Making Wilden: Ferrante Brothers
Wilden.herbals meets producers and artisans close to the philosophy of wildness and today tells about the Ferrante Brothers and their unique creations rooted in the land.
Start again from simple things and revolutionize the way we live. Behind every small cultural act lies a passion. It is first and foremost respect for nature that moves projects and producers close to Wilden.herbals. The common thread that binds them is the desire to see the world with renewed eyes, and this is their story.
Ferrante Brothers – Tommaso and Stefano are two brothers. The first linked to a scientific study of the earth and its expressive potential, he studied agricultural sciences in Catania. The second, on the other hand, has explored taste and today develops unique recipes and combinations of ingredients for the family business. Together they are Fratelli ferrante, and at Wilden.herbals they told what is hidden in each jar.
What is your philosophy?
Our idea when we started our workshop is one that lives strong to this day, namely the desire to create products that are rooted in the land, creating both very traditional and innovative products, but always linked to local ingredients and grown with respect for nature.
What does it mean today to rediscover the earth?
According to our idea, rediscovering the land means going back to the countryside, talking to farmers, understanding how they work and incentivizing them to work in an environmentally sound way, which is then reflected in the final product, which will be tastier and healthier. In our own small way, we are happy to support small producers who deal in excellence and we try to give value to the fruits of their labor with our preserves.
Food: a childhood memory
The caponata of Aunt Enza, who lived where our workshop is today: it was eaten in the summer, so the mood of lightheartedness and happiness was already inherent, then it was sensational. When we recreated La Caponata in the lab, we based it on his recipe, handed down from my mother, and it was the product where we collaborated the most as brothers in pursuit of an uncompromising product. We saw people cry when tasting our caponata because it evoked the memory of those prepared by grandmothers, and our eyes also moistened when we tasted the final recipe.
How does one of your products come about?
Usually our products are born from raw materials, we choose to process an ingredient for typicality, uniqueness or seasonality, then we do trials to figure out the best way to enhance it, respecting its essence. Our apricot jam is an ode to the fruit, it feels like eating fresh fruit, while Cotto di Carrube is a concentrated carob syrup without the addition of sugar: the concentration that takes place in an air vacuum changes the flavor of the carobs, giving more complex notes but does not distort it, in fact it enhances certain aspects of it. In both cases the raw material is at the center and is distinguishable and distinct in its integrity.
What does it mean to you to be “Healthy and Wild”?
You cannot be healthy and wild without being free, in our case free to choose the products we like to make. Certainly it is a little more difficult at first to enter the market, but the moment our products are appreciated and understood, there are no more alternatives on the market. The Xtra Drops fully represent the idea of Sano e Selvaggio: they are made using very common chilies grown locally, but we ferment them spontaneously, thanks to indigenous lactic acid bacteria and precisely wild yeasts. What results is a sauce that gives a unique complexity to the chiles, enhancing their fruity and “funky” notes to rock the dishes.
