes: "MY FAVORITE (capital letters are mine) online source for all great things Italian." "Molto Batali, simple family meals from my home to yours" is divided into the twelve months of the calendar year and offers recipes for meals meant for sharing and celebrating with family and friends. Bravo Mario! And Grazie Mille!

Pianogrillo and Vicopisano EV Olive Oils in the NYTimes!

Thanks to Julia Moskin for inviting Gustiamo to the NYTimes to talk about EV Olive Oils. Very exciting! And for calling us "The Experts". Priceless!

This is an excerpt of Julia's article:

"ALONG with laboratory analysis, testing olive oil still involves human taste. To learn how the experts do it, the Dining section asked Martina Rossi Kenworthy, an importer, and her colleague Stefano Noceti, a certified master taster in Italy, to guide a blind tasting of extra virgin oils, including some from their warehouse, supermarket brands and California products. Even blind, they were able to pick out the most expensive oils (Pianogrillo from Sicily, $34.75, and Vicopisano from Tuscany, $43; all prices are for half-liter bottles). Those had an undeniable "liveliness" - a tingly acidity, balancing out the richness of oil - that made them complex and delicious... All those oils had some of the throat-burning quality that reveals the presence of polyphenols, antioxidants that make olive oil healthful... Mr. Noceti said that some oils produced for the American market are purposefully made smooth: we are perceived as timid when it comes to olive oil..."

Do not worry, Gustiamo's producers are so small they wouldn't even dream of a different production for the "international and/or American" market. Their EV Olive Oil is always the same and the best anywhere in the world.

Italian EV Olive Oils - The Best, Even Blind!

When we were invited by the NYTimes for a demonstration of how to taste an EV olive oil and for a blind tasting of oils, we were extremely proud and excited. Yes, we know a lot about EV Olive Oils; we can talk about olive oils forever! Our Stefano is a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Science, near Torino. He talks about olive oils and poliphenols and perossids to anybody who will listen.

As the excitement sank in, we started to panic! A blind tasting? A blind tasting is tricky!  We never did a blind tasting before, let alone in the office of the NYTimes, in front of such icons as Florence Fabricant and Julia Moskin!!! What if an industrial olive oil or a Californian olive oil tasted better (for whatever reason) than the artisanal Italian oils that Gustiamo so proudly represents in America?

NO FEAR! The best olive oils spoke loud and clear to "The Experts" palates (as the NYTimes now calls us - excuse me!!!) and those of  our friends at the NYTimes. Julia Moskin wrote: "Those (The Italian oils) had an undeniable "liveliness ... complex and delicious..."

There was no doubt. Two thousand plus years of olive oil production in Italy, the country's various microclimates and different soils, the passion of our farmers... make a huge difference. No fear of Italy being surpassed by any other country, in terms of the quality of its EV Olive Oil...at least for another couple thousand of years!

Pesto Rossi, A Pesto With An Attitude!

Gareth Jones is passionate about good food and calls himself "The Last of the Independents", meaning he has a free tongue and speaks his mind and only his mind, which is incorruptible. That's why Gustiamo and Gareth are friends for many years. Gareth lives in the UK and, among ohter things, he writes for Spectator. What is Spectator? Gareth explains to me: "If you don't know, Spectator would be our New Yorker or Esquire, but with more politics and attitude." That is perfect for us! And for Pesto Rossi, one of our most" with attitude" products. In fact, in his last article, The Genovese Way, in Spectator, Gareth makes Pesto Rossi famous in the UK via Gustiamo. In the same article, he chastizes ordinary supermarket pesto.

Gareth starts the article with: "What ever happened to real pesto? There shouldn't be anyother kind, but the shops have all swooped on a trend and genuine pesto got trampled near to death in the rush... Basil has a sensitive soul - it blackens when cut with a blade - hence, should only be torn and added at the last minute to a dish. So why immerse it in an acid bath in a long life jar? All in the name of greedy profit...". You must read the article, it has some very interesting points; for example, when Gareth implores you to read the ingredients of that cheap jar you bought from your supermarket: "Read the ingredients panel on manufactured pesto and you'll find cashew nuts, cashew nut flour, walnuts, vegetable oil, sunflower oil, potato starch, acidity regulator, vinegar, potato starch, Pecorino Romano and plenty more - some on sale even more cynically have tiny traces of token 'right ingredients' and then the rest of the muck and E's besides."

Then Gustiamo comes to inspire: "With the right ingredients you can make as real a Pesto in Greenwich (Gareth means UK, it could be CT) as you could in Genoa.  Sure,the ingredients are expensive, but you use small amounts for a big finish. That typifies the classy Italian kitchen for me. See more from my friends Gustiamo in New York - they sell a fresh Genovese pesto from Roberto Panizza which first went on sale back in 1947 - Roberto's uses two extra ingredients - passion and integrity. Bravo Roberto." And BRAVISSIMO Gareth, too. Thank you very much!!!

Colatura di Alici is the New Balsamico!!!

Less than a month after celebrity chef Lidia Bastianich revealed to the Wall Street Journal that Colatura di Alici was her magic ingredient, another HUGE food authority, Chef Michael White,  praises Colatura di Alici and says to the same WSJ (what kind coincidence is that???):

"In my kitchen, I need to have Colatura di Alici, which is anchovy juice that comes from Cetara. I hate to use this word, but it's one of these 'umami' foods. It has an all-encompassing flavor profile, amazing in soups or tomato sauce."

At Gustiamo, we really LOVE Colatura and part of me wishes Colatura becomes the new balsamico in America. On the other hand, part of me wishes not. In fact, with fame, a beautiful product like

Aceto Balsamico has become a disgusting sweet colored liquid in grocery stores and supermarket shelves. Conclusion: Let's keep Colatura a secret. Agree???

Thank you Michael J. White for saying to The Wall Street Journal that YOU NEED TO HAVE COLATURA D'ALICI IN YOUR KITCHEN!!! After Lidia Bastianich revealed to the same paper that Colatura is her MAGIC ingredient, this is another wonderful endorsement!!!

Are you a chef and would like know more about Colatura? Call our office and talk Stefano at 718 860 2949!

Colatura, Lidia's Magic Ingredient!!!

Last Saturday, Lidia Bastianich told the Wall Street Journal that Colatura is her magic ingredient for the Summer! We are so excited!!! This is what she said:

"Every summer, I reach for Colatura di Alici, an ingredient that's been used in Italy for centuries. It's the juice that drains out of anchovies salted in a barrel. It has the effect of umami and it brings out flavor in everything you do.

I love it on tomatoes instead of salt with olive oil. I also use it in sauces, just to accent. When I do a roast lamb or chicken, at the end I just drizzle a little Colatura on it and brush it on."

We are so happy America is discovering our very own Italian umami! At Gustiamo, Colatura from Cetara by Nettuno has always been our ace up the sleeve when we want to add a flavor shot to ANYTHING. Don’t miss the buzz, colatura will become your pantry’s new little black dress.

Gustiamo, Judith Klinger and Vook, a Food Revolution!!!

Do you know what Vook is? I had no idea (and no particular interest in learning), until our friend Judith Klinger told us she was publishing a Vook app about cooking italian. She wanted to involve Gustiamo, purveyor of Italy's Best Foods.

If we are involved in anything, we need to know exactly what we are getting ourselves into! I was in the dark, until I read this article in the NYTimes from which I learned that Vook is a combination of video and text (V for video and OOK for book - got it?), mostly used for "How To" programs. The writer of the article mainly uses Vooks for his home sessions of Pilates. When, on the floor, with his iPhone next to him, he can read the explanation of why he is doing a certain movement and what is happening to the muscles involved, and, at the same time, without changing program, on the same page, he can also watch a video of the best Pilates instructor doing the same excercise. How brilliant!

Fast forward, Cooking Simply: the Italian Way was published last week!!! It's a Vook app available for iPad, iPod & iPhone. Soon, it will be available as an eBook, too.

If you, like me, do not own an Apple device, you can go directly to the Vook website and read and watch how Judith cooks simply, the Italian way!

What is Gustiamo's involvement in all this? Gustiamo prepared a Vook Starter Basket for Judith's Vook revolution, which allows you to buy all you need to cook wonderful and easy Italian meals with a single click of the mouse. Another revolution! Grazie, Judith and good luck with your project!!!