ABBONDANZA!

Team Abbondanza had one of these wonders of the world bestowed upon us by noted writer, tour guide and historian Renee Restivo. We had sampled some during the NASFT Show, but we wanted to wait a few days to get it home and try it…

Pane di Altamura is simply made of water and flour. It rises without any special leavening agent, and once completely cooked can last up to 6 or 7 days!

We just sliced ours open. What we discovered was a delicious rustic bread with a nicely balanced flavor. We enjoyed ours with some olive oil from Italy, but could just as easily have used a nice pasta sauce for dipping.

We hope to use some of it (if we don’t stop eating it) in some authentic recipes from the Alta Murgia area in Puglia.

The following description comes directly from the Consorzio Difesa Pane Tipico Altamurano, the governing body that ensures compliance for the production of this DOP wonder:

“Altamura bread—a staple food of the people of the Alta Murgia area in Puglia, was traditionally made in very large loaves. In the old days, it was customary to knead the dough at home and then take it to public ovens to be baked. In order to distinguish the loaves, the bakers would stamp them with the initials of the head of the family that owned the dough before placing them in their ovens.

Pane di Altamura is a very crisp, fragrant bread. Its crumb, the soft part of the bread, is the color of straw and soft to the touch. Its most distinctive characteristic, however, is that it keeps for a long time, an essential quality for a bread that, dipped briefly in boiling water and dressed with olive oil and salt, provided nutrition to peasants and shepherds for a week or more in isolated farms scattered in the hills of Alta Murgia.

The earliest written document describing the Altamura bread is Horatio’s “Satires” in which the Roman poet recalls that during a trip to his native land in the spring of A.D. 37 he tasted “the world’s most delicious bread—so delicious, in fact, that the discerning traveler stacks up on it for the rest of his journey.”

In an era closer to ours, the 1527 statute of the town of Altamura dedicates numerous paragraphs outlining the duties of the town’s bakers, including the taxes they had to pay to the authorities.”

[New York] Abbondanza! was present this evening when winners were announced for the 37th sofi Awards for the outstanding foods and beverages of the year. Presented by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) the awards honor the outstanding specialty foods and beverages of the year in 33 categories. “sofi” stands for specialty outstanding food innovation.

The awards were presented at the Summer Fancy Food Show by noted chef Ming Tsai at a red-carpet event at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York.

Abbondanza! will soon feature profiles on both the Silver Finalists and Gold Winners whose product(s) fall within the realm of Italian food and beverage products. But for now, we are very pleased to offer congratulations to all the 2009 sofi Gold Winners in each and every category:

• Appetizer, Antipasto, Salsa or Dip—Argo Fine Foods Tzatziki
• Baked Goods, Baking Ingredient or Cereal—Mari’s New York Caramel Sea Salt Brownie
• Cheese or Dairy Product—Cypress Grove Chevre Truffle Tremor
• Chocolate—John Kelly Chocolates Truffle Fudge Bites - Dark Chocolate with French Grey Sea Salt
• Classic—Sarabeth’s Kitchen Blood Orange Marmalade
• Cold Beverage—Aliseo Foods Fresh Squeezed Blood Orange Juice
• Condiment—Au Printemps Gourmet/Brickstone Fine Foods Caramelized Onion and Blood Orange Confit
• Confection—Dufflet Caramel Crackle ^TM - Almond & Pistachio
• Cookie—Desserts On Us Laceys® Dark Chocolate Almond
• Cooking Sauce or Flavor Enhancer—Appledore Cove Seaside Barbecue Sauce
• Cracker—34 Degrees 34? Rosemary Crispbread
• Dessert or Dessert Topping—PreGel AMERICA, Inc. Pink Grapefruit Super Sprint
• Diet and Lifestyle Product—Kitchen Table Bakers Aged Parmesan Mini Crisps
• Food Gift—O Olive Oil O Balsamic Vinegar Trio
• Frozen Savory—Sukhi’s Gourmet Indian Foods Sukhi’s Samosa with Chutney
• Hot Beverage—Jayone Foods, Inc. Yuzu Citrus Tea
• Innovation In Packaging Design or Function—Vervacious Vervacious Collection
• Jam, Preserve, Honey or Nut Butter—Magnolia Honey Company Raspberry William
• Meat, Pâté or Seafood—Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Meats Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Bacon
• Non-Food Specialty Item—Wildly Delicious Fine Foods Petite Maisons’ Red Brie Baker
• Oil—Tesori of Sicily Terraliva “Cherubino” Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Pasta Sauce—Dave’s Gourmet, Inc. Dave’s Gourmet Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce
• Pasta, Rice or Grain—Bove’s of Vermont Bove’s Lasagna
• Perishable Foodservice Product—Ciao Bella Gelato Company Key Lime Graham Cracker Gelato
• Pet Product—DOGSWELL VEGGIE LIFE® HAPPY HIPS® Chicken & Apple
• Salad Dressing—Lucini Italia Co. Delicate Cucumber & Shallot Artisan Vinaigrette
• Shelf-Stable Foodservice Product—Sid Wainer & Son Specialty Produce & Specialty Foods Sakurachi a Yuzu Marmalade
• Snack Food—Anette’s Chocolate Factory Triple Nut Kentucky Bourbon Brittle
• Soup, Stew Bean or Chili (TIE)—
• Elena’s Mediterranean Stew
• San Angel Mole Co. San Angel Mole Cascabel Sauce
• USDA-Approved Organic Product—Organic Nectars Pistachio Gelato
• Vinegar—Ritrovo Italian Regional Foods Ritrovo Selections Aged Balsamic Vinegar
• Product Line—DeMedici Imports, Ltd. A L’Olivier
• New Product—New England Herbal Foods’ Danielle Fruit Chips - Roasted Coconut

Competition was strong this year, with 1,997 entries across all 33 categories. This spring, a national panel of specialty food experts narrowed the field to 128 Silver Finalists during five days of judging at NASFT’s offices in New York City. More than 550 buyers at the Summer Fancy Food Show cast ballots to select the gold winners. The results were tabulated by an outside accounting firm this afternoon. The Summer Fancy Food Show ends tomorrow, June 30.

“A sofi Award ensures that a company’s product will be noticed by discerning buyers of specialty food and beverages across the country and around the world,” said Ann Daw, president of the NASFT. “This year’s winners show that innovation and excellence continue to thrive in our industry.”