Real Italian Products

Di Palo Selects.com (http://www.dipaloselects.com/) carries artisan foods of Italy and communicates the rich culinary traditions and stories behind each hand-selected product. Di Palo Selects.com offers Italy’s finest cheeses, pastas, salumi, olive oils, balsamic vinegars and more, personally selected by Lou Di Palo. I tried the Piave Vecchio.

Piave is an intensely flavored, hard, cow’s milk cheese produced in the northeastern region of the Veneto. Piave’s flavor calls to mind fragrant fruit and nuts. Like Parmigiano Reggiano, Piave is made using a combination of two milkings (from the evening and the following morning) from cows which graze on fresh plants in the mountain pastures. Piave can be eaten at the age of 6 months or aged up to a year or more—the cheese gains character as it matures. A real crowd pleaser for cheese connoisseurs and novices alike, Piave Vecchio, aged 8-12 months, is a perfect choice for a cheese plate. Its unique nutiness lingers in the mouth and pairs beautifully with red wine.

I also tasted the Chestnut Honey from Prunotto. It’s bottled throughout the summer months as different blossoms flourish in the region of Piemonte. Chestnut is a honey with personality. A deep, robust, and slightly bitter honey, with a beautiful light brown color, chestnut honey holds its own with salty cheeses, in sauces and savory dishes, and it also contributes a unique complexity to cakes.

You can't go wrong with the San Marzano tomatoes. They're great for cooking an authentic Italian tomato sauce. Check out their website to see all of the other products available.