whizzing pilfer: 12 Flavors, 12 memories for Christmas

Sunday, December 23, 2012

12 Flavors, 12 memories for Christmas | Ritrovo Italian Regional Foods

Posted By Ilyse Rathet

Tis the season, and this week we eagerly and mouth-wateringly composed our RITROVO? Holiday Party menu with Chef Michael Easton of the newly relocated Il Corvo in Seattle. We wanted to honor our staff and supporters with a very special gathering around the RITROVO? table. We have entrusted this auspicious event to Chef Michael in part because of his magical use of Ultimo Forno Flour to make what we think is the best pasta in our area.

Together with Chef Michael we have composed a menu of many flavors that honor some of the many special events and moments that we have experienced here at RITROVO? throughout this year, 2012.

Here is a sneak preview of our menu, and our special memories associated with each flavor:

For our antipasti we will enhance Chef Michael?s offerings with Casina Rossa Caperberries, in honor of Casina Rossa?s amazing sofi? gold win for Outstanding Pasta Sauce at the Summer Fancy Food Show in June.

We will drink sparkling wine to toast a successful year, with lots of new partnerships, customers, products and press and also a wonderful new warehouse location.

There will be nibbles of RITROVO?-Miller Farms Truffle & Salt Almonds with sparkling wine to toast our partner Kent Miller and his wonderful appearance at the Seattle Cheese Festival in May of this year.

Chef Michael will be baking a rich, warm foccaccia with Ultimo Forno Durum Wheat Flour as a reminder? of our eye-opening visit to the grain-growing region of Basilicata and the dedicated local bakers we met there.

In our pasta dishes, also made with Ultimo Forno Durum Wheat Flour, we had wanted to include Maida Golden Tomato as its sun-shiny flavor is a vivid evocation of amazing sunny days we spent in Campania in October.? We can?t wait to taste this in Chef Michael?s version of the classic amatriciana using the golden, rather than red, tomato.

Our salad course will feature Acetorium Black Currant Vinegar, a nod to all the fall blueberries, black currants (from Washington?s River Farm), and raspberries we muddled and mixed when testing versions of our new Bevivo Drinking Balsamic.

We could not celebrate without asking Chef to cook up some Michele Ferrante Controne Beans, to serve with his house-roasted porchetta.? We ate a theme meal of these beloved beans at Michelin-starred Torre del Saracino restaurant in VIco Equense near Sorrento with Michele himself ? just three months ago.

The finishing oil of choice for our evening will be Marino Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which took home a Bronze Medal prize for their olive oil category at the Olio Capitale fair in Trieste this year. A deep Sicilian taste of Marino Fennel Seeds rolled into the porchetta will honor the upcoming wedding of oil producer Katia Marino.

And all of the dishes will be salted with Piran Salt Pans Salt Flowers, which this month becomes part of one of RITROVO??s successful collaborations. This time we have joined Ultimo Forno?s baking skills with the elegant saltiness of the salt to create a new RITROVO SELECTION?: L?Ultimo Bacio? Salt-n-Chocolate Crunchy Cookies.

Throughout our meal we will be sipping special wines, but also our new groundbreaking Bevivo Drinking Vinegar which will get a sibling white version, Bevivo Bianco early in 2013.? Chef Michael promises also to incorporate Bevivo Rosso into a dessert, either a zabaglione or as a pear-poaching liquid.

Finally or our cheese course, we will drizzle 2012 Marino Organic Thyme Honey over some special cheeses chosen by Chef Michael, and to remind us of the sweet memories and sweet success of 2012. Look also for a new line of honeys from ADI Apicoltura, which we visited this Spring to secure the full harvest of 2012 Rosemary Honey.

Thanks to all our special suppliers, customers, supporters, and staff.? Look for more news and photos of our 2012 Holiday party on our next post.

Buon Appetito e Tanti Auguri!

RITROVO 12 Flavors