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Casa Forcello - Pear Mostarda - 4.9 oz.
Regular price $17.00 USDRegular price
About Casa Forcello
- Based in
- Mantua, Italy
- Founded
- 1991 (Le Tamerici)
- Known for
- Mantua-style fruit mostarda
Casa Forcello is the name Le Tamerici uses for its products in the United States. Le Tamerici was started in 1991 by Paola Calciolari, a Mantua native who makes mostarda from local fruit.
Mantua-style mostarda uses peeled, sliced fruit of a single kind rather than a mix. The fruit is candied in a thick sugar syrup, and once it has cooled, mustard oil goes in, about ten drops per kilo of fruit in Calciolari's recipe. The oil is strong enough that the people handling it wear goggles and two pairs of gloves.
Mostarda tastes of sweet fruit first and a sharp, nose-clearing heat right after. Italians traditionally serve it with boiled meats, or next to a wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano or another firm aged cheese.
Casa Forcello questions
What is mostarda?
Mostarda is a northern Italian condiment of fruit candied in a thick sugar syrup and sharpened with a few drops of mustard essential oil. Casa Forcello makes it Mantua style, with a single kind of peeled, sliced fruit, while the better-known Cremona style mixes several fruits. It tastes of sweet fruit first, then a sharp heat that clears the nose.
Is mostarda the same as mustard?
No. Mostarda is candied fruit, not a mustard sauce. Its heat comes from distilled mustard oil, a concentrate so strong that Le Tamerici, the Mantua company behind Casa Forcello, adds only about ten drops per kilo of fruit. That sharpness cuts through rich, fatty foods, which is why Italians serve mostarda with boiled meats and, more and more, with cheese.
