giacomo's

Alcune cose preferite (some of my favorite things)

It's been an active summer here at the shop. Of course, I'm not complaining but it does make it almost impossible to post! Here's my current list of some of my favorite things this summer, otherwise known as "Five more reasons to pay us a visit this week!"

1. "Olivos" - These wonderful  little imported olives from the the Aragon region of Spain, are perfect for people like me on the go. They come in cute little 2 oz. vacuum packed bags full of nothing but the best olives. They're just the right amount for a healthy, delicious nibble.  And believe me, they honestly have nothing artificial added—no liquid or preservatives and no surprise they were apparently the winner of the “Fresh Ideas” competition at the London IFE in 2007. They are currently available in two flavors - the original natural black Aragon olives and a harbanero variety that has quite a kick. Perfect with an icy beer!

2. "Antica Balsameria Emiliana" Balsamic Dressing - This is a perfect perfect balsamic. I'm serious when I say, it is probably the finest balsamic you'll ever taste. Don't be confused by the fact that its called a dressing. That simply means that it can be used to dress up any dish without adding a thing. It's flavor will knock your socks off.

3. "Frutta di Bosca" Crostata- We've just started baking a delicious sweet "pizza" that is a perfect summer treat. Topped with a creamy ricotta cheese mixture and fresh berries, it's a beautiful thing!

4. Cipriani Bellino mix - Make the classico bellino at home with this great mix that comes in a little 8 oz. can. Add to your favorite chilled white wine and you'll feel like you're a regular at Harry's Bar in Venice.

5. Speaking of chilled white wine...our new favorite Summer wine is Vinho Verde (green wine). Some say the word "green" (the wine is actually pale yellow) alludes to the bracing acidity, the fizz (injected carbon dioxide) and the fresh, youthful personality. This scrumptous Portuguese wine has the potential to be a cult favorite in my opinion. We have some excellent brands to choose from and the last time we checked our prices on vinho verde were actually cheaper than the local wine shop!

See you soon...A presto amici!!

Picnic Italiano

I love a good Italian picnic. When I was growing up, Sundays in the summertime were about getting together with friends (our friends were our family since most of our real family lived in Italy) and heading to the lake for a delicious Italian feast al fresco. You see, in our tight-knit Italian circle there were probably about 6 or 7 families with children of similar ages that would meet almost every weekend at the lake for a day of fun and food. And being that we were Italian, we never did anything the easy way. Hotdogs and hamburgers, yeah, that would have been easy...we didn't do that...instead, there'd be baked lasagna, roasted turkey, baked ham, stuffed bread and of course sausages and peppers, pasta with broccoli, stuffed shells, frittatas and the list goes on and on...

I have to admit it was embarassing whenever American famlies would stroll by "Camp Italia" (basically 10 picnic tables side by side, complete with linens and Mario Villa blasting on the casette player) and stare-- but you know what,  I wouldn't trade those great summer memories for the world.

Today, I still love a good picnic, however, as a busy mother of 3 one of my new priorities is getting everyone fed easy and efficiently.  Instead of elaborate Italian feasts my family enjoys the basics, which in our house include crusty bread, a delicious dry salami, a wedge of piave vecchio, olives and of course, panzanella salad (which if you have never tried it you must --we make it ourselves at Giacomo's  and it's sooo fabulous)...Other wonderful picnic must haves: melon and proscuitto, a delicious caprese salad, and of course, my favorite drink: san pellegrino limonata. If these sound like your kind of eats, stop in today and we'll get you ready for your own Italian picnic!

What's in a name?

I get asked alot about the significance of our shop's name: Giacomo's Groceria.  I actually discovered the name Giacomo here in the U.S.  If you've ever been to Boston's North End, you've heard of Giacomo's, a fabulous intimate little Italian eatery that  serves the best Italian food outside of my mother's kitchen.  I loved the food and I loved the name.  Then, when we discovered that I was pregnant this last time with another son, we thought of "Giacomo" and it just sounded right. But the real reason I wanted to name our store after him was because when my son was born his Dad was deployed in Afghanistan and so for the first seven months of his life he missed out on his Dad. This is my gift to him and I hope it makes up for that.  

The "groceria" part of the name is sort of made-up...What did you say?? Yeah, made-up. There is no such thing in standard Italian (as far as I know) as a "groceria". It sounds like what one would think grocery store is supposed to be called in Italian but it's actually not an Italian word.  (Some have told me it's more an Italian-American term). I decided to go with it for it's ease of pronunication but more importantly because I couldn't think of an one Italian word that best described all that we are. Besides being a salumeria (delicatessen) and a negozio di alimentari (grocery store) we are also a bar (Italian coffee shop) . All those names I felt were either too difficult to pronunce or only partially described us.

Well now you know. That's what's behind our name. Next up: Our growing list of Italian meats & cheeses.

A presto, amici!

La Burrata

Imagine my surprise when a young American fellow walked into my shop recently speaking fluent Italian. Turns out, P had just arrived in Maine from Italy with his Italian wife, a young woman from Le Marche whom he had met while studying abroad. Well, since my Italian hometown is in Abruzzo, I felt like we were practically neighbors! P was very "homesick" for Italy, especially for all the foods that he had grown to love, including something I had never heard of called "Burrata," pronounced boor-RAH-tah. I pride myself in knowing even some of the most obscure Italian food terminalogy but Burrata had me stumped. My first thought was that this was some sort of butter since "burro" means butter in Italian. P told me that I was on to something. Turns out Burrata is actually a deliciously creamy cheese and its buttery texture is what gives it its uniqueness. A specialty of Southern Italy, especially the regions of Aupulia, Campania, and Basilicata, it was invented in Andria at the beginning of the 20th century. Traditionally made from buffalo's milk, today most Burrata is made from cow's milk. Well, I called my best supplier over the weekend and I'm happy to report that we now carry Burrata. I tried some right away and wow, it's very good. I loved it drizzled with olive oil and salt with a side of crusty bread! Grazie P! Buon appetito!

Happy Mother's Day

Buona Festa della Mamma!

Happy Mother's Day to women everywhere from Maine to Manoppello who make our lives more beautiful!

What the heck is a fiddlehead?

Here in Maine, Spring means two things to me: mud season and fiddleheads. I only like one of those two things. Well, tomorrow my first order of fiddleheads is set to arrive from Native Maine, one of our local produce suppliers.  It's an interesting vegetable because it is only available for 3 weeks out of the year. My favorite way to eat fiddleheads is sauteed in olive oil and butter but I've heard of lots of interesting ways to use them including as a pasta sauce ingredient. For a more information, I suggest you visit Maine Fiddleheads.com. Here's a few things I learned from the site that I did not know about the fiddlehead.

A fiddlehead is the beginning stage of the ostrich fern. This is a Maine delicacy that appears in the early spring usually sometime in early May. Fresh fiddleheads are gathered in early spring, when the ice goes out, and the local streams and rivers begin to subside. Locals eagerly await this spring ritual and being scouring the local riverbanks looking for their patch of fiddleheads.

Fiddleheads are snapped off at ground level and gathered in pails. Once gathered, fiddleheads are cleaned, washed and brought to market. This vegetable has a unique flavor that is somewhat mild and difficult to compare to any other vegetable. Try this Maine delicacy for yourself and see what keeps the locals busy throughout the spring season.

Fresh fiddleheads are available at MaineFiddleheads.com starting in early May and for only about three weeks. The most popular way to eat fresh fiddleheads is to clean and boil fiddleheads for about ½ hour, season with salt, pepper and butter. Many locals serve with vinegar. Fresh

Tales from our Weekend

This weekend is a Guard weekend in our house which means I'm flying solo on the parenting duties.  It's a 3 day Guard weekend to boot so there you go. I know I should be happy that he is doing his patriotic duty but the only  thing on my mind right now is I'm soooooo exhausted from the cries, whines, and all the rest....I found myself wanting to take a nap at least five times today!  Speaking of napping, I read an article in Cookie magazine tonight which offered some creative ideas for "lazy parents"...I thought it was really funny.  Basically, its a "how-to take a nap" while caring for the kids guide. My favorite game was the "sleeping princess game"...that is, Momma plays the "sleeping princess" while the kids figure out how to rescue her. The only problem with that one is I would have a very very hard time waking back up!

Anyway...I had a dinner party last night so the kitchen was a messy diaster this morning. Despite the mess though we had a really fun night. I invited a new friend "H" and her husband and new baby as well as her parents visiting from Sambuca in Sicilia.  I was in heaven listening to their stories of the beauty of Sicily. Of course they raise small farm animals and have extensive fruit and vegetable gardens, plus a working vineyard and olive groves...I say "of course" because that is basically my dream life. I've never been south of Naples though so it was a unique opportunity for me to ask all the questions I could think of about the island.

La signora (my friend's mom) brought il dolce which was a really delicious (and I mean delicious) sweet fried dough called Sfingi.  She gave me the recipe and I can't wait to try it even though I am terrible at frying anything. To make the dough you will need flour, eggs, brewer's yeast and boiled mashed potatoes(loads of patate here in Maine of course!). Place the dough in a ceramic bowl and then rest it on another bowl of steaming hot water. It will need to stay there for several hours. When it starts to bubble you poke it once or twice and then leave it for a bit longer.  Finally, the dough is fried in olio di semi (vegetable oil) and then it can either be drizzled with honey or sprinkled with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon.  La signora stressed how important it was to carefully handle the sfingi after they come out of the oil as they are very delicate to the touch.

I wanted to take a picture of them but I couldn't find my camera! Of course.

Growing Growing Growing

Opening a business, for me, has been an exciting adventure.  Opening a business while still trying to raise 3 boys under the age of 7 has been downright madness. But yet I'm convinced that it can be done -- with the right staff of course!  I guess it comes down to the fact that I love what I do.  And I love what 'we' (because I didn't do it alone) have created at Giacomo's.  And we think our customers do too because they keep telling us so.  Secondly, I have great people working for me. That makes it all the difference.

Everytime I walk into Giacomo's I imagine that I am a new customer walking in for the very first time.  This helps me stay focused on my customer's point of view.  What I think may matter but what the customer thinks matters most! "It's all about perception" my favorite boss Roger Amidon once told me. Perception afterall is reality. Right on.

Speaking of the customer, I'm a firm believer in "mixing it up" in order to make shopping here interesting and fun. We carry a great selection of hard to find imported Italian groceries... everything from Italian "00" flour to salted anchovies to saffron tagliatelle.  Plus, I think it's just a great place to hang out.  There's always someone in the shop it seems who's sharing stories of Italian adventures and great Italian meals. We love sharing the recipes!

These next few months will really be a time of growth for us. We're adding fresh, local organic produce this summer which I am really really excited about. As a mother I care an awful lot about feeding my children fresh, healthy delicious foods and I know other people do too. And supporting our local farmers is also important to me given that many of my own anchestors were farmers, albeit in Italy.  We're also excited to be offering Boar's Head deli meats and cheeses. This is for my New York transplant-customers who kept asking and asking until I finally made the call and I am so glad that I did. Our first order arrives next week. In addition to our authentic Italian sandwiches we make in our deli we'll now be able to offer roastbeef, pastrami, and all the rest. Did I mention the ice cream?? The hubby and I are HUGE icecream fans so we had to have it. We've chosen Gifford's Old Fashioned Ice cream because it's local and it's simply the best! I know, I know, it's not gelato but keep checking back that may be next.

OUR FOUNDER

In case you're wondering, Giacomo's Groceria is named for my youngest son.  Here he is getting his first 'real' haircut at 18 months. I guess you could call this the before picture.  (Even when he's miserable he's a cutie!)

Our Giacomo has many nicknames...First there was Giacomino (Ja-co-me-no). Then he graduated to Giaco (Ja-co) which is what he goes by right now.  My husband absolutely HATES this one 'cause he says it reminds him of Michael Jackson's nickname "Jacko"...okay. 

Personally, I think Giaco is a fine nickname and his older brothers think so too 'cause they use it constantly.  I wonder sometimes what people must think when they hear us calling him. I mean, Giaco isn't exactly Jimmy or Johnny! Funny thing though, I have a good friend who's son is named Jacob and they call him "Jaco" so I guess it's not all that original.

Oh by the way, here's the after picture. Doesn't he look so handsome! The lolli at the end made it all worth while!  Hint: if you or your little ones are looking for an awesome stylist in Bangor you must visit Bambi at Teaser's Styling Salon. She is the Bangor's best kept secret!

On Non-Italians Cooking Italian

From the New York Times an essay on the effects of the shortage of Italians willing to labor in the resturant kitchen:

“To cook is a passion,” said Mr. Hassen, now 43, who went on to train with some of Italy’s top chefs. “Food is a beautiful thing.”

Spoken like an Italian. But while the world learned about pasta and pizza from poor Italian immigrants, now it is foreigners, many of them also poor, who make some of the best Italian food in Italy (as well as some of the worst and everything between).

With Italians increasingly shunning sweaty and underpaid kitchen work, it can be hard now to find a restaurant where at least one foreigner does not wash dishes, help in the kitchen or, as is often the case, actually cook. Egyptians have done well as pizza makers, but restaurant kitchens are now a snapshot of Italy’s relatively recent immigrant experience, with Moroccans, Tunisians, Romanians and Bangladeshis all doing the work.

The fact itself may not be surprising: On one level, restaurants in Italy, a country that even into the 1970s exported more workers than it brought in, now more closely mirror immigrant-staffed kitchens in much of Europe.

But Italians take their food very seriously, not just as nourishment and pleasure but as a chief component of national and regional identity. And so any change is not taken lightly here, especially when the questions it raises are uncomfortable: Will Italy’s food change — and if so, for the worse or, even more disconcertingly, for the better? Most Italian food is defined by its good ingredients and simple preparation, but does it become less distinct — or less Italian — if anyone can prepare it to restaurant standards? Does that come at some cost to national pride?

“If he is an Egyptian cook, nothing changes — nothing,” said Francesco Sabatini, 75, co-owner of Sabatini in Trastevere, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Rome. His restaurant is considered one of the city’s most conservative, serving classic Roman dishes like oxtail, yet 7 of his 10 cooks are not Italian.

For Mr. Sabatini, the issue is not who cooks but the training — his chefs apprentice for five years — and keeping alive Italy’s culinary traditions, which he defines as “the flavors of your mother’s kitchen.”

“That’s why I’m here,” he said. “If not, I’d just go to the beach.”

But in a debate likely to grow in the coming years, others argue that foreign chefs can mimic Italian food but not really understand it.

“Tradition is needed to go forward with Italian youngsters, not foreigners,” said Loriana Bianchi, co-owner of La Canonica, a restaurant also in Trastevere, which hires several Bangladeshis, though she does the cooking. “It’s not racism, but culture.”

While much of Italy’s best food is prepared at home, Ms. Bianchi despairs at the difficulty of finding people to do the same in restaurants. (There is even a greater shortage, experts say, of Italian waiters.) “It’s tiring and the hours are very long,” she said.

But it has been an undeniable boon to Italy’s new immigrants. Twelve years ago, Abu Markhyyeh, a young Jordanian, finished an apprenticeship with a Neapolitan pizza maker, borrowed money from his Italian mother-in-law, then opened his own pizzeria in Milan, Da Willy, after his nickname here.

He did well, in part because he made the pizzas bigger but kept the prices low. Now Mr. Markhyyeh, 41, presides over an untraditional pizza empire. He has 11 restaurants in Milan, 4 in Jordan, 2 in Cypress,//CYPRUS??// and franchises in Dubai, Beirut, Sharm el Sheik in Egypt and now in Shanghai.