Letter from the President

Gianfranco Sorrentino

We would like to dedicate this first of two special edition newsletters to our partners and the title sponsor from the 2008 Vino e Cucina gala, Sassari Chamber of Commerce from the region of Sardinia.

In this issue we will feature some of the producers that come from this beautiful island to provide you with the opportunity to learn about the exceptional local products from Sardinia that you may want to incorporate into your menus.

Sassari is nestled in the Northwestern corner on the Italian island of Sardinia and is one of the island’s most ancient towns and second largest city. Sassari’s cuisine is representative of both the cultures that have inhabited the area as well as the ingredients that have been available locally. Eating your way through Sassari will take you from the land to sea with plentiful meat dishes, a vast array of seafood and everything in the middle from pungent cheeses such as Pecorino Sardo DOP or Fiore Sardo DOP, fragrant olive oils, legumes, bottarga, artisan breads and confectionary.

Gruppo Ristoratori Italiani looks forward to a long partnership with the Sassari Chamber of Commerce.

Respectfully yours,

Gianfranco Sorrentino, President, GRI

Featured Producers of Sardinia

Acqua Smeraldina has been a successful brand for 20 years. Smeraldina water is bottled by ALB Srl directly at the source, with state of the art technology, and distributed through an efficient network that guarantees its consistent presence in the marketplace. Giovanni Maria Solinas, the founder of Smeraldina, transmitted his values - passion, hard work, respect for the product and forward thinking - to his five sons together with a managerial know-how that makes ALB an example of organization and efficiency. The Solinas family has always been ahead of their time by utilizing technology to promote a balanced growth of the company in order to respond to specialized market demands in the foodservice, retail and mass merchandiser’s channels with stylish and sophisticated packaging that enhances the overall image of the product. The prestigious Smeraldina brand is today the leader in the Sardinian market and rapidly growing in domestic and foreign markets.

For more information on Acqua Smeraldina please contact:
Giuseppe Pinna, 414 431 4751
e-mail at gpinna@smeraldina.us
www.acquasmeraldina.it.

ARTIGIANI DEL DOLCE

When we established the company “Artigiani del Dolce” in the year 2000, we thought that our production had to have something different. We personally wanted that our products stood out from the rich offer of Sardinian traditional sweets already on the market.

This is why we have improved classical recipes without altering their essence. We have given them a new life by mixing the excellence of traditional ingredients such as almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts and honey, with the allure of spices and chocolate. At present within our range of products we have combined new proposals with the typical “Sospiri di Ozieri”, “Copulette” and “Papassini”.

Among these new sweets we can mention the “Disizzos”, intriguing mixture of almonds, dark chocolate and orange peel; the “Sentidu” and the “Ammentos”, sweet harmony of hazelnuts and walnuts with honey and chocolate. Noteworthy are also the delicious bars of chocolate: those characterized by the exotic taste of dark chocolate mixed with coffee and anise and those made of milk chocolate flavoured with Sardinian Strawberry Tree Honey.

Without altering the care and devotion that we have inherited by ancient recipes, we have improved the production and preservation of our sweets with the aid of modern technologies, by combining the proverbial organoleptic quality of Sardinian sweets with safety. We pay equal attention to the showing of our products that can count on an original packaging.

PRODUCTS INCLUDE:

Traditional Sospiri - Iced almond paste pralines
Mirth Sospiri - Almond paste pralines flavoured with mirth liqueur and dark chocolate
Chocolate Sospiri - Almond paste pralines covered with dark chocolate
Orange Sospiri - Orange and almond paste pralines covered with dark chocolate
Sentidu ® - Walnut and honey pralines covered with dark chocolate
Ammentos ® - Hazelnut and honey pralines covered with dark chocolate
Disizzos ® - Almond, honey and orange peel pralines covered with dark chocolate

For more information on Artigiani Del Dolce products please contact:
Michele Peano, e-mail peanomi@tiscali.it

LUCREZIO R. DISTILLERIA BERCHIDDA

Lucrezio R. Berchidda’s distillery stands in the very heart of the Vermentino di Gallura DOCG area, where the nature is still kept wild and unchanged. The distillery provides some special equipment for the discontinuous process in bain-marie boilers. The distillery produces first-rate liqueurs and distillates made of the uncontaminated fruits of Sardinia to follow the family tradition and vocation that for generations has been transforming the excellent fruits of the island into authentic delicacies. The desire of innovation, even remaining tied to the local culture and tradition has led the distillery to successfully experiment of new paths of taste. The barrique process is exclusively employed for the traditional products: Filuferru and Mirto, an evolution that has been able to conquer even the most discerning tastes. In 2006 the traditional Filuferru and the Barrique Filuferru, among other products, have been awarded with the golden medal at the Alambicco competition. It is the first time the trademark distillate of Sardinia has received such an important award and is enumerated among the best Italian spirits. “Lucrezio R.” nowadays represents the peculiarities of a land, which is the upholder of old traditions and tastes, through the production of typical Sardinian spirits and distillates in accordance with the centuries-old Sardinian experience.

For more information on Lucrezio R. Berchidda please contact:
Pasquale Rau, e-mail rau.sardegna@tiscali.it

FRATELLI PINNA INDUSTRIA CASEARIA SpA

The “Fratelli Pinna Industria Casearia SpA” has been producing dairy and milk products for more than 80 years and is the leading company in Sardinia for the production of ewe’s milk cheese. The company offers a complete range of top quality cheeses and ricottas, able to meet the needs and standards of any consumers.

Pinna’s wide range of fresh cheeses has been recently enriched by two new products, particularly suited to the requirements of today’s consumers: the “Bianco Sardo”, a fresh, pleasantly salted cheese with a soft texture, and the “Nuraghino”, a fresh fragrant cheese, which combines the tastiness of sheep’s milk with the versatility of mozzarella-type cheeses. Both products are wrapped in protective atmosphere, in order to preserve their freshness and to ensure a long shelf life.

Our line of fine products also includes two types of goat’s cheeses, produced exclusively from Sardinian finest goat’s milk: the “Capra Sarda”, a half-cooked cheese with a sharp characteristic fragrance, and the “Capretto Sardo”, a sweet compact cheese, characterized by the lightness and the unique properties of goat’s milk.

The product range is then completed by our pecorino cheeses (such as the “Pecorino Sardo D.O.P.”, “Regno di Sardegna” and “Pastore del Tirso”), considered the lead products on the market. Among this wide variety of hard – and semi-hard cheeses, the most traditionally important brand cheeses are the “Brigante” and the “Pecorino Romano DOP”, able to combine the ancient Sardinian dairy recipes with the modern consumer tastes.

On demand, almost all cheeses can be packed in different sizes and weights and delivered with personalized packaging, labels and prices, ready to go on the retailer’s shelf.

Our production process observes a strict quality control procedure, which involves all the production phases, from the milk processing to the final product. These procedures are mainly aimed at ensuring the highest nutritional standards and an adequate consumer protection.

Our company’s success is mainly based on the combination of advanced manufacturing technologies and tradition, quality and taste, genuineness and modern gastronomic trends.

In summary, Pinna’s business strategy can be resumed in the Italian pun “Sapere and Sapore” – “Know-how” and “Taste”-.

Products include: Pecorino Romano DOP, Pecorino Sardo Maturo DOP “Medoro”, Pecorino “Brigante”, and Ricotta Salata “Pinna”

For more information please contact:
Fermo Jackle, e-mail fjaeckle@inter-roth.com
INTERCIBUS, 973-543-3132

AZIENDA AGRICOLA FRATELLI PINNA – TISSI

The historical company Fratelli Pinna is situated near the town of Sassari, Sardinia, in an area called "Prato comunale" where one of the best extra- virgin olive oil of Sardinia is produced. This oil named "Antichi Uliveti del Prato" after the denomination of the area, comes from the pressing of the “bosana” olive variety (Bosa is a nice town in the province of Oristano, on the west coast of Sardinia). These special olives are harvested in the period when their color turn from green into black and then they undergo the cold milling process.

The company Fratelli Pinna has 30 cultivated hectares; the lands are located at 250 meters above sea level, facing South and therefore they are very sunny. The company produces an intense fruity olive oil, characterized by the perfume of the Mediterranean soil and by a notable flavour, with a good balance between bitter and spicy.

But Fratelli Pinna don’t produce only olive oil, but also create some delicious in oil products: from the excellent artichokes of the variety of Ittiri, to the asparagus, the little fava beans with dried tomatoes, anchovies and capers, then zucchini and egg plants, cauliflowers and sweet and sour pickled onions, the creams of artichokes, asparagus, tomatoes, and, finally, pickled olives.

For more information please contact:
Gavino Pinna; Antonella Pinna, e-mail info@oliopinna.it
www.oliopinna.it