Italian natives and owners, Beatrice Ughi and Martina Rossi Kenworthy, started  Gustiamo in 2000. At the time, they saw a void in the US marketplace for artisanal Italian products. With high standards and a true commitment to authenticity, they began meeting potential small producers who manufacture products in traditional ways. Over time, they have built a portfolio of gourmet foods which include pastas from Tuscany, olive oils from Sicily, balsamic vinegars from Modena, honeys and bottarga di muggine (grey mullet roe) from Sardinia, and Arabica beans from Sant' Eustachio Caffe in Rome. They also carry jams, jellies, preserves, sweets, salts, seafood, chocolates and other speciality items.

Beatrice explains what makes some of her top selling items different from standard offerings.

Pasta

 

Martelli is one of the pasta producers with whom they work. The family-run company has been making their products since 1926 in the medieval Tuscan town of Lari. They use first grade durum wheat, grown on their own property. The wheat flour is then kneaded with cold water, cut with bronze dies and air dried for 50 hours. This extra long drying process makes the pasta more porous, which means a sauce will adhere easier.

Generally speaking, industrial pastas are made with teflon tubes and quickly dried in electrical ovens for 30 seconds. The result is a uniformed shiny, glasslike surface with less flavor.

How good are these artisanal pastas? The taste is nuttier and complex enough that a few drops of olive oil is all you need to enhance the taste. Some of the top restaurants in New York City, like Del Posto, Ducale, and Centolire, use their pastas.

Olive Oil

 

Olive oil is an obvious import and you would think a must-have for an importer of artisanal products. But not just any olive oil will suffice for Gustiamo; they have very strict standards. In order for them to accept an olive oil producer, the producer must own the land and trees, and the olives must be crushed immediately after harvesting.

One of their producers, Pianogrillo, comes from the Monte Iblei Mountains, in Eastern Sicily. The farming is organic and the techniques are simple and natural. In fact, you’ll find wild asparagus growing between the olive trees. The olives are hand-harvested between October and December and cold pressed in the family's olive mill within 12 hours of picking. The result: an intensely fruity, spicy oil that smells like fresh cut grass and green tomatoes.

Tomatoes

 

Piennolo tomatoes are small vine tomatoes, grown organically in the lava rich soil of Mount Vesuvius National Park, near Naples.  This is the only place they grow and even come with their own D.O.P. (Protected Designation of Origin) certificate. They are hand-picked in the field and jarred without using any salt or preservatives. The resulting taste is sweet with a slight acidity. Beatrice recommends eating them right out of the jar on top of toast, but if you can exert some patience and not eat them all instantly, saute some with garlic for a fabulous sauce.

Salted Anchovies

 

Beatrice says if you taste the anchovies from Nettuno, you’ll feel like you’re in Cetara, the tiny fishing village on the Amalfi Coast. The whole town is devoted to the fishing business. They catch the fish in the Mediterranean, cut off the head, keep the tail, treat them in sea salt, layer them in oak barrels, and cure them for 5 months. A simple and pure process. The salt used to cure the anchovies is hand-harvest Trapini salt. Nothing is wasted in this process, this producer also bottles the colatura, a salted anchovy sauce, which is just simply the juices that flow from the curing and pressing.

The Bottom Line

Beatrice and Martina are passionate about their products. Everything has a backstory, a person behind the product dedicated to making something they are proud of and in turn, preserving a bit of Italian food history.

Recommendations

Beatrice and Martina’s recommendations for where to eat, drink and shop in New York and Italy.

Recipes

- Stracci with Seafood