Suitcases stuffed with Gustiamo bounty, it was time for
me to return home to
San Francisco; my short stay in New York City had come to an end. Now
every time I savor the flavors of Italy, via the Bronx, I smile with
sweet memories.
Yesterday I unwrapped
packages of lentils and beans from La Valletta because I felt the overwhelming
need for a soup to warm me up. A simple
soak for 1 hour makes these legumes very convenient, and in no time I had my
soup simmering! Tis the season for
feeling the love of the soup. And making
a big batch for the week is the best way to beat those moments when I am too
tired to cook!
As icing on the cake, I then discovered that lentils are
eaten on New Year's Day in Italy as good luck! Here's to a very delicious, and fortunate, 2013!!
Lunch at Gustiamo is a magical event. The whole team gathers around the table for a moment of pause from the warehouse rush,
and the menu changes every day.
I don't know about you but I love leftovers, especially leftovers from Italians' kitchens. Every day is a surprise and this is an excellent way for me to taste-test more Gustiamo
products: Beatrice's special recipe for farro and beans (with secret
ingredient Colatura!), Martina's chickpeas and risotto, Pianogrillo oil on our
salads, Millefiori honey and Caffe Sicilia jam on the bread, Fiore di Sale
on almost everything, and yesterday I got to try the Dried Figs
from Cilento for the first time. These
figs have been flying out of the warehouse because they make the perfect holiday gift. I have to get one for my grandmother before they are all gone!
Our lunches
are always a well-rounded meal, "certo!", therefore dessert is included.
Today Beatrice treated us to her crostata baked with Gianduja Chocolate Hazelnut spread. Gustiamo products are not only delicious but versatile too! To conclude our meal, Stefano makes a batch
of Sant'Eustachio coffee to help us get back to work, the
aroma warming the chill of the warehouse in winter. Now, I'm about to enjoy my first sip.
1. EVOO should taste like a fresh squeezed olive. If you are not sure what that means, we suggest you visit Italy in early fall for some good old-fashion olive squeezing.
2. The best EVOOs have a great smell. ALWAYS sniff your olive oil. We suggest you sniff your oil from a shot glass. Like wine, great EVOO has an identifiable fragrance and perfume which may make you think of fresh cut grass, tomato plant leaves and/or green almonds.
3. Great EVOO develops nuances in your mouth. The intensity of the oil will change in your mouth and identifiable flavors, different from those you detected on the nose, will come out.
4. EVOO should leave your mouth clean. After you swallow a teaspoon of EVOO, your mouth should not be left greasy.
5. The best EVOO is peppery. Depending on the olive variety, an EVOO will leave some degree of spice in the back of your throat. You may even cough. This is a good sign. Pepperiness is an obvious indicator of polyphenols and antioxidants.
I'm just going to say
it, Stefano is a Genovese-Brooklyn-Hipster. Stefano's story of how he ended up
in the food biz is a bit incongruous, but that only adds to his hipster
style.
After Stefano graduated from Law School in Genova, he took off to
push artisanal Italian foods throughout Brooklyn, New York and the entire USA.
Every day Stefano takes the 2 train, or the 5 train, or some combination of the
two as he traverses three boroughs to get to work.
He uses the
differences between Brooklyn and Manhattan as a metaphor for things in his
daily life. For example, if you were to ask Stefano, "How would you
describe the difference between the Palermitan resturants Zia Pina and Osteria
del Vespri?" he might say, "Well, the difference is much like the
distinction between Brooklyn and Manhattan" (Zia Pina being Brooklyn, of
course).
Another part of Stefano's hipster image is defiantly his new
fancy olive oil tasting glasses. One of the highlight moments
from my 3 weeks in the Gustiamo warehouse was tasting Sicilian EV Olive Oil out of
these glasses with Stefano. We compared an EV Olive Oil that I had brought with
me from Sicily to Gustiamo's Sicilian Pianogrillo. No
comparison. I was amazed that last seasons EV Olive Oil could be so flavorful.
The past few weeks have been exciting for our Gustiamo team members. It all started when Stefano's story was featured on the University of Gastronomic Sciences Alumni page. Then, when Beatrice's recipe for Risotto ai Funghi Porcini was included in the New York Times collection of 50 best family recipes, we decided that the rest of us wanted to be in the spotlight and we kicked off Danielle's Gustiamo People Series.
Beatrice gets the most improved award for her outstanding work
and mastering of Instagram during the 3 weeks I spent in the Gustiamo warehouse. The first few days of
incorporating Instagram into Gustiamo's social media routine were not easy for
Beatrice. But she quickly went from, "Danielle, sono nel panico,"
while to staring in terror at her iphone; to "Danielle, mi sono scatenata!"
or "I unleashed on Insatgram."
This is what
she declared the morning she posted "a bajillion" Caffe'
Sicilia crostata photos on Instagram, before bringing said crostata into
the warehouse for additional
photographing. Brava Beatrice! Really though, I should not be surprised.
Beatrice knows more about using Typepad, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube better than most
20-somethings I know.
Martina is a woman after my own heart. She loves to eat.
I
arrived in the Gustiamo warehouse around the same time that Martina returned
from a trip to Italy. The first thing that Martina did after
her home-coming was to purchase 2 huge cases of Gustiamo good-stuff to
stock her kitchen. As if she hadn't gotten enough of Italy's best while in
Italy!
The day after she got in from Italy, soon after shaking my hand,
she announced "Ho fame". We ate lunch early that day.
Martina also craves chocolate. Sometimes after our family-style lunch she
would ask the question on everyone's mind, well at least on my mind; "is
there anything sweet to eat?" Once I saw her take a tiny espresso spoon,
spoonful of Nero d'Avola wine jelly to satisfy her
desire for something sweet... I'm not going to lie, I wanted to do the same.
But who am I kidding, all of us here at Gustiamo love to eat; that is kind of
the point.
What is especially remarkable about Martina is how
she catalogues the things she eats in her mind and cross references them
with the foodie blogoshpere. For example, during a typical lunch at Gustiamo
Martina might say "pass the farro salad
per favore... speaking of farro I am looking forward to making that Farro and
parmesan pie from Chef Giovanna at Luce in Portland, it was
featured earlier this week in on Bon Appetit".
Frances is the Renaissance woman of Gustiamo. The kind
of person every office needs. If you have a problem, she has a solution. First
to arrive, last to leave, always boasting a positive attitude. The day I began
my 3 week stay at the Gustiamo warehouse, Frances was the one who gave me directions to West Farms
Road over the phone from the 174th St. Subway stop. When I arrived she
oriented me with all the must-know tips and tricks at Gustiamo, like how the
bathroom door says "out of order" even though it isn't. She
also briefed me with helpful mnemonic devices for remembering product
organization and codes. I will never forget the name of our 400 gram tin
of tomatoes with the coquettish Italian woman in the 1950's dress
after Frances told me "See this cute girl, she reminds me of the word
'Love' because guys must love here, in Spanish it is 'Amor', and
there you go, Terra Amore & Fantasia tomatoes."
Frances
speaks Spanish, but she totally had me fooled into thinking that she spoke Italian! During our
first warehouse tour I admired her Italian
pronunciation, "Pasta by Marrrrtelli", "Torrrrrone" rolling her R's perfectly. But she
gave herself away when we got to to the organic honey. She
said that with sweets we use the code "DOL" for "dulce."
Speaking of torrone, Frances loves it. She had me really laughing when she told
me that she had given the Caffe' Sicilia Almond torrone to
her husband for his birthday and then tried to eat it herself.
I spent the last days
of August and the first days of September working and eating in the Gustiamo warehouse.
My three weeks spent in the Bronx with team Gustiamo were not just
rewarding and educational; they were very simply, a pleasure.
They were
such a pleasure, not because of all the amazing food I ate (ok not only),
but really because of the wonderful people I was privileged to work
with.
In the following "Gustiamo People" series I'll share a snapshot of the people behind Italy's Best Foods. (In the picture, from left: Martina, me-Danielle, Stefano, Frances, Elliott, Bernardo and Beatrice.)
Let me start here with Bernardo:
Before I knew anything else about Bernardo, I knew that he
was the Hip Hop King (see video, below). But during my 3 weeks spent in the warehouse, I came to
realize that this King wears 2 crowns. Bernardo is also Gustiamo's Warehouse
King. The week I arrived, Bernardo was out of the office and I could tell that
things just weren't the same without him.
Bernardo is a guy with a big smile
and a big presence but manages the warehouse very peacefully and does a great job
keeping the place drama free. Although he says he doesn't cook, he loves the
things that we cook, and he has a soft spot for Beatrice's La Valletta farro salads.
I think his inner-cook may start to come out sooner or later; he did tell
me that he was going to try EV olive oil and sea salt on ice cream after
reading Gustiamo's rave reviews of this combo.
I also have to say that I think he may be working on his third crown;
usurping the title of "Sant'Eustachio Coffee King" formerly
held by Stefano. Below, is Bernardo showing us his DJ Hip Hop console (click the arrow and learn what makes Italy's Best Foods and Hip Hop a great match.)
We are so proud to see our very own Stefano highlighted as a
feature Alumni on the University of Gastronomic Sciences website. We think
Frances said it best when she told Stefano the other day over lunch, "I
have so much respect for you as a person who decided to follow what you
loved". In the UNISG interview, Stefano talks about his decision to
study Gastronomic Sciences even though he had just graduated from Law School:
The thing that excited me most in life was food and I
really wanted to work with food. I was actually coming to the realization
that food had been one of the only themes throughout my whole life that
had consistently sparked my interest. I mean, since I was really little I
was pulling stuff off like staying home from school and calling my grandma for
her fresh pasta recipe, or late nights with my brother cooking focaccia al
formaggio.
Stefano's passion and knowledge are a huge part of Gustiamo.
We are lucky to have him on our team! Here's what Stefano has to say
about all that he does at Gustiamo:
...coordinating our producers in Italy, running logistics
of in-bound merchandise and supplies, managing the wholesale program for
restaurants and stores in the USA… oh, and making the Sant’ Eustachio coffee
for the entire Gustiamo office, which I like to do.
We like to joke with Stefano about making coffee, but he is
really quite skilled at using an American drip coffee maker!
