The Feast Of San Gennaro is set to begin this Thursday, September 12th on Mulberry Street in New York’s historic neighborhood of Little Italy. Started in 1926 by newly arrived Neopolitan immigrants, yearning to continue the feast-day traditions of the old country, San Gennaro is a true celebration of New York's ethnic diversity and cultural vibrancy.
The annual festival honors San Gennaro (Saint Januarius), the Patron Saint of Naples, Italy and brings thousands of visitors to Little Italy to take in the food, music, and festivities (yes, there is even a cannoli eating contest). The festival commences on September 12th with the traditional blessing of the stands, where a priest blesses the vendor stalls up and down Mulberry Street, and runs through September 22nd.
In honor of the Feast of San Gennaro, we at Sullivan Street Tea & Spice Company plan on highlighting some of our favorite Italian spices and spice blends.
Bruschetta Seasoning:
Our house blend bruschetta seasoning is an aromatic combination of rich Italian spices, ideal for adding depth to your favorite pasta or tomato sauce. Our bruschetta seasoning is also amazing sprinkled on fresh mozzarella.
Ingredients: organic garlic, organic oregano, organic basil, Calabrian chili flakes, organic parsley, sea salt.
Calabrian Pepper Flakes:
Grown in the Calabrian region of Italy and known as peperoncino, this pepper is fruitier and spicier than your typical red chili. An excellent way to add heat to meat or pasta. Calabrian pepper flakes are also excellent on pizza and antipasto. Keep in mind, the peperoncino is hotter than typical chili flakes, so use according to your heat tolerance.
Fennel Pollen:
Collected from wild fennel flowers, a tiny sprinkle will take your Italian cooking to new heights with a wonderfully floral and sweet accent. This is the “secret” spice of many top Italian chefs, as the aroma of the fennel pollen is impossible to duplicate. Lightly coat pork or chicken prior to roasting or dust across pasta as a finishing touch. Collecting pollen from fennel flowers is a very labor intensive and difficult process thus making this spice one of the most expensive in the world.
Black Truffles are a rare and genuine treasure, hunted primarily in Northern and Central Italy. Our Black Truffle Salt utilizes the unique power of sea salt to intensify the aroma and complex flavors of this exquisite mushroom. Truffle salt is ideal with egg dishes, pasta, mashed potatoes, red meat... even on buttered popcorn.
Ingredients: Atlantic sea salt, black truffles
