Italy’s “Food Valley,” Emilia-Romagna teems with gastronomic abundance, home to a vast collection of some of Italy’s most esteemed foods: Prosciutto di Parma PGI, Parmigiano Reggiano DOP, Lambrusco wine, tortellini, Mortadella Bologna IGP, piadina flatbread, and dozens more. And it’s among Emilia-Romagna's rolling landscapes, Parma specifically, where Casa Firelli has handcrafted an Italian hot sauce. Made from all-natural products, the sauce comprises two main ingredients: Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI, the sweet-tart condiment produced in Emilia-Romagna for centuries, and Calabrian chili peppers, which pack fiery heat, adding a kick to dishes around the peninsula.
“One of the partners [of Casa Firelli] had worked as CEO of one of Mexico’s biggest hot sauce brands, the other partner had developed what became Italy’s largest gin brand, Malfy,” says Elwyn Gladstone, co-founder of Biggar & Leith, the New York-based import company through whom the product is available in the United States. “Eating pizza together for lunch, they realized that every pizzeria had a jar of rather sad chili flakes or bottle of chili-infused oil. Since Americans use masses of hot sauce on pizza, they figured Italy would be the perfect provenance for a hot sauce.”
(ph Mike Le @iamafoodblog)
In addition to Calabrian chili peppers and balsamic vinegar, Casa Firelli Hot Sauce sauce contains porcini mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and a touch of Italian sea salt. The sauce is packed into a neat, cone-shaped bottle that’s topped with a distinct blue cap designed to evoke a vintage Italian fire extinguisher. The sauce’s well-balanced, complex flavor notes are enhanced by the just the right amount of heat, adding a rounded, medium intense kick to pizza, pasta, eggs, salads, and however else hot sauce lovers deem fit.
Starting March 15, Casa Firelli Hot Sauce is available for purchase at $4.99 per 5 oz. bottle via direct sale at www.firelli.com. It will also be available on Amazon starting in April.