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Did you know that Italy is one of the most diverse countries in the world? La dolce vita can be expressed in countless ways. Regional dialects, styles of cooking and cultural traditions vary across the peninsula in both broad and subtle ways and the food, wine, art and design of Italy has been exported to more countries around the world than almost any other.
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Mother of all Nations
 In 100 CE Pliny the Elder referred to Italy as "the mother of all nations". His egocentricity was not to refer to Italy's physical boundaries but to Italy's influence and psyche. Italy is a land with a remarkable ability to enrich your body, mind and spirit and that often begins with food. Italy's neighbors are all seated at her table in a cross-cultural mix of food traditions from culinary partners like Austria,Hungary, Switzerland and Germany. You're as likely to drink beer in a brauhaus in the northern Italian city of Bolzano (Bozen) with a plate of wurtzel and speck (the Austrian interpretation of prosciutto), as you would be to have a glass of wine and gnocchi (here it's called canederli). |
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Across the Adriatic
 This month at CosituttiMarketPlace we've become bilingual bringing Italy home with an new addition to our Vinegar and Glazes. Refosco Red Wine Vinegar from Piran (Pirano) is made in a region that geographically lies in Slovenia but just by a blink. Across the sea lies Trieste and Northern Italy's Friuli-Venezia Giulia region and Piran, once ruled by Venice, seems to have taken a piece of Italy with it. With the color, body and flavor of Refosco wine (a native Friulian variety), Refosco Red Wine Vinegar is an ideal choice for marinades, deglazing roasted meats and wine based salad dressings. A perfect accent for smoky, sweet spicy cuisines. |
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See and Savor More
Do you have a taste for Italy? Read our book Seeing and Savoring Italy - A Taste and Travel Journey through Northern Italy, Tuscany and Umbria available at Amazon.com
The Cositutti Group   
Relentlessly Authentic
420 East 86th Avenue
Merrillville, Indiana 46410
1-219-629-4496 |
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About Us
"We could not let all that experience slip through our hands and everyone we talked to wanted to learn more"
The Cositutti Group (Gruppo Cositutti) is a travel and lifestyle resource for the Food, Wine, Art and Design of Northern Italy, Tuscany and Umbria. Group projects and offerings are based on our experiences eating, cooking, shopping and traveling with our Italian family and friends.
Products available at CosituttiMarketPlace (our on-line shop) are sourced from small producers and generational families who are committed to preserving the culinary and cultural traditions of Italy. Each product has been carefully selected to represent an authentic experience and sourced over 10 years and 10,000 miles of traveling and taste testing regional Italian food.
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Slovenian Braised Cabbage with Refosco Red Wine Vinegar
Melt ¼ cup of butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add 6 cups of thinly sliced red cabbage, sauté 2 minutes. Add 2 T turbinado sugar and ¼ -½ cup Refosco Red Wine Vinegar. Cover and simmer until cabbage is tender and almost all liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally, for about 45 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
*sugar can be replaced with ¼ cup black currant jelly
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Tri-lingual Italy
If you are traveling in the northern Italian region of Trentino Alto-Adige (Sudtirol) you will need to be tri-lingual. Although you are in Italy, because of geographical boundaries and historical alliances, the South Tyrol is mainly German speaking. The official languages of the region are German and Italian however there is a third spoken language called Ladin.
*Benvenuti in Ladino is Ben uni |
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