ITALIAN FOOD & TRUFFLES
It goes without saying that all chefs want to work with only the best fine ingredients, but this is often not always possible.
Most fine ingredients from many chefs are the result of a phone call to a supplier, who has more sales background, rather than as a chef in the kitchen. Therefore, the discussion is often focused on price and quantity, as opposed to quality, consistency and value. Nicola Grendele has used an established career as a chef for over ten years in fine restaurants in Italy, England and Sweden and has understood the importance of fine ingredients, especially how it affects the dining experience.
Sending plates to a dining room that is not only gastronomically creative but also leaves a lasting impression on guests' tastes.
Nicola believes that this is the ultimate satisfaction for a chef, "That's why chefs love what they do." As he moved on to the next chapter in his food career, Nicola felt the need to remove his apron, but was still connected to the environment that had become his second home kitchen. He saw an opportunity to redefine how chefs and individuals who value the best ingredients buy their products,and so began the Italiensk mat & tryffel story at the end of 2018.
Italian after birth and with strong contacts to his home country, Nicola and his team buy all their ingredients from the best regions in Italy, based on personal contact with their suppliers who have proven consistent in meeting the high demands of Italiensk mat & tryffel customers.
Italiensk mat & tryffel provides a personalized, tailored service with high quality truffles and caviar for kitchens and individuals throughout Sweden who value only the best ingredients.
Business ethics and business model are centered on these key values: quality, consistency and value.
CAVIAR
The word Caviar only refers to sturgeon eggs that are subjected to a salting process, all eggs derived from other fish species (salmon, trout, lumpfish, etc.) are classified as "Caviar substitutes". Historically, the best Caviar has been sourced from the Caspian Sea between Russia and Iran.
This area was known to have the largest population of wild sturgeon used to make caviar, due to uncontrolled fishing in the late 90's all species of sturgeon were placed on CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) because they risked eradication. Since then, the entire legal market for Caviar worldwide has been sourced from farmed sturgeon.
The whole Caviar has a different ripening time, which can vary from 8 to 20+ years.
TRUFFLE
In the world of gourmet food, there is a treasure that is literally and figuratively worth its weight in gold, truffles, especially the highly coveted white variety that is the pinnacle of a gourmet experience. They can be very expensive and used in the highest kitchen, but they are harvested in an old tradition that has little to do with gourmet sophistication.
Truffles are once believed to grow in places where lightning strikes, but there is a much more scientific explanation for their existence.
All types of truffles are related to fungi and are known as hypogenic fungi. Like mushrooms, truffles have a system with root-like structures, but unlike mushrooms, truffles never appear from the surface. Instead, truffles are formed underground near the root system of a tree and are similar to how porcini mushrooms feed on the nutrients in nearby trees.
Truffles are the "fruit" of another mushroom / tree relationship. The fungus that produces truffles can only survive under certain soil conditions such as those created from oak, willow and linden.
When attached to a root, the fungus will produce one truffle per year with each type of tree that gives the truffle a distinct aroma and taste. The reason for the low supply is that a truffle never appears above the ground, so finding one can be a bit of a treasure hunt. But just finding a truffle is not enough, it must be extracted at peak ripeness, otherwise it is essentially useless. Unlike other crops that continue to ripen after picking, an unripe truffle has no odor and no taste and will never get it after being removed from the ground. No matter what type of truffle you choose, you can be sure to expect a unique taste that is indescribably amazing and unforgettable.
Whether eaten fresh over pasta or infused in an oil, the earthy goodness of truffles cannot be matched.