Gustiamo: Italian food importers

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MEET Beatrice

MEET Klevis

Klevis

Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
I adore honey. When I lived in Firenze, I got into the benefits and properties of honey. But it’s not until I have tasted honey made in Sardegna by Luigi Manias that I understood how extraordinary the world of honey can be. To me it’s amazing how Luigi’s Corbezzolo and Asphodel honey can be so different from each other and at the same time so incredibly better than any other honey I have ever tried.

Do you have a current food obsession?
Marco Colzani pistachio spread! I wake up in the morning thinking about the slice of bread smothered with pistachio spread that I will make myself for breakfast. It’s my green energy charge to work in the Gustiamo warehouse.

Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
Ragusa in Sicilia. Not only am I dying to see all the baroque architecture of southern Sicily, I especially can’t wait to participate in person to the olive harvest at the Pianogrillo farm near Ragusa. I think that would be such a unique way to experience the town and understand its culture.

Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
I’m the warehouse manager at Gustiamo, but everyone calls me the master architect. There’s so much planning and engineering that goes behind the arrangement of pallets and shelves. Everything starts with a clean and well organized warehouse.

What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
For me, Italian food means sitting at the table with friends and family and sharing a meal. Having a conversation in front of good food is the most important moment of the day and it should be part of our daily routine. I couldn’t live a life where I eat my meals alone, standing, in silence, like you often see in the United States.

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MEET Martina

MEET Samuel

Samuel

Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
Sicilian tomato concentrate aka “strattu” is the hidden star of my kitchen. I add a teaspoon to pretty much everything I cook, from soups to sauces. If you mix a bit of strattu in your soffritto, all your recipes will achieve an incredible depth of aromas. Plus, it keeps forever in your pantry. Actually, the older it gets, the better it tastes.

Do you have a current food obsession?
I’m in a caper-centric moment. I used to stay away from capers, I’ve always thought they were too strong and overpowering. Capperi di Pantelleria made me change my mind. Sure, you need to learn how to use them properly. Too many capers make for an overly salty dish. But if you nail the caper balance, they enrich a recipe flavor and texture in a very unique way.

Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
La Sardegna! I have always been fascinated by their ancient traditions and history. They have an incredible food culture that is not very well known, but should get more time in the spotlight.

Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
I really like to be the first person to arrive at the Gusti warehouse in the morning and prepare a Moka coffee pot for the team. I love the inebriating smell of ground coffee beans. It’s been like this ever since I was a kid. And now I get to drink Giamaica coffee every morning, that’s the sublimation of my coffee passion.

What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
Everyone considers Italy synonymous with good food, but the truth is that there’s a lot of counterfeiting and food fraud in Italy, too. Corruption, fake foods, and unethical productions exist side by side with the extraordinary food treasures that Italians are so well known for. I am so proud of being part of Gustiamo, because our mission is communicating the values of honest farmers and food makers to Americans, fighting the good food battle!

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MEET Klea

MEET Lorenzo

Klea

Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
My pantry is never out of pasta! When you have a bag of great pasta like Pasta Faella handy, you know you have a variety of dinner options available and they will all be on point. My favorite shape is Linguine, I cannot resist a chewy, al dente plate of Linguine. In my family my recipe for Linguine allo scoglio (with seafood) is always a hit.

Do you have a current food obsession?
I consider myself a gianduja expert. I have tried all the gianduja spreads on the market. So, when I tasted the chocolate hazelnut spread by Marco Colzani for the first time, it blew my mind. It is completely different from anything I have ever tried. What is more shocking is how three simple and natural ingredients like cacao, Piemontese hazelnuts and sugar can combine in such a rich and creamy confection.

Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
I have never been to Sicily and I’d love to spend some time in summer harvesting salt with Salvatore Gucciardo in Trapani. I hear their area is a WWF protected natural reserve and I can’t imagine how dreamy it is with the pink flamingos flying around the salt pans.

Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
No day looks like the other when you work at Gustiamo, because we all have so many different tasks. My favorite moment is when I get the chance to go to the back of the warehouse to rearrange pallets and shelves. Whether it’s because we are receiving a container from Italy or we have to ship out a big order to the West Coast, it always feels like playing Tetris to me.

What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
The immense difference between a good extra virgin olive oil and an industrial product refined with solvents. I come from Firenze and I have spent every fall of the last 20 years hand harvesting and milling olives with my family. I am lucky because I could detect a faulty EVOO immediately, but I think that everyone who has the chance to learn more about olive oil should embrace that opportunity. Real EVOO is a game changer!

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Lorenzo

Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
I’m an anchovy addict. Since I saw the production in the Nettuno tiny lab in Cetara, last summer, I'm adding anchovies to my recipes all the time. Pasta with colatura, puttanesca, bagna cauda. Deboning, rinsing, filleting anchovies is a form of meditation, right?

Do you have a current food obsession?
Olives in general. My olive compilation is (1) Maida black Leccino, (2) Bella di Cerignola, (3) Benza Taggiasca. The puttanesca I mentioned before? It’s heavenly with Maida black olives. Another favorite is Rabbit alla Ligure, with Taggiasca and sundried tomatoes. Olives are the evergreen ingredient on my table.

Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
Basilicata is on top of my list! It’s overshadowed by the famous regions around it, but it should be explored more. I’d love to learn more about (read: taste all of) their cheese and salumi gastronomic culture.

Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
The biggest satisfaction comes from telling the stories behind our products. For me, there’s nothing like giving credit to the people who actually make this food. Meeting the chefs, understanding their creations, and then recommending the incredible ingredients that could be a perfect fit for their menus... priceless!

What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
The idolization of fresh pasta in the US is getting a bit out of control. Good Italian chefs know that dry pasta of great quality can’t be beaten, especially in some shapes. The bite of Linguine Faella can't be matched by ANY fresh pasta out there!

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MEET Dexter

MEET Bridget

Bridget

Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
Maida Peperoncini sott’olio! I love how they add a super fruit-forward heat to dishes that could use a little spice. By far my favorite way to eat them is on top of pizza. Once I’ve finished all the chilis themselves, I like to add a little of their spicy oil to whatever other fat I’m cooking with. I go through A LOT of jars of these chili peppers.

Do you have a current food obsession?
Not a food but a particular technique: “risottare la pasta” or cooking pasta “risotto-style”. This means you add hot water or broth little by little until the pasta is al dente, the same way you would when cooking risotto. It’s my obsessive way of capturing all the starch pasta Martelli or Faella could possibly release to create saucy textures.

Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
Trentino Alto Adige! I’d love to visit those mountainous landscapes and experience their ingredients. I live at high elevation myself in Santa Fe, New Mexico, so I’m very curious about the flavors and traditions of this region.

Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
No doubt cooking with our incredible ingredients. Recipes are the best way to inspire and inform our community with ways to use our products. I especially love researching different iterations of a recipe in various languages and synthesizing everything into the Gustiamo version. My ultimate pasta alla puttanesca is a great example of this!

What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
That it’s ok to break the “rules”. There’s so much variation across the Italian culinary diaspora, and one way of doing things isn’t necessarily more correct than another. Don’t get me wrong, I love a classic recipe. There’s so much to learn from the past. But our mission is supporting farmers and food makers. In order for them to survive we need to keep innovating and pushing the boundaries of what we can make with their beautiful ingredients.

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MEET Lucia

Lucia

Which Gusti product do you most use at home besides EVOO?
Those tiny Pantelleria capers, no doubt. I go through a big bag in just a few weeks! They’re the go-to for so many of my recipes. Every time I open the jar where I keep them, I am teleported to my favorite place: the Mediterranean Sea.

Do you have a current food obsession?
Ever since I visited Maida farm and tasted farmer Franco’s white fig jam, I just cannot imagine my breakfast (and, yes, my pizza) without it. I’ve always been a savory-over-sweet-kinda-person, so this was a surprise to me, but this product has such a phenomenal flavor that it’s become my food obsession.

Where in Italy have you never been but always wanted to go?
Sassi di Matera, deep south Italy, very close to the border with Puglia. I’ve been thinking about it for so long but never had the chance to go. It’s such a charming and mysterious corner, plus I love peperone crusco, traditional crunchy sweet peppers.

Out of all the tasks/things you do at Gustiamo, which is your favorite?
I love it when we get the chance to organize our oh-so-famous warehouse parties. Good music, good vibes, and above all: good food! The best thing of open warehouse parties is having all our customers come to the Bronx to meet us and see where the magic happens.

What is one thing you wished everyone knew about Italian food?
I wish people paid more attention to the quality of the food they have access to. Moving to the US from Italy made me see through my own eyes the big difference between the food cultures of these two countries. The Gustiamo mission to improve the quality of Italian food in the States really resonates with me. The impact of our food choices goes well beyond what we put on the table every day!

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