Respecting the brand philosophy in the packaging design

Posting some amazing pictures from the Salone del Gusto event in Turin, I can’t help myself; I just have to show you the packaging and display set up at the event by Pastificio dei Campi.

When it comes to events it’s always important to show your products from their best angle. In the case of Pastificio dei Campi it’s also a good opportunity to show off the artistic work behind the packaging.

Once you have seen the beautiful and creative packaging idea behind it, it’s not that easy to forget about the brand and the amazingly good pasta.

Pastificio dei Campi has a very strong link between the pasta and the packaging, a design created with great attention. Behind the idea of the packaging a necessity to come up with something solidly built that at the same time would allow the perfect conservation of the pasta. At the same time a dream and an idea to tell the story about a 500 year old pasta tradition and the creation process and at the same time something that would give the purchaser an image and a face of the creators behind the pasta. This dream and idea was realized by the images and phrases written on the 6 faces of the cubes. 

Why the cube? For different reasons: first because in the transport they can be stuffed in a better way and it also makes the shipment safer and easier. It’s also makes the exposition in the shop nicer as it distinguish itself from other more traditional pasta packages. On top of all that the box packaging makes it easier to keep the pasta fresh after the opening.

What differentiates the boxes between is just the size; apart from that they are all designed in the same way. The only thing that personalizes them is the small ribbon with the name of the shape of pasta and the cooking time, the ribbon also works as a guaranty seal. This packaging is shock proof to keep the pasta protected at all times, but it also gives you the possibility to see the product when the box is closed.

The box is carried out in a thick paper material that allows the pasta to breath and to keep away condenses that could destroy the product and the packaging. Our pasta needs care and attention; this is one of the main reasons for why every box is made manually with precision. A final benefit of the box is that it’s to be reused as a container for other products.

Have you seen what a nice stand they created for this Salone del Gusto edition? And each cube and pack is so beautiful that it always tend to leave everyone impressed. You can’t imagine the compliments I receive every time I bring this pasta to my friends.

Here I leave you also a short video of the event to give you a real feel of the mood of the festival in Turin. I hope you will enjoy and that you will be able to participate next time.

Comment (0)

Food excellence in Show in Turin

It started yesterday in Turin the International Salone del Gusto 2010 and Pastificio dei Campi is there!

This is the eighth edition of this biennial event and  one of the most famous international market fair, showcasing high quality food products, accompanied by a rich and varied program of educational and entertaining activities.

Particularly interesting is this year the layout of the exhibition space which evokes the theme of the event – “Food + =  Places” – on a structural level: stands will be organised by territory. Bringing all producers of a region together conveys a sense of place that also recalls the myriad of ways in which the people of a region – food producers and others – are interconnected, creating, in the words of President of Slow Food Carlo Petrini, the culture of a place.

Pasta di Gragnano PGI, from Pastificio dei Campi, in fact is at the Pavilion 3, stand T013, in the area Market. Walking through the Pavilions 2 and 3 you there are the Italian products, divided by their place of origin, while in the Pavilion 1 there are all the products from abroad. Pastificio dei Campi is also present in the stand of the Pasta from Gragnano’s Cooperative.

The Salone, for the last 14 years has been a  special occasion for a direct interaction between producers and consumers, with an  emphasis on education, food quality and  personal involvement… this will be repeated again in this edition and all in 5 days. Impossible to miss it!

The event will be held until the 25th of October in the Lingotto Fiere exhibition center in Turin, concurrently with the Terra Madre global meeting of food communities.

Anyone in Turin in these days? Come to see us in our stand, get the brand new production of Pasta dei Campi and discover our history and traditions. And if you can't really be there with us, Stay tuned on this blog because I will soon post some pictures from the event.

Comment (0)

Some rules you absolutely need to follow.

I have already given you some truly Italian pasta recipes, some have been easier, some longer and some a bit particular.

However I will now take a step back just to make sure that you know the first basic, but so important ground stones of the Italian kitchen. By this, what I’m trying to say is: this post will be a basic but important learning session you just can’t miss.

First of all let’s take a big saucepan or stockpot, large enough to contain all the pasta you like to cook. This rule is especially important in case you are preparing long pasta. Fill up the pot with 1 liter of water for every 100 gr of pasta. All this water is to allow the pasta to not stick to each other and to maintain a constant temperature during the cooking process. When the water starts to boil add 10-12gr of salt (the big grains one) per liter. Don’t add it before the water starts to boil; salty water takes longer time before it starts to boil.

After a couple minutes you can add the pasta and increase the heat to maintain the water boiling. Now, let’s stir, it’s better to use a wooden spoon when stirring and to do it a couple of times during the process. This is an important part of the pasta cooking process since the pasta needs to be emerged in the water in order not to stick to one another.

Based on the shape and quality of the pasta, the cooking time will be different. It’s normally written on the bag but the cooking time also depends on your individual taste too. If the pasta is not Pastificio dei Campi, I always try it some minutes before the time indicated on the bag in order to not have it over cooked. With the pasta from Gragnano, you can be sure that at that time the pasta will be “al dente”, which means not too hard but not overcooked… just perfect!

However you can break the pasta with a fork and try it before draining it, just in case. Never add cold water at the end: that removes the starch that helps hold the sauce.

Now the pasta is ready to be combined with the Italian sauce of your choice. There are, as you already know, some too choose from. My tip for the part is to continue to keep an eye on the blog and you will have lots of nice ideas for your favourite pasta sauce. For now, at least you know the secret for the perfect start.

Comment (0)

Loose Cannons will be shown on monday the 18th of October.

The London Film Festival has started also this year bringing on screen lots of international movies too. And one is particularly interesting for you, readers of this blog, because it’s very much related with … pasta.

I’m very pleased to announce the screening of a good bunch of Italian films in this edition:
 
DRAQUILA – ITALY TREMBLES by Sabina Guzzanti
LE QUATTRO VOLTE by Michelangelo Frammartino
OUR LIFE by Daniele Luchetti
DARK LOVE by Antonio Capuano
MALAVOGLIA (THE HOUSE BY THE MEDLAR TREE) by Pasquale Scimeca

But the one I was expecting the most is Loose Cannons (Mine Vaganti) from the director Ferzan Ozpetek, one of my personal favorite.

The reason why I was especially expecting this movie is because, after a long time Ozpetek makes a welcome return to comedy and in Italy everyone said it was really nice and funny. On top of that the movie is set in a pasta-factory in Puglia during a family get-together and speaks about the still taboo subject of gayness in Italy. When the family business is to be handed over to one of the sons, the things don’t go exactly as expected.

“Director Ferzan Ozpetek (“Facing Windows,” “A Perfect Day”) takes a playful approach to this family dramedy, matching a critique of provincial Southern values with an eccentric cast of characters that includes a philandering conservative father, a boozing aunt, a pair of disgruntled maids, and Tommaso’s bubbly friends. As each family member’s quirks slowly come to the surface, Ozpetek’s heartfelt film reveals that Tommaso isn’t the only one struggling to navigate between la bella figura (a good public image) and his true desires." [Synopsis courtesy of the Tribeca Film Festival]

So the story is not just interesting and entertaining, but it’s also exasperated by a very traditional environment: the Cantone family, pasta makers from generation and owners of a Pasta factory in the south of Italy.

It’s the same Ozpetek to admit at The Tribeca Festival how important the location was to him in shooting his film…

“Eight years ago I visited Lecce in Apulia for the first time and simply fell in love with it. There is a marvelous atmosphere in Lecce with the beauty of its architecture, the surrounding landscape and the excellent food, all of which chimed with the story. It is very rich in traditions, just like the family in the story, and the setting became almost an additional character.”

So here is another way to know and speak about pasta and this specific Mediterranean atmosphere that you can experience with this movie: you can almost smell the grain, touch the pasta just made and feel our tradition.

 
I hope you will enjoy this movie like it happened in America after the Tribeca Festival and if you don’t have the chance to come to London, from December it will be at the cinema nationwide.

Comment (0)

Some tips to recognize a really good pasta from the most common one.
 

After speaking about the recent English passion for food, and after the quick look at some tech tools that can help you in the kitchen, it's time I gave you some important related tips starting with some basic facts.

 

For an Italian dinner, pasta is your main ingredient and has to be chosen with care and attention: you will need to keep these tips in mind when you want to buy and eat the best pasta!

What really determines a good quality of pasta? Color, texture, smell, ingredients, origin and packaging. And I will explain why!

It all starts from the durum wheat. For Pasta dei Campi for example, it uses just italian grain, taken from an area of about 250 km around Gragnano. For the Pastificio it's very important that the grain has been cultivated in a place with historical tradition in a region like Puglia, Basilicata, Molise or Irpinia. This durum wheat has a protein content of around the 14%, compared to a normal value of about 10,5% found in classic production. It is also rare to find this type of pasta in Italy. This  amount of protein will give the consistency, taste and smell to the pasta.

 

The harvest happens just in the right moment of the maturation of the grain, the stocking follows straight away and it’s done in the same area for a perfect conservation of the prime product.
This will then be milled with care (with a low power machine) to maintain all it's original fragrance. The preparation of the mix is a delicate equilibrium between lots of components: the water temperature, semolina grain and the climate conditions. The pasta maker will coordinate them in a way to always reach the best mix possible.

Another very important factor is the bronze extraction. This material entering in contact with the pasta, will create that rough surface that will help the union with the sauce. But this has to be made in the right measure: not too rough and not too smooth.

Then there is the drying process that has to be slow and at a low temperature to maintain the fragrance. It is essential to complete all of this work and the work mentioned previously in the best way possible. This will give the pasta the right color, which should be yellowish and not amber or orange.

Finally there is the packing, completed by hand to avoid destroying the pasta. The combination of these methods should result in the highest quality pasta.

So next time you are in the supermarket, check where the pasta is made, what the ingredients are, if it looks a bit rough, and finally if the color is yellowish and not amber, dark or closer to orange.

Then if you will try Pastificio dei Campi, you will really understand the difference!

Comment (0)

From the harvest to the table and in your pasta

The plan for this weekend was to go to the Food Harvest Festival organized in the Southbank center over the weekend. That's was a nice occasion to know what are the most common seasonal products in England or if there were some totally new and interesting to try... Maybe with some pasta! Unfortunately, cause the weather the market has been cancelled, at least on Sunday so I couldn't buy anything for my dinner.

I decided instead going to the market near my house and to look for products from the English farmers. I saw some beautiful broccoli sprouts that I thought could have been great with some nice strong ingredients like anchovies and garlic... and I thought about one old recipe from the south of Italy. With some short pasta like the Pennoni, it could have been perfect.

 

Ingredients:  

- 150gr broccoli sprouts
 
- 200gr Pennoni Pastificio dei Campi
 
- 4 anchovies in olive oil
 
- one spoon extra virgin olive oil
 
- some rosemary
 
- 2 garlic cloves
 
- a big chili
 
- a spoon of fresh bread crumbs

- shaved Parmesan cheese or Pecorino Romano
 
Boil the sprouts until almost ready but still a bit hard. Put the garlic in a pan with the olive oil, then add the anchovies, the rosemary and chili all cut in little pieces. Let everything cook and at the end add the points of the broccoli sprouts drained form the water.

Use the water of the broccoli to cook the pasta and when ready, just  place it in the pan to make it absorb the sauce and get mix with the rest of the ingredients. Then add the spoon of bread crumbs (better if before you can toast it a bit in a clean pan) and mix again. Serve with some Parmesan or Pecorino romano cheese and the dish is ready.
 
The next market will take place in mid October and will be all about cheese and wine! Let's hope the weather will help us this time, but in the meantime let me know what do you think of this recipe!

Comment (0)

Ready for the new pasta?

Tomorrow it's definitely starting the autumn and with it lots of new fresh products will be on the market: mushrooms, pumpkins, truffles and chestnuts. But September it's also the time of the year when in the countryside everyone is very busy. It’s harvest time and tomatoes, olives, grapefruits and a big quantity of fruits and vegetables are at their best!

In reality it's not the same for the pasta or better for the grain. The best time to cut the grain is instead in June-July and here you can see the amazing images from the harvest of this year! The sun, the colors of the earth in Gragnano and the power of the tradition behind this event, can't just leave you indifferent!

However, what instead is happening in September it’s the use of the grain collected in June to create the new pasta. After the harvest, the grain goes in the process to become durum wheat semolina and now it's exactly the time when it's ready to be used! This is something that needs to happen not too quickly to give time to the traditional process and to make an high quality product.

So waiting for the new pasta to come, I will go to the harvest market this sunday to pick up some fresh seasonal products and prepare a new recipe!

Are you coming too?

Comment (0)