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Especially Puglia

From Puglia to your table

Harvest Season is Here!

Five reasons we’re excited about the 2018 harvest

It’s the most wonderful season: harvest season! We’re in Puglia right now, helping our farmers press their ripe olives into fresh, fragrant extra-virgin olive oil. We’re so excited for you to taste the incredible oil. Throughout Italy, it’s been a difficult harvest. But our farmers take impeccable care of their groves and focus on quality over quantity, so you can count on impressive olive oil this year.

Pre-order your fresh-pressed extra-virgin olive oil now, and you’ll receive your package by the middle of December. They are perfect for holiday cooking and gifting! Here are five reasons we wait all year for the olive harvest:

Freshness Matters

The harvest happens only once a year in autumn—right about now. When it comes to age, olive oil is more like juice than wine: fresh is best…by far. Time is an enemy of olive oil, causing it to slowly but surely oxidize and degrade. Our olives are pressed within eight hours of being handpicked to ensure maximum freshness. As you’re reading this, olives are being harvested, freshly pressed, and bottled in our family farms in Puglia.

Supporting Family Farms

Our oil is produced organically on small, family-owned farms—many of whom have been tending olive groves for countless generations. We work directly with these farms (we’re here now!). By participating in our international CSA programs and enjoying our products, you’re directly supporting family-run farms and independent artisans. When your oil arrives, you’ll know the people behind the product. You’ll be able to taste the terroir, sense of place, tradition, and care that goes into every bottle.

Transparency & Quality

Producing real-deal extra virgin olive oil and maintaining its quality through transport and the supply chain is incredibly difficult. Most ‘extra virgin’ oils on grocery store shelves do not deserve that status. They are past their prime, or they were never extra virgin to begin with.

We’re proud to offer olive oil whose quality and integrity you can trust. By working hand-in-hand with master farmers and craftsmen and remaining true to the ethos of small-batch, artisanal production, we offer some of the purest extra virgin olive oils in Southern Italy. You’ll receive an adoption certificate with the number of your tree and information about the groves and farm, so you know precisely where your oil comes from. By emphasizing sustainable practices, small-batch production and short, transparent supply chains, we guarantee the most authentic taste of Puglia.

Healthy & Delicious

Quality olive oil boasts myriad health benefits, like protecting against cardiovascular disease and high cholesterol. It’s a mainstay of Mediterranean diet, considered the healthiest diet in the world. Extra-virgin olive oil is rich in polyphenol compounds—a kind of antioxidant. There are over 30 compounds that we know of in olive oil, which is more than in blueberries. It also helps that the freshest, best olive oil tends to be the healthiest and the most delicious. A healthy life isn’t all about what you eat, it’s also about howyou eat. This season, slow down and take some time to enjoy a meal with people you love.

 

The Perfect Holiday Gift

Check your food-loving friends and family off your list. These are olive oils you want to have in your life, on your table and in your kitchen. Three liters of single-harvest extra virgin olive oil from plus a ceramic bottle in which to decant your oil, made by Pugliese artisans and packed in a hand-crafted wooden crate make a lovely present. No wrapping necessary. 

Adopt an olive tree and share the love!

 

Here’s why our gourmet olive oils are your best choice for this season!

It’s that time of the year again! The holiday season is just around the corner. And this year, we have added three new groves, which means three new gourmet olive oils for you to explore and celebrate with!

At Especially Puglia, all our extra-virgin olive oils (EVOO) are made using single-sourced olives that are harvested in different groves – making each olive oil truly unique. So pre-order your 2017 harvest olive oil gift boxes now to get them by mid-December, right around the holidays. Here’s more on why you should:

Harvest in 2017 has been excellent!  

Single-source gourmet olive oils made using olives from our family groves.
Handpicked olives at the olive press in Puglia.

Thanks to the olives being in the pink of health this year, the harvest has been par excellence. And you know what that means – the oil is of truly exceptional quality. We are taking limited quantities of pre-orders for our 2017 gourmet olive oils. 

Freshly-pressed gourmet olive oils

Gourmet olive oils from Puglia, Italy
Olives are pressed within eight hours of being picked to ensure the best quality olive oil.

As Julia Child once said – “You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients.” One of the freshest ingredients you can use in your food is our olive oils. Our olives are pressed within eight hours of being handpicked to ensure maximum freshness. And if you’re reading this in Autumn, it means olives are being harvested, freshly pressed, and bottled in our family farms in Puglia.

High on health and happiness

You are what you eat! No wonder then that Italians are such healthy and happy folks. Their healthy Mediterranean diets make generous use of extra-virgin olive oil.

EVOO’s much talked about health benefits are due to the high level of polyphenols – one of the many antioxidants found in olive oil. However, their numbers do take a downswing over time, which is why it is recommended that you consume only freshly-pressed EVOO.

We work with family-owned olive estates to bring single-source olive oil to our customers.
Michele’s grandfather who is the first-generation olive oil maker in Puglia.

Crafted by our family farmers

“Every family in Puglia has an olive grove for personal use and they can take their olives to the press. On my visit, there was a woman watching over the pressing of her olives to make sure they didn’t get mixed up with someone else’s.” One of our FarmStay guests, Jessica, who was in Puglia recently, said this on her Instagram account. The craft of producing authentic olive oil using traditional methods is a way of life for us here in Puglia and has been kept alive by local farmers and producers for many centuries now. At Especially Puglia, one of our biggest endeavors is to share this age-old Pugliese tradition with the rest of the world.

100% authentic olive oils

At Especially Puglia, we have redefined how food is made, distributed and consumed. Our farm-to-table approach ensures that you get the most authentic extra-virgin olive oil.  We have made the entire process transparent to our customers. Our FarmStay program allows consumers to become an active part of the life on our farms, and get a hands-on experience of how we actually make our gourmet olive oils.

Adopt An Olive Tree gift box makes for the perfect gift this holiday season!
Especially Puglia’s gourmet olive oils from Puglia.

 

 

 

This Autumn, Come experience the traditions of Slow Food in Puglia

Especially Puglia – an international CSA for olive oil and artisanal food – invites you on a week-long culinary adventure through the Southern Italian region of Puglia. This Fall, join founder Michele Iadarola and an intimate group of guests for a “Farm Stay” vacation that is one part discovery, one part love affair, and three parts delicious Pugliese cuisine. Curated around participating in the annual Autumn olive harvest, this Farm Stay is for those who want experience first-hand what it means to grow and serve Slow Food in the Italian farm-to-table tradition.

Especially Puglia partners with small family-owned farms and olive groves in Puglia, including one that Michele’s family has cultivated for generations. The region of Puglia produces over a third of Italy’s olive oil, and the Pugliese take deep pride in the worldwide reputation of its exceptionally high quality extra virgin olive oil. And after tasting the robust flavors of Puglia’s EVOO, it will become clear why Especially Puglia is bringing the oil to cooks in the States. The passion for sustainable agricultural traditions and regional cuisine at the heart of the Slow Food movement is alive and thriving in Puglia and its harvest.

The Farm Stay itinerary unfolds the story of Italy’s rustic culinary and cultural traditions with each turn. Michele is a masterful tour guide in a region he knows like the back of his hand. In addition to harvesting olives and getting to know Especially Puglia’s partner farmers, you’ll rove through idyllic Italian towns, including Pietramontecorvino, Lucera, and the UNESCO World Heritage site of Castel del Monte. You’ll enter kitchens bursting with hospitality and learn how to cook authentic Pugliese recipes, such as orecchiette pasta – and then eat with the chef. You’ll learn the secrets of traditional canning methods from local artisans, taste hyper-local wines, and let regional musicians introduce you to the music that is the heartbeat of Puglia. Each night, you’ll rest your head in one of the historic farmhouses, or masserie, dotting the rolling hills of the Pugliese landscape.

Caroline, one of last year’s Farm Stay guests, shares her reflections on the adventure:

“There are innate, predictable expectations of what an American tourist will experience in Italy.  But in choosing the road too well traveled, we’ve neglected what this country is at its heart and what it truly has to offer. With pinpoint–and at times, almost unfathomable–accuracy, Michele Iadarola and Especially Puglia’s Farm Stay delivers.  This was a tailored experience designed by Michele to reflect a culture built around love of family, friends, country, and food. The historic riches are undeniable, the beauty indescribable, and the experience unforgettable. Leave the tourists behind in Florence, Venice, and Rome.  Instead, choose to immerse yourself in a rare opportunity to experience unending culinary treasures, surrounded by the most genuine of people, in the most beautiful landscape Italy has to offer.” 

Take a peak into our 2016 tours with a video of the olive harvest, a glimpse into a cheesemaking demo, and our galleries above. Read on for details on how to register for this year’s Farm Stays, and learn more on Especially Puglia’s Farm Stay page or by emailing FarmStay@especiallypuglia.com.

Tour duration: 1 week
Dates: October 29 – November 4, November 5-11 and November 12-18
Sign up here by the end of May.

5 Reasons to Visit Puglia this Fall (Hint: Olives!)

Olive harvest in Puglia.
Olive harvest in Puglia.
Visit Puglia this Fall and be a part of the olive harvest! The olive harvest season is one of the most beautiful times to visit Puglia, the olive oil capital of Italy. Join us for a week-long culinary adventure: participate in our partner farms’ olive harvests, learn what goes into the making of the highest-quality extra-virgin olive oil, prepare traditional Pugliese meals, and savor local wines with our family farmers.

 

Here are our top 5 reasons to book your FarmStay today:

 

Reconnect with your inner foodie! You’ll learn the rich traditions of Pugliese agriculture and cuisine. Pick olives alongside locals, watch the olives be pressed, and taste the freshly-pressed oil with home-made bread. Cooking with locals, you’ll discover at least 3 new dishes and wines to pair with them – a foodie’s Italian dream!
Learn to make regional specialties with the locals.
Learn to make regional specialties with the locals.

Become an olive oil connoisseur! Through participating in our olive harvest, our partner farmers will help you refine your palate for the “real thing” – and learn the story behind true EVOO!

Leave the planning to us! We’ve curated an adventure through the most authentic food experiences in Puglia. Experience southern Italy like a local would – our FarmStay program includes a stay in a traditional masseria (farmhouse), waking up to olive tree groves and the scent of fresh bread, visiting UNESCO heritage sites, and sampling delicious local produce (think freshly made pasta and sea urchins fresh from the Adriatic)! All you need to do is book your flight to the region, and we’ll take care of the rest.

You can book as a group! Find those foodie friends and family, and do this Fall’s vacation Italian style!

Italians know how to make you feel at home. Expect the most genuine hospitality! You’ll be welcomed into our homes and farms, and you’ll leave with lasting connections to the region and its cuisine. We know you’ll want to come back, so you’ll have the chance to book for the next year at the end of your trip!

To learn more about our FarmStay tour, visit: www.especiallypuglia.com/farmstay.

A quintessential Italian recipe for Father’s Day

With Father’s Day just around the corner, here is a very special Italian recipe that’s easy to make and dads will love – Frittata con asparagi selvatici (that is, frittata with wild asparagus).

A Pugliese specialty made using farm eggs, wild asparagus and Especially Puglia’s extra virgin olive oil.

Homemade frittata, a Pugliese specialty

Serves 4

Ingredients:

250 g asparagus trimmed, stem ends discarded, cut into 2 inch lengths, coarse sea salt, 6 large eggs, 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, freshly cracked pepper, 1/2 cup just grated pecorino, 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1 clove garlic, peeled, crushed, and finely minced

Preparation:

Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof frying pan over medium heat. Toss the asparagus and garlic and season lightly with coarse sea salt. Cook for a few minutes until just tender.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with fine sea salt, generous helping of pepper and pecorino.

Pour in the egg mixture, tilting the pan to distribute it. Lower the flame and cook the frittata for 5 minutes, lifting its cooked edges every once in a while, permitting the uncooked batter to flow beneath.

When the underside is deeply crusted, transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 10 minutes allowing the topside to cook, until golden.

Remove the pan from the oven and slide the frittata onto a plate.

   

Contact Us

Especially Puglia
c/o Industry City
67 35th St., Ste. C536
Brooklyn, NY 11232
+1 (718) 801-8844
info@especiallypuglia.com