Only some 100 establishments in NYC are Snail of Approval worthy, and of course, Gustiamo, is one of them.
If you open this link, you'll see us sandwidched between the Greenmarkets (53 in the five boroughs) and Hearth, Marco Canora's restaurant in the East Village. Good company, eh?
What is the Snail of Approval? It is a reward that Slow Food gives to food establishments "because of their contributions to the quality, authenticity and sustainability of the food supply of the City of New York".
Ever heard of Papaccelle and Cipollotto? What are they? No doubt, Gustiamo is the only crazy importer of this rare stuff.
They are vegetables, both protected by Slow Food presidia; typical products of the Cilento area, meaning they do not and cannot grow anywhere else in the world.
Francesco Vastola, whose farm is located smack in the middle of beautiful Cilento area, near Paestum, grows both Papaccelle and Cipollotto. After steaming them with a drop of very good white wine vinegar, he puts them in jars with his own extra virgin olive oil. Papaccelle (picture, left) (plural; papacella [singular] does not exist) belong to the peppers family and look like them, but they are smaller and flattened. Their taste is sweeter, more delicate and more digestable than ordinary peppers.
Cipollotto Nocerino (picture left) (singular) is even rarer and received the DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) status by the Italian government. It belongs to the onion family, and it looks like an onion, but it is smaller, white and long. Sweeter and more digestable than ordinary onions. They are so rare and unique, we asked Francesco Vastola, the farmer, to introduce them in the video below. This is what he says (click on the arrow, below):
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!!!
Pistachos from Bronte and Almonds from Noto are protected by Slow Food because they are in danger of extinction. They grow a few miles apart in southeast Sicily and production is very limited. To give you an idea, in California, the production of pistachos is 4 million tons per year, and in Iran it is 3.5 million tons. In Bronte, only 30,000 tons - almost nonexistent. Why do the farmers keep growing these species of nuts and why do the best chefs all over the world only want Pistachos from Bronte and Almonds from Noto? The answer is they are completely different from the commercial varieties. Below, Concetto Scardace, the young and passionate farmer/representative of Almonds from Noto's Slow Food Presidium shows his Almonds and tells us that the other "commercial" varieties of almonds are perhaps better looking but not as good. As Concetto says, they are "belle di faccia ma brutte di cuore". Above left, is Concetto with Claudio Urciuoli, our friend and great chef from Phoenix, AZ. Claudio, also, is a big fan of the real thing. You should try them and taste the difference, too!
After months of planning, Gustiamo partnership with Slow Food and the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation in the Bronx finally came to life. One has to worry a little when the group is made of teenagers… even We almost forgot how good food and communal cooking are immediate aggregators! Our first visit brought an end-of-the-school-day, chair-dwindling, group of teenagers enthusiastically together in the perfectly orchestrated execution of a classic gustiamo Farro Salad (all gustiamo ingredients - minus the fresh basil - grown in the classroom greenhouse). Farro salad – who would think this could be a teenager crowd pleaser?? Wrong. Skillful chopping, attending to the water, tasting farro for doneness, should I dare try the capers which I’ve never seen before?? When all was done, a curious student team only needed take a bite, to dig into the bowls of farro and make it disappear in seconds. (A map of Italy projected on the wall set up by Alex who is teaching the program helped with products origins). Teachers, the school principal and other students happily dropped by to taste the results of the joint effort and the atmosphere turned very festive and creative. Alex the teacher made sure dishes were washed and cleaned and put away before the Big Moment the class had been waiting for: the unwrapping of the Pandoro. White sugar trick, knife skills applied to make it look a tree, gone in seconds… no problem, it’s good for you. Inevitably they think working at Gustiamo is all about eating and socializing around the stove and want to work with us. Sorry to break it to you: a Gustiamo site visit will be next, get ready to pick and pack!
Enzo Gucciardo, Gustiamo's salinaro (salt maker), could not attend the Salone del Gusto, but the Slow Food Presidium "artisanal sea salt from Trapani" was well represented by his collegues: Rosario Genovese, Vito Genovese and Anna Culcasi. Look at their wonderful faces which tell all their life of passionate but hard work. What a hard work that is! They literally pick the salt by hand, with a shovel, under the scorching sicilian sun of July and August. Their salt is full of natural minerals and it (naturally) salts more than industrial salt. Why? The salt of the big companies is harvested with mechanical machines which makes the salt dirty; brown polluted salt can't be sold; the salt is then washed and stripped of the natural minerals which are put back with chemicals. How about that??? Listen to Rosario, Vito and Anna... buy sea salt only from small salinari like Enzo Gucciardo!!!
As a student at Columbia University's prestigious school of journalism, Yardena Schwartz, pictured here with Martina, chose to cover (journalistiacally speaking) the Bronx as her project for this semester. Yardena and the harsh Bronx: you can figure out by yourself what a contrast this is. Walking the streets and the subways of the Bronx, Yardena fears nobody and nothing deters her. She is writing about the toughest issues: obesity and hunger, illegal work, new law for Latinos' birth certificates. However, she is also covering the bright side of the Bronx: the art for kids at BRAC; the loving care at the Mary Mitchell Center (also for kids); the real artisanal foods at Gustiamo. She was particularly interested in learning how we are involved in our local community and the sessions we had this summer (GUSTiamO) when we taught a bunch of local kids where tomatoes and olive oil come from. Next, is "Urban Harvest", a weekly program for kids this Fall with Slow Food, the School for Wildlife Conservation and Gustiamo. Yardena already signed up for a session, the Teen Iron Chef! She will be a judge and the official reporter. And the Bronx kids will become famous! Grazie Yardena!
Good food helps grow beautiful body and minds: the School for Wildlife Conservation (WLC), Slow Food and Gustiamo come together in a partnership to bring good food education in a Bronx public school. A year long program of hands-on fun in the kitchen for teams of budding chefs who will prepare, cook, taste-test, discover foods and bring their new skills home.
From left: Beatrice, Alex Rodriguez, Martina and Lily Ng. Alex and Lily are from the School for Wildlife Conservation (WLC), in the Bronx, which falls under the umbrella of Urban Assembly, a group of 20 small public schools in the NY metropolitan area which are financed by the Melinda and Bill Gates and other foundations.
Lily is one of the administrators and the partnership coordinator of the school. Thanks to her dedication, this program saw the light. It is called Harvest Time and will see 12 kids from WLC learn and play with foods. It's a partnership among the school, Slow Food and Gustiamo.
Alex is a Science teacher at WLC, specialized in climate change issues. Alex loves dancing (techno music) and martial arts (he told us that anything that moves is martial art, including tai chi); he is vegetarian and wants to start his own bee hive on his terrace in the Bronx. He is excited to be the leader of the Harvest Time program which will also include the Teen Iron Chef competition. Alex can't wait for Harvest Time to start. Neither can we! Thank you all! Let's the fun begin!!!
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!
This is a note we received from Gianna Banducci, a young friend of Gustiamo's. While our days are now busy busy picking and packing your gifts, this is a gift to Gustiamo and we cherish it dearly. Grazie Gianna!!!
"As someone who subscribes to the philosophy of Slow Food, I am always eager to discover companies and organizations that promote this movement. Recently, I was introduced to StefanoNoceti during my quest to learn more about the Slow Food university in Italy, L’Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche. As a graduate of the school, Stefano provided much insight into his experience in the Master program. In the midst of our communication, Stefano mentioned his current role at Gustiamo. As soon as I visited the website, I was immediately enamored with the products sold by Gustiamo. I wasted no time in placing an order for Christmas gifts for my family. As Italy prides itself on regional fares created by food artisans, I value buying Italian foods that have been produced based on traditional and sustainable practices. Gustiamo excels in creating the experience of meeting, understanding, and purchasing from these artisans despite the distance from Italy. In reading the unique story presented about each Italian producer on the Gustiamo website, it felt as if I was purchasing directly from them. Even when receiving my food items in the mail, I got the feeling of buying from a local, small-scale producer. So, if you’re a believer in Slow Food and are looking for memorable gastronomic gifts for the holidays, I highly recommend Gustiamo, particularly the Vicopisano olive oil. Gianna Banducci"
