5 December 2013

Bring Italy to your kitchen: Make some delicious dishes for

Valentine’s Day with Vorrei, the new Italian gourmet food website

Vorrei – I would like... in Italian – is a new online food website offering great Italian

gourmet food. It is gourmet food with a difference. Founders Luca and Nicola

Pagliaro lived and worked in Italy for 15 years and know just how fabulous traditional

Italian food can be.

The couple - Luca is Italian and Nicola is British - deal only with suppliers with whom

they have built strong personal relationships. All the products are ethically sourced

from small-scale farmers who are committed to sustainable farming practices. This

select group of growers and producers are as passionate about food as only Italians

can be.

As well as enjoying their food, Italians like to take time eating - and Vorrei is an

ardent supporter of the Slow Food Movement, an initiative that was founded in Italy

to counter the rise of a fast food culture and promote a better way to eat. Many of its

products have Slow Food certification.

“Our products are not packed with preservatives, artificial colours or flavour

enhancers. Even better, because we deal directly with our suppliers, we are able to

match our quality with great prices,” said Nicola.

The real flavour of Italy means simple, tasty dishes prepared using fresh, natural

ingredients and traditional methods. It was their love of the country’s extensive range

of regional dishes and cooking that prompted them to set up Vorrei and bring the

finest Italian food and traditional ingredients to the UK.

All the products have been specially selected for their memorable flavours and

textures bringing a unique Italian twist to the British dinner table. More than 60 per

cent of the products are organic. The range includes fantastic handmade chocolate

and fig panettone, dark chocolate-coated Calabrian figs, delicious antipasti,

extravagant fruit mustards and indulgent wine jellies, organic extra virgin olive oil and

balsamic vinegar, gifts and hampers.

“We don’t see Vorrei as simply an online Italian food shop,” says Nicola. “That’s

already been done. Our aim is to pass on our knowledge of the culture of real Italian

food. We can do this because we have a direct link to the producers”.

“We are able to provide our customers with a wealth of information about the

products they are buying, how they have been produced and by whom. This enables

them to make an informed choice about the food they are buying with no misleading

advertising”.

“Our product range has genuine provenance and is complemented by traditional

Italian recipes, often suggested by our suppliers or passed down through our

extended Italian family.”

“We want to raise the profile of real, unsophisticated Italian food, which is not

produced on an industrial scale and benefits from a strong link to the area in which it

is produced,” she explained.

Ends

A selection of gifts from Vorrei

A selection of Italian food from Vorrei

Here are four fantastic ideas that come to life with Vorrei products: Puff pastry tarts with Tropea onion jam Ingredients Ready-made puff pastry 1 egg Tropea onion jam Method Roll out the pastry and cut into 8cm squares. Brush with egg yolk. Using the left over pastry cut out strips measuring 8cm long x 1cm wide and use them to make a border around the pastry square. Brush the borders with egg and then decorate the edges

by making little stripes with the back of a knife. Prick the bottom of the pastry squares with a fork and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes until golden brown. Let the tarts cool for a while before filling each one with 30g of Tropea onion jam. Serve as an antipasto. Bruschetta with soft cheese, dried fruit and Prosecco jelly Ingredients Soft cheese such as Robiola or Philadelphia Toasted bread/bruschetta Prosecco jelly Dried fruit such as pine nuts or chopped pistachios Method Spread the toasted bread or bruschetta with cream cheese, sprinkle with dried fruit and a couple of teaspoons of Prosecco jelly on top Warm Prosecco Chevre Ingredients 2-3 tablespoons of Casa Forcello Prosecco jelly 1goat’s cheese log Pinch of chilli pepper Method In a saucepan heat the jelly and chilli pepper over a low heat until the jelly has melted and the pepper has infused into the jelly (approximately 10 minutes). Pour over the sliced goat’s cheese and serve with bruschetta. Strawberries with Prosecco jelly and chopped pistachio nuts Cut the strawberries into quarters and place them in a glass, cover them with Casa Forcello Prosecco jelly and sprinkle the finely chopped pistachios on top. Notes for editors: Visit www.vorrei.co.uk to see the whole range and place your Christmas order. Look out too for great foodie Valentine’s Day gifts which are coming soon. Immerse yourself in the culture of Italian cuisine by bringing great-tasting, authentic, Italian food to your home. Delivery within mainland UK will be free for customers spending over £30 for the first month after the launch which you will receive within 48 hours of your first order in December. Vorrei works very closely with Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and offer 5% of their profits to the charity. Vorrei has seen the great work JDRF do and hope that with their customers’ support they will be able to contribute to helping millions of lives around the world. 'We are delighted that Vorrei has decided to support JDRF in this way. Every donation helps us to fund ground-breaking research into type 1 diabetes which affects 400,000 people living in the UK, 29,000 of whom are children and millions more world-wide, improving lives until we find the cure'. Ruth Caulfield, Senior Corporate Partnerships Fundraiser.

For press enquiries and further information please contact: Vicky Huxford/Suzanne Howe Suzanne Howe Communications Tel: 0203 4680923 Email: info@suzannehowe.com www.suzannehowe.com