Posted on January 24, 2012 in News
ITHACA — Gimme Coffee, Ithaca’s own locally grown coffee company, now with four locations in Tompkins County and another three in New York City, has won a 2012 Good Food Award for the second year in a row for a batch of Colombian coffee it roasted called Finca San Luis.
According to the company, this makes it one of the top ten coffees in the country, as measured against more than 100 other coffee roaster’s entries in the second annual ceremony that recognizes exceptional artisanal foods.
Read full article by Aaron Munzer of the Ithaca Journal
Posted on January 20, 2012 in News, News
Good Food Awards: Should you care to support your local (or not so local) food businesses, the Good Food awards provide a guide to some of the tastiest. — Julia Moskin
More from Diner’s Journal here.
Posted on January 9, 2012 in News, News
The Good Food Awards is kind of like the Oscars, only a touch less glamorous and a lot more focused on cured meat and pickles. This weekend, awards will be given out in categories such as charcuterie, cheese, coffee, and chocolate. If you ask us, those are a lot more exciting than Best Costume Design.
To read more from Jason Henry check it out here!
Posted on in Blog
Since as long as Cristiano (…and his grandparents, and his grandparents’ grandparents) can remember, the Creminelli family has been involved in the artisan meat business. Beginning as an apprentice for his father in his teens, Cristiano has since become a genuine salumiere, helping to expand his family business in Italy, as well as reinvigorating the American craft meat industry by introducing Italian, artisanal techniques.
Cristiano’s initial move to America was the result of an unusual partnership: an artisan meat producer and a consultant to the U.S. Olympic team. The seeds were sown when Chris Bowler, the current president of Creminelli Fine Meats, sourced Cristiano to provide protein for the Olympic athletes during the Olympic Games in Torino. A couple weeks after the games, Chris called to say that he thought there was a lot of opportunity for Cristiano and his craft in the United States. A plane ticket was booked, and, the rest, is history.
However, even after Cristiano decided that he wanted to create his own business in the United States, it took a few years to decide upon the perfect place. The desire to continue using artisanal methods for curing and drying meat accounts largely for why Cristiano ended up settling down in Salt Lake City, UT. “Since the climate is so dry, I can work in the traditional way for 8 or 9 months a year, creating a much more authentic taste.” Utah also happens to be a haven for small pig farms, allowing Creminelli to source locally and responsibly. “On most of these little farms, the pigs are free to range, they are named and part of the family. The animals are treated really well, and you can see this difference in the meat.”
Even though Cristiano still imports some spices from Italy, he has made a big effort to utilize and highlight American-made products as much as possible, building off of the rich landscape of Utah. “I think the meat here is a little better than what I find in Italy, and the abundance of raw materials has made it easy to put everything together. In most of my products 99% of the things I use are from the U.S. and most are local.“ New this year, Cristiano is working on a prosciutto that is made 100% from ingredients found in the United States. “I feel really lucky because I think I’ve arrived in the U.S. at the perfect time, during a renaissance of food, when people are really interested in their food …It’s exciting to put an American spin on our products, try new things and reinterpret old recipes.”
One of the biggest challenges so far has been gaining USDA approval for Cristiano’s artisanal methods, which vastly differ from the way meat is usually cured in the United States. Most producers simply use the acid method, which involves heating the meat up in order to protect against bacteria, essentially cooking the meat. However, Cristiano works with the bacteria itself, culturing it in order to make the meat safe. This allows Creminelli to use less acidity in their products and maintain a process that is as natural as possible. According to Cristiano, winning a Good Food Award has helped to justify these alternative methods and certify that their products do indeed compete with the best.
Cristiano’s delicious salamis have really helped to emphasize that, especially in the world of charcuterie, simplicity is the name of the game. When it comes to ingredients, he states them quite plainly: “Just fresh meat, salt, pepper, and spice.” Exactly the way it should be.
Posted on January 5, 2012 in News
The Good Food Awards roll back into San Francisco for its second year, highlighting the best artisan producers of everything from beer and charcuterie to preserves and spirits.
“The companies behind this year’s 144 Good Food Awards finalists are incredibly diverse, from an eight-person goat cheese dairy in Harrisburg, Missouri to a 400-person brewery in Colorado,” said Sarah Weiner, director of the Good Food Awards. “It’s fascinating to see such different companies united in the values of sustainability and social responsibility, and producing incredibly delicious food.
“Food manufacturing is one of the largest growth industries in the country, and ‘good food’ producers are creating both food and jobs that nourish our communities.
Check out the rest of Virginie Boone’s article here
