About us - Rustichella d'Abruzzo

About us - Peduzzi's Family

In 1924 Gaetano Sergiacomo, maternal grandfather of the current proprietors Gianluigi and Maria Stefania Peduzzi, and the son of famous millers who worked in the Vestina area, decided to part ways with the family and the milling business and established the pasta factory “Pastificio Gaetano Sergiacomo” in Penne. Since then “Tanuccio’s” pasta has always been considered the best and has received wide acclaim from outside Abruzzo too. In 1896 Settimio Peduzzi was born, the youngest of seven children. In Abruzzo the very fi rst sparkling water plant was established; Peduzzi soda would be defi ned as the “champagne” of Abruzzo. In 1981, Piero Peduzzi, father of the current Proprietors, decided to try producing homemade whole-wheat pasta, which due to technical reasons could not be legally produced in Italy, as well as the traditional pasta, but with the use of bronze dies, so that the pasta could hold the sauce better. Due to the type of product, that many considered rustic, and to mark a turning point in the company’s history, the pasta factory’s new name became: Rustichella d’Abruzzo s.n.c. di G. Sergiacomo & C.

About us - Rustichella d'Abruzzo

In 1989 RUSTICHELLA D’ABRUZZO S.A.S. was established with partners Gianluigi and Maria Stefania Peduzzi. Nicolina Sergiacomo put the Family Company in the hands of her children and left the company organisation. Since then, under the watchful eye of Piero Peduzzi advocate of the new look who was certainly far-sighted enough to realize that things of the past would, over time, acquire the mark of quality and authenticity, the Peduzzi Brothers have concentrated their energies on creating the company’s image and contributing to making the name Rustichella d’Abruzzo synonymous with quality and excellence. They began with the painstaking task of consolidating a commercial network of professionals and gourmets, by bringing together those people who, at that time, were the discoverers of gourmet craftsmen. We should also remember Giorgio Onesti who, like others, has become part of our history as a friend of the family and ambassador of pasta. At the same time the company also began to explore some of the foreign marketing; the first to discover Rustichella were actually the founders of Dean & DeLuca New York, who came to Pianella to visit the new business. Gianluigi’s meeting with Rolando Ruiz Beramendi during one of his trips to New York sealed the success of Rustichella d’Abruzzo in America. We would like to mention an episode concerning the introduction of the spelt pasta in 1991, when in Italy it was the novelty of the year. Two hours after an article about spelt had appeared in The New York Times, our distributor in San Francisco ran out of his stock of spelt pasta.

About us - The Peduzzi brothers

In 1998 we decided to move our pasta factory to Moscufo. We found a modern oil mill, built in a beautiful area in the Vestina hills. Today, the Rustichella d’Abruzzo pasta factory still has the privilege to exist in an area dominated by agriculture; the nature that surrounds us is priceless. Experience and commitment provide the foundations for: RUSTICHELLA D’ABRUZZO S.P.A. The new manufacturing business was to be established while taking into account the following essential characteristics:

- ARTISAN MANUFACTURING PROCESS
- CONTROL OF ALL STAGES OF MANUFACTURING
- PRODUCTION OF HIGH QUALITY PASTA

So we called on technology to provide us with high performance machines that would allow us to continue giving our customers traditionally made pasta in traditional paper bags with a brass seal. Since 2000 Rustichella d’Abruzzo S.p.A. has been exploring the different avenues that could contribute to developing the brand, with Rustichella d’Abruzzo actually acting as a driving force for new activities. The traditional pastas (spaghetti, linguine, penne etc.) made with durum wheat and whole-wheat were soon accompanied by pasta with red pepper, porcini mushrooms, sepia and other flavours, as time went by the company always tried to anticipate the trends of the moment. In America we are well-know as the most artisanal pasta of the world. For an important dinner at the white house our orecchiette were requested (with the commitment not to make it pubblic). We included in those years many estimators of our product, we kindly remember the beloved Luciano Pavarotti. The master called directly to our company to ask our pasta, we are still keeping an encomiun letter he sent, jealously held and never pubblished, because what matters to use is those authentic relations made by an elective friendship. During years we have integrated our production with products always innovative. In the wake of innovations and the discovery of traditional regional suffise it to remember specialities such as paccheri, cavatelli, garganelli and sagne incannulate. Since 1998 we have also begun to produce an Organic range of products that reflects our calling to be supporters of uncontaminated nature. The Gluten Free line to give the opportunity, to who is gluten intolerant to have an al dente spaghetto.

About us - Rustichella nowadays

There are many pasta manufacturers in Italy. For us making pasta is an ancient art; the historical and cultural heritage of our land. PROUD TO BE ITALIAN, proud to be recognised abroad, as THE MOST TRADITIONAL PASTA IN THE WORLD.

THE SECRET OF OUR PASTA
There is an enormous difference between traditionally made pasta and industrial pasta, and this can be fully perceived on the palate. Rustichella d’Abruzzo only uses the very best semolina from selected durum wheat. This flour with a high gluten content, mixed with pure mountain water, gives a unique firmness and flavour to the pasta. The precious bronze dies give the pasta just the right roughness to hold all kinds of sauce. The drying process is carried out slowly at low temperatures, sometimes for as long as 50 hours at around 35/40 degrees, unlike industrial pasta where drying is carried out at 90 degrees for 4/5 hours.

QUALITY
It is a well-known fact that real craftsmen are terribly demanding. Rustichella d’Abruzzo is no different. From the selection of excellent ingredients to the post-production cooking tests, it carries out strict controls on the entire production process. Until now high quality durum wheat semolina, bronze dies and low drying temperatures have been the elements that have always contributed to obtain a rough, tasty product. The roughness is obtained by extrusion through bronze dies and helps the sauce blending with the pasta; the taste comes from the process of fermentation that takes place during the lengthy drying period at 35 degrees, which makes the pasta especially tasty. We often invite our customers to try our pasta with just a little extra virgin olive oil.

THE WHEAT
Thanks to its experience, Rustichella d’Abruzzo knows well how much wheat is important in order to produce top quality pasta: all starts from there and starting with the right foot is fundamental. That’s why we choose carefully durum wheat semolina coming from cultivations obtained in ideal condition, where there are both a good percentage of contained proteins and care to the Gluten quality.