GUSTI Blog

Bella di Cerignola Olives - Read the Label - Too Much Iron, No Good.

If you are "in the know" of all things italian - true italian - you would not order cappuccino after 11 in the morning. You would also not ask for a pitted Bella di Cerignola olive. It does not exist. The DOP real Bella di Cerignola has a firm, meaty flesh and pointed pit, which cannot be removed. Look how large these olives are, on the left, in my hand. They come green and black, my favorite. The black olives are not born black, from the tree. They have to be treated; and here is where the artisanal process really differs from the industrial one. The olives are subject to strong jets of water continuosly (the air induces the oxidation of the olives and they become black). Artisan Fratepietro does this for 15 days. A work of love and patience. The industrial olve makers, instead, short cut the process to only 5 days and reach  the "desired blackness" by adding a cheap chemical (gluconnato ferroso) identified as "iron" on the label. So, here is the difference: Fratepietro's Olives' iron content is 15mg/kilo (you still need some of it to keep the olives black), the Bella di Cerignola from the big companies have an iron content up to 150mg/kilo. After that, it would be against the law, because it is bad for you. Read the label!!! Or, buy Fratepietro Bella di Cerignola Olives!!!

 

 

Bella di Cerignola Olives - You Can't Find a More Local Olive!

Here, Andrea Fratepietro of Fratepietro farm and Beatrice proudly holding jars of green real DOP Bella di Cerignola olives. Don't think we are in the Caribbean islands: This is Puglia, with palm and olive trees. Do you want to go? Andrea would love to see you, too. Back to the olives. Because they are so delicate, they are picked by experienced and local workers, including Mimi' and Cosimino, who have been working at the farm 50 years. They are washed and put in big bins with water and salt for three months. The salt they use is the expensive sea salt from Marherita di Savoia salt flats, a natural reserve and a heaven for tropical birds, located thirteen kilometers from the farm. Now, you tell me! How local is this?

Watch the video below, click on arrow. Andrea started to like being interviewed (se part 1 of the video here) and wanted to add something to his previous one. Bravissimo, Andrea!!!

Bella di Cerignola Olives by Fratepietro Farm in Puglia

I'm proud to announce that the authentic artisanal (as opposed to industrial) Bella di Cerignola olives have finally arrived to the Bronx.

They are huge and meaty, the biggest olives in the world. But not tacky big. Elegant and tasty big. Great for cooking, near your cold cuts and cheeses, alone with your aperitif. They come in black and green. Not red. Andrea Fratepietro tells us that the red Bella di Cerignola becomes red with chemical additives, and are made only to appeal the consumers' eyes. Go figure!

Bella di Cerignola are so called because they grow in Cerignola, a small village near Foggia, in Puglia. They are also DOP. Everybody knows the name Bella di Cerignola, but, until you taste these, you have not had the real thing.

We went to visit the Fratepietro farm in Puglia and met Andrea Fratepietro, whose family has grown Bella di Cerignola for four generations. The olives are so delicate, they must be picked individually by hand and stored in padded boxes. Watch the video, below and click on the arrow. You'll meet charming and passionate Andrea, too and will learn about his wonderful olives.

20 Beatiful and Smart Women all the way from Bari to the Bronx

Twenty young women from Bari flew to NY to learn about exporting food and fashion to America. Where is their first appointment? Gustiamo's warehouse. Why? We have the best coffee and cookies! We spent a wonderful morning with our new friends. As you can see, the weather, helped, too.

This is a program organized by a company called AIM and financed by the European Community, the Provincia di Bari and the Regione Puglia. The best public money ever spent! The workshop was created by Franca Foligatti, a longtime friend and fan of Gustiamo's. She LOVES pasta Latini. 

It was a very active session. The girls' desire to learn was inspiring; their questions were all clever and interesting. We think they loved our business and how we do it. Anna Maria said she was impressed by Gustiamo's philosophy and mission; Maria Cristina by the quality of the products we represent in America; Mirella by our attention to detail. The young women were escorted by Rosa Maria Todaro, the CEO of AIM and by Giovanna Damolin, Professor at the University of Bari. We loved to meet them all! Thank you all for coming to Gustiamo.

Puglia Trip - courtesy of the CIA of Taranto

Daniela Guida, of Agriplan, an Italian marketing and consulting company, invited us to go to Puglia at the end of June for a three day trip to visit farmers and taste local pugliesi products. I would have loved to go: I've never been in Puglia for a serious gourmet trip and we have very few products from Puglia in our inventory. We would finally find that one exceptional olive oil we have been looking for a long time. Unfortunately, the trip to Puglia did not have good timing; it interfered with the dates of our Fancy Food Show in New York. Somehow, we just couldn't do both.

So we sent our friend, Greg Bolen, as Gustiamo's representative. Greg is a young man who knows a lot about food and is the buyer at Cheese Plus, the great cheese shop in San Francisco. Who better than a customer to go on a shopping spree for Gustiamo?

Greg (left) went and learned how to do an oil tasting with the "strippo" (more on this technique later); heard about the history and significance of the olive culture in the mediterrenean regions; gave a speech about selling and marketing food products in America. When I spoke to Nicola Spagnuolo, the head of the Confederazione Italiana Agricoltori (CIA) in Taranto, who organized the event, and his press office manager, Gabriella, they told me that Greg did a great job at representing Gustiamo and everybody liked him and what he had to say. No, Greg didn't come back with that extraordinary olive oil form Puglia. Again, he is like us: difficult to please. It is Nicola, now, who promised to send our way the number one oil from Puglia. Our quest continues...