Lately there has been a huge slow-food movement as well as a movement towards eating local foods. We are extremely supportive of this movement and encourage people to eat locally produced fruits and vegetables- mostly because it is fresher and healthier- but also because the food takes less travel time to get to your table and you can trust where it comes from. We are often asked why our product is not locally produced- so I wanted to take a moment to share with you why we chose Pappardelle’s.
Pappardelle’s is the only company in the US creating a high-quality pasta, using only the best ingredients, with the time-honored traditions of authentic pasta making. We feel it is important to use simple, all-natural ingredients as well as methods that will not compromise the product. Most of the pasta you will find in our area is manufactured- usually extruded on teflon dies which give pasta a slippery feel- and then exposed to high heat to be dried quickly. These are not methods that we know are the best for a high-quality product. Pappardelle’s uses the traditional methods of making pasta. Not only are the ingredients all-natural and delicious- but there is never any food coloring, additives, preservatives or chemicals. The highest quality durum-semolina pasta is used- which is only grown in North Dakota. Our flour comes from the prestigious North Dakota Flour Mill- and the hard durum is award winning. The flour is never bleached or enriched (which sounds like a good thing- but really isn’t!). Durum semolina naturally has more nutrients, better carbs and more protein.
Pappardelle’s Pasta is extruded on bronze dies- which are traditionally used and found in Italy. These dies are extremely expensive but create the unique texture and luxurious mouth-feel that we think are really important in a good pasta. Once extruded- the pasta is strewn over wood dowels and slow dried- just as it would be outside in the sunshine- at 90 degrees as opposed to 190 degrees in a typical manufacturing facility. This process takes days- while at a higher temperature it would take much less time. This also requires a great deal of space- but it is these things that set our pasta apart. These methods paired with Pappardelle’s commitment to making all the dough by hand- in small batches- make it the best hand-made, gourmet, artisanal pasta that you can find- and believe me- we’ve done our research!
Another great thing about Pappardelle’s is that they only distribute through farmer’s market vendors. There are only about 30 throughout the entire country- and this is because they want to maintain the small batch, hand-made integrity with many varieties!
Why not local? Well- millions of dollars would be required to bring the equipment and traditions to our area. The equipment is expensive- and the flour would need to come from North Dakota anyways. So- pasta will probably never be completely local- at least not on a large scale and at the quality we feel is crucial. You can absolutely find locally produced fresh pasta and you can certainly make small batches at home. You can even grind your own flour! But- it is time consuming and a part of our society is convenience. We hope to provide the convenience of getting your full meal at the market while showing you great new recipe ideas that pair with seasonal produce. We believe it is important to know where your food comes from and trust the people you get it from- which is why we are at every single farmer’s market ourselves. We work directly with the owner of Pappardelle’s and know that we can rely on them. They are truly making the best pasta we could find- and we wanted to share it with all of you.
We also strongly believe in supporting local farmers. We provide everyone with a recipe to go along with their pasta and often chat with our customers about what else they have in their market bag to pair with a recipe we may have. We will also regularly feature recipes that go along with local produce. The whole reason we decided to do this was so that we could support what is going on at our local farmer’s markets and to bring a unique product to our community. We are entirely committed to our customers and hope that you will share your questions or concerns with us at any time.
How we strive to maintain a green business:
We do everything we can to be as green as possible and are always welcome to new suggestions. We consider ourselves fairly environmentally conscious. We compost, recycle, and garden at home. We utilize bio-degradable bags for all of our products- which will degrade in about 60-90 days depending on your compost condition. We ride our bicycles for business errands (and all of our errands) whenever possible and especially for wholesale deliveries within the city. We use only natural, earth-friendly cleaning products for our equipment. So- we do our very best to lower our environmental impact. Even though our pasta is coming from Denver, CO- we have really done our research to find a company that comes to Rochester from Denver every week anyways and we piggy-back on these shipments. If you have other suggestions for us- please share! We’re always looking to improve.
I hope this sheds some light on the local-foods movement and how we fit in to it all. When you support our company you are directly supporting a local small business that is family owned and operated- and we greatly appreciate your loyalty and enthusiasm.
