Extraordinary Food of Distinctive Quality
“Quality doesn’t just happen. It is always the result of smart choices.” – Pio Tosini For over 110 years, the Tosini family has cured legs of prosciutto in the small town of Langhirano in Emilia Romagna, Italy. It all began with Pio’s father, Ferrante Tosini, who slaughtered pigs and cured the meat in the back…
Biolea Greek olive oil earns EU Certification for high levels of polyphenols—meaning great taste and great for you! One of our earlier blogs titled “Greek Superfoods” highlighted—you guessed it—Greek foods that are indeed super, on many counts. One item on the list was the Greek olive oil Biolea (pronounced Bee-oh-lay-ah) for its excellence in artisanal…
I’ll get to the cheese, but first we have to talk a little about meat. Originally a salami producer, SALCIS— an acronym for Societa Anonima Lavorazione Carni Insaccati Siena—was founded in 1941 during World War II as a way to unify all the Tuscan Salami producers in the area of Siena. The society is owned,…
Making the exceptional even more so with Marqués de Valdueza mill improvements When you already make a world-class olive oil like Marqués de Valdueza, how do you go above and beyond and make the exceptional, well, even more exceptional? Let’s just say it’s kind of high-tech and it involves things like “milking” procedures, a tree-to-deposit…
A Dinner with Pasta Gentile at Solo Italiano with Chef Paolo Laboa In a time of big, global business, it sometimes seems that human connections get swallowed up by massive-scale commerce. What happened to people knowing your name? Can family businesses still thrive in this competitive market where speed and low-cost reign supreme over integrity…
Deep silence and wide-eyed stares often follow the first delicate, velvety taste as the flavors of coriander, white pepper and anise unfold. All over the United States, time and time again, Italian expatriate chefs finally find the words which are always a variation on the same sentiment: “I am brought back to my childhood. …
Pastificio Gentile first opened its doors in 1876 and is one of the only remaining historic, artisanal pasta producers that helped to establish Gragnano as the city of pasta. Today, Gentile remains a small family owned company. Pastificio Gentile – 26 Pasta Cuts Available 100% Native Italian Semolina The selected semolina wheat used in this pasta is…
“Once, I dropped in and mentioned that I’d been to Baena to see the Núñez de Prado brothers. His eyes widened. It was as though I’d told a country Imam that I had just returned from Mecca.” So reads a reference in Mort Rosenblum’s book “The Life and Lore of a Noble Fruit” to the…
Has anyone ever told you that you could do anything you put your mind to? Even if it seems too difficult or it’s never been done before? Like embarking on a mission to create “the best olive oil in the world.” In South Africa. But with the best varieties from Italy. That’s kind of what…
Meet our producers, our friends, the people behind the food you love. Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo – Marqués de Valdueza, Spanish Olive Oil (+ vinegar + honey) Maker [quarantine style] Juan Figueroa – Finca Pascualete, Spanish Cheese Maker Alberto Zampino – Gentile, Italian Pasta Maker Giovanni Bianchi – Pio Tosini, Italian Proscuitto di Parma Maker Majid Mahjoub –…