I recently started volunteering with Gustiamo.

So far, I attend  two of their tastings at a 91 Christopher St, a restaurant in the Village called Il Cantuccio.

(God’s willing, I will be attending the rest of their tastings every Tuesday until the ending of the year. Which means more Italian words to add to my vocabulary and more good Italian food!)

The first Tuesday I attended a tasting, Gustiamo presented schiacciata with friarielli and zucca sott’olio (In English it is bread and Olive Oil…)

I loved the friarielli toppings. It is basically broccoli dipped in olive oil with bread. The zucca I did not like so much but it seemed a lot of bystanders enjoyed it. It’s pumpkin dipped in olive oil.

All of the ingredients are grown on farms in Italy.

Gustiamo gets all their products from Italy directly. The food is grown organically on about 40 or more different family owned farms which is what make Gustiamo so special.

The friarielli and the zucca was made in the Compania region of Italy.

The second time I attend the tasting was this week.  Schiacciata with Honey was on the menu.

The honey was made in Sardinia. ( The Schiacciata is always freshly baked by Il Cantuccio).

When I tasted the honey, I realize that it was similar to a honey I brought from the farmers market.

I recently brought an eight dollar jar of honey from the farmers market to surprise my father. It was unheated and kosher and like the one from Sardinia, made organically. However, the one that  I brought was made upstate New York.

Nevertheless, I am not sure which one was better. I am going to have to purchase a jar of Honey from Gustiamo to really taste the difference.

In preparation for these events I often practice the pronunciation of the words and try to glance at a map of Italy so I will be able to tell someone exactly where the product if from. Beatrice, one of the owners of Gustiamo,  took a video of me talking about the products and encouraging people to buy.

To view the video go to Gustiamo’s blog at http://gustiamo.typepad.com/

And to buy some good organic food visit their website at http://gustiamo.com/

Here is a picture of me showcasing Gustiamo’s items (also taken by Beatrice).