grains, beans, rice
This category contains a large and diverse number of products. Cereals are a large group of edible grains and cultivated grasses that are the fruit of the plants on which they grow and include wheat, oats, barley, rye, corn, and rice. These are eaten whole or dried and then milled into flour which becomes the basis for all sorts of cuisine. Bread, pasta, pastries, dumplings, and noodles are all made from some form of flour.
Pasta is one of our most exciting product lines. We carry an extensive variety of artisanal Italian pasta made in the Abruzzi. The pasta is made in the traditional manner with stone ground durum wheat flour and spring water. It is formed with equipment using ancient bronze dies, which create a porous surface better able to absorb sauces. The pasta in then air-dried for 36 to 56 hours. The line includes farro, vegetable, kamut, corn, whole wheat, and organic pasta, as well as pototao gnocci, all available in a staggering array of shapes. We also offer a Vermont-made line of fresh pasta which includes filled varieties as well as vegetable and herb flavored cuts.
Rice is a cereal grain that is the staple food for a huge part of the world's population and provides the basis of the cuisine for many countries from China to Mexico to Italy. The almost 7000 varieties of rice can be divided into three types: long, medium, and short-grain. True wild rice is a water grass not a grain and becomes more rare with each passing year.
Beans, peas, and lentils are technically called pulses and are defined as the seeds of certain plants. Some are harvested and eaten fresh, like fava beans or green peas while many are dried like split peas or navy beans. Pulses are some of the oldest cultivated foods in the history of the world and there is much effort these days to reintroduce tasty heirloom varieties that have been overlooked in favor of pulses that produce huge harvests.
We are proud of our relationship with Maine Heirloom Beans and Baer's Beans who provide us with a distinctive range of home grown beans: Cannelini, French Flageolet, King Early, Marifax, Sulfar, Vermont Cranberry and others depending on the season and the growing climate. We also have a number of artisan imported products like Umbrian lentils, Purgatorio and Borlotti Beans and Cierchie, baby butter Lima Beans, and Spanish Planchada Beans to name just a few.
We have hand-rolled Tunisian couscous, Fregula Sarda, a toasted couscous from Italy, and puffed Mediterranean couscous from Greece. We also stock beautiful Italian farro, kamut berries, steel cut oats, a Japanese barley variety called Job's tears, and many varieties of Italian polenta. Our extensive and unique line of rice includes green Bamboo rice, Bangladesh Kalijira baby Basmati rice, black Venere rice, purple sticky Thai rice, red rice from the Camargue, the rare and smoky Mahnomen wild rice of Minnesota and many Italian risotto selections.