Tag: export

Our Vision and Mission: Spirit, Culture, Family, Artisans

18.1.2018

 

A SOCIETY FOR AUTHENTIC MEDITERRANEAN FOOD (S.M.A.F.)

SMAF, a Society for Authentic Mediterranean Food, is also a vision and a mission. Our culture is inspired, not to a political theory, but to a “social” theory, (this explain why our enterprise is called “Society”). We are inspired to “Distributism”, which regards a specific culture of the food and of the more general Civil Society.

 

PROMOTION OF ARTISANS

Our blog intends to promote Distributism, that supports a society of artisans and their culture.

Distributism (also known as distributionism or distributivism is an economic ideology that developed in Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century based upon the principles of Catholic social teaching, especially the teachings of Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Rerum novarum and Pope Pius XI in Quadragesimo anno.

This Distributism, sustained by Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Hilaire Belloc and many others, is influenced by an emphasis, as SMAF today intends to give with its business, on small business, promotion of local culture, and favoring of small production over capitalistic mass production. A society of artisans promotes the distributist ideal of the unification of capital, ownership, and production rather than what distributism sees as an alienation of man from work.

This does not, however, suggest that distributism necessarily favors a technological regression to a pre-Industrial Revolution lifestyle (SMAF, as “distributist” dealer, appreciates and promotes the sale of industrial productions), but a more local ownership of factories and other industrial centers. Products such as food and clothing, according to Distributism, would be preferably returned to local producers and artisans instead of being mass-produced overseas.

Well, our enterprise encourages the local consume of Calabrian products, at the same time intends to make know overseas a non-mass-produced and high quality line of Food & Beverage products, because it will promote knowledge and culture of local artisans.

 

PROMOTION OF FAMILY-OWNED BUSINESSES

OTOH, Distributism thinks that the economic system of a society should therefore be focused primarily on the flourishing of the family unit, but not in isolation. Distributism reflects this doctrine most evidently by promoting the family, rather than the individual, as the basic type of owner; that is, distributism seeks to ensure that most families, rather than most individuals, will be owners of productive property. This is why SMAF Ltd knows and deal with many family-owned companies of the Calabrian Food & Beverage sector.

 

SUPPORT TO SMALL BUSINESSES

Distributism puts great emphasis on the principle of subsidiarity. This principle holds that no larger unit (whether social, economic, or political) should perform a function which can be performed by a smaller unit. Pope Pius XI, in Quadragesimo anno, provided the classical statement of the principle: “Just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the community, so also it is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate organizations can do.”

Therefore, SMAF takes care of small businesses and promote their work and their production.

According to Distributism, any activity of production (which distributism holds to be the most important part of any economy) ought to be performed by the smallest possible unit. This helps support distributism’s argument that smaller units, families if possible, ought to be in control of the means of production, rather than the large units typical of modern economies.

The essence of subsidiarity is concisely inherent to the well-known proverb ‘Give someone a fish and you feed him for a day; teach the person to fish and you feed him for a lifetime‘.

SMAF is proud to develop good relationships with its partners and share knowledge and opportunities.

 

SUPPORT TO LIFE AND SPIRIT OF CALABRIA

Distributism has often been described in opposition to both socialism and capitalism, which distributists see as equally flawed and exploitative.  In contrast, distributism seeks to subordinate economic activity to human life as a whole, to our spiritual life, our intellectual life, our family life”. Therefore SMAF Ltd supports the idea that Calabrian Culture and Cuisine are, first, a fruit of our Spirit and a real value, regardless of the price, the cost or the profit.

Doing that our products will also teach a special happiness to our customers, that to take part to a Greater partnership, that of people working harder for the enjoyment of all.

In Rerum novarum, Pope Leo XIII states that people are likely to work harder and with greater commitment if they themselves possess the land on which they labor, which in turn will benefit them and their families as workers will be able to provide for themselves and their household. This happens in Calabria all days and the Pope puts forward the idea that when men have the opportunity to possess property and work on it, they will “learn to love the very soil which yields in response to the labor of their hands, not only food to eat, but an abundance of the good things for themselves and those that are dear to them.”  This citation clearly states that owning property is not only beneficial for a person and their family, but is in fact a right, due to God having “…given the earth for the use and enjoyment of the whole human race”.

New Life of ‘Nduja in the Kitchen

18.11.2018

A SLOW EVOLUTION 

From its beginning, a poor street salami, to the symbol of Calabrian gastronomy,  ‘nduja has become an almost international product, known not only in Spilinga, in the province of Vibo Valentia, but all over Italy and Europe, crossing regional borders in the last twenty years.

It is a food with a long history, so much so that the first traces lead to the nineteenth century. Very poor origin, even the etymology could date back to that period, with possible derivation from “andouille”; the hypothesis is based on the presence of the Napoleonic army in Calabria. That “andouille” was a French sausage based on tripe (and not only) pork.

Nowadays, ‘nduja is a sausage based on pork entrails which, once seasoned, is cut into slices, boiled, cut into small pieces and used to flavor soups (wild fennel, cabbage, beans).

Today the ‘nduja is produced throughout all the region of Calabria, is a spreadable salami demonized by dieticians for its fat content, unsuitable for palates not prone to spicy, loved by everyone else. Indeed, one of its basic ingredient is chilli pepper, which in Calabria is cultivated, especially, on the plateau of Monte Poro, where Spilinga stands.

 

THE RECIPE

The “recipe” of the ‘ndujais simple. Its realization is however complex: the play of balance between lean and fat meat, between sweet and spicy pepper and between meat, hot pepper and salt is made complicated by the degree of spiciness, which varies significantly even among fruits born from the same plant. The artisan can not follow precise doses and therefore to help him, more than the balance, are the experience and the taste.

It is its advantage the uselessness of adding preservatives of any kind: it is just the bactericidal function of the pepper to guarantee food safety.

At the contrary, certain excesses are an eventual defect of ‘nduja. Indeed, a very unbalanced portion  of salami or the amount of capsaicin (the substance that determines the degree of spiciness) can be often capable to cover the taste of meat and to anesthetize the palate throughout the meal.

It is not, as you might think, a choice made to reduce costs: the chilli, in fact, is much more expensive than meat. Therefore, the secret of a good ‘nduja lies in the correct balance between its components.

However, this is a necessary but not sufficient condition to obtain a perfect salami: in fact, another important role is played by duration of meat processing, which is used to prevent fat rancidity (a rather common defect in low-level products).

Then comes the time of packaging inside the “orba” (the small intestine of the pig, used for the larger size sausages, which are considered the best). Alternatively, is used the “crespone”, a thinner casing, suitable for small-cut nduja.

The bagging phase is completely manual.

The aging lasts from 45 to 90 days and is mainly used to dry the dough which, thanks to the high percentage of fat, is always soft. Some artisans add a further organoleptic note through a slight smoking that contributes to the roundness of taste.

The ‘nduja is not produced only in Spilinga, even if it is right here that a good number of quality craftsmen is concentrated there. In Acri, at the foot of the Sila, is indeed present a certain amount of companies; theirs is a small-scale activity and for this reason it can afford a very short supply chain: Calabrian black pigs reared at home and fed with cereals produced on the farm, sweet and spicy pepper grown in the land owned, small machines (al maximum 60 kg of dough at a time, to prevent it from heating up during preparation). The production phase is rapid: no more than a week passes from the time of slaughter to maturing.

 

THE NEW LIFE OF ‘NDUJA IN THE KITCHEN

The success of the ‘nduja also passes for its rediscovery by the chefs. ‘Nduja, bread and red wine are a typical combination which enriches plates of pasta with sauce of tomatoes and onions, taken at the market, adding also the perfume of mint and bay leaf.

‘Nduja shall be melt over a low flame, mixing it with the pasta in the sauce and at the end sprinkling it with smoked ricotta or semi-seasoned pecorino, being also recommends to never cook the salami but only to heat it, in such a way to facilitate its break-up.

These dishes are the reinterpretation of a traditional Sunday dish, the macaroni with underwire with pork sauce and ‘nduja.

In the home cooking, moreover, ‘nduja has many other uses: in bean soup, spread on bruschetta, mixed with sheep’s ricotta, in the salad of ripe tomatoes enriched by two other products symbol of Calabrian gardens like oregano and onion Tropea.

 

IN THE STREET FOOD

The decided taste of ‘nduja is also a protagonist in the street food world: calzoni, panzerotti, potato croquettes, arancini, supplì, pizzas.

In the street it is a truly extraordinary dish, tasting ‘nduja in combination with a glass of “Pecorello”, an indigenous white vine, or with another local wine, Abbruzzino, accompanying it with an excellent bread kneaded with ‘nduja and, in the autumn, with an emulsion of porcini mushrooms.