Real Food Festival 2010
12 May 2010
Neither Giuseppe nor I are afraid of hard work, but the daily trips from Dorset to Earl's Court for this years Real Food Festival have taken their toll! The chickens, the cat, the children and fresh daily focaccia for everyone to taste prevented us from staying in London. Thanks to some great company, namely Jacqueline and Silvia (La Bandiera, heavenly single estate Tuscan extra virgin olive oil) on the stand next to us, we managed to keep going. It was good to see some friendly faces, Giles from Olives et al popped by on his way to judge the Great Taste Awards, fingers crossed our lovely clients who have been waiting for a stockist near Dorchester should be able to find some Veru on the shelves of The Potting Shed at Poundbury soon.
We also met other great deli/farmshop owners from around the country, which means we could be closer than you think! Back at the cookery school now and Giuseppe will be coming up with some new recipes for you, as well as one for Anthony from Just Oil using his cold oak smoked rapeseed oil - now there's a challenge for an Italian only used to his own olive oil!!
Taste of summer
21 April 2010
The simplest of recipes with the most beautiful ingredients, truly delicious. Giuseppe and I had a morning at the cookery school today, and with the sun creeping in wherever possible, thoughts turned to summer and our favourite things. Mine, peaches, plump and pretty. So, whilst I prepared forms for the Real Food Festival next month, Giuseppe started cooking. The scent of sweet wine and vanilla drifted my way, but it was only a hint of what was to come. A glistening peach, filled with mascarpone and drizzled with a perfect ruby syrup, dotted with heavenly pistachios, pink and green like little rosebuds. I will add the recipe in the next day or two.
Proudly introducing our Nero d'Avola Jelly
01 March 2010
Giuseppe & I were so busy in the run up to Christmas and beyond that we just didn't have time to properly announce the arrival of our Nero d'Avola Jelly (plus it sold out almost as soon as it arrived!). Made from Sicilian IGT Nero d'Avola wine (nero d'avola being a traditional Sicilian grape variety), this jelly is the perfect companion to strong cheeses - I love it with a ripe gorgonzola, although it can hold it's own with strong hard cheeses too - game meats, and stir a spoonful into a fresh fruit salad and it produces the most delicious syrup. Giuseppe is working on some recipes for this, so watch this space. Needless to say it looks good enough to eat too, in a 250g bombe jar, the Sicilian sunshine bursting through Nonna Rosanna's washing on the line! Oh, what I wouldn't give for a little of that sunshine right now!
A Little Taste of Heaven for Mother's Day
01 March 2010
Let your mother know just how special she is with a box of 'Sospiri' Little Sighs. Handmade in Palermo to a traditional recipe passed from grandmother to mother, these heavenly almond paste sweets are infused with rum, chocolate and coffee and take their name from the sigh of pleasure released whilst eating them! Individually wrapped in tissue, they make a beautiful gift. See the press pages for BBC Good Food's recommendation too.
Real Food Festival
09 June 2009
Giuseppe & I had a great time at the Real Food Festival, Earls Court, earlier last month. We met lots of other foodies, both producers and consumers and were delighted to introduce Veru to so many new people. For all the people we met from London, we can now announce our first London stockist - Bayley & Sage, Wimbledon Village, definitely worth a trip to stock up on semolina flour etc and all of the other wonderful goodies stocked by this fabulous food shop. And for discerning food shoppers in the Cotswolds, Veru can now be found at Le Petit Croissant in Chipping Campden.
Exhausted by our London adventure, we swept the children off to Sicily for some rest and relaxation - not to mention some of Nonna Rosanna's home cooking! I made some fresh pasta with semolina flour straight from the mill, which Giuseppe filled with ricotta (straight from the sheep, literally!) and delicious young broad beans. We took Sofia & Dante to see the shepherd, Giuseppe (another one), make 'primo sale' cheese followed by piping hot ricotta, it was quite magical seeing the ricotta rise to the top of the whey before being scooped into baskets ready for delivery. In fact, we delivered a basket to Nonna Pipina and Zia Pina to save the shepherd a trip up the steep cobbles of Via d'Azeglio. All the good food was accompanied by hot sunshine and plenty of village gossip, so all in all a perfect Sicilian holiday - next time we'll be hard at work picking the olives, can't wait!