[1] Add your favorite ingredients to a summer panzanella. Here’s a recipe from The Wanderlust Kitchen (photo © The Wanderlust Kitchen).

[2] Panzanella is a way to turn lush summer tomatoes into a bread-and-tomato salad (photo © Baldor Specialty Foods).

Panzanella, a traditional Tuscan salad of bread and tomatoes, is delicious way to use summer’s best produce and one- or two-day-old bread, which is softened by the vinaigrette.

Panzanella originated as peasant food, but can be found at fine modern Italian restaurants and at other stylish restaurants.

But you don’t need a restaurant. You need four main ingredient types, plus whatever extras you like:

 
To turn panzanella into a main dinner dish, add a burrata, slices of prosciutto or other Italian charcuterie, cubed grilled meats or poultry, shellfish, even jammy boiled eggs.
 
> The History Of Panzanella
 

MORE PANZANELLA RECIPES

Whether or not you’ve had elote, grilled Mexican street corn, you may want to try this Italianized version.

Instead of the Mexican toppings—there are numerous options* but a popular combination is Tajin seasoning chili powder and lime juice in Mexico,

In the following recipe, the Mexican seasonings are replaced by basil pesto and sweet balsamic vinegar.
 
 
RECIPE: ITALIAN-STYLE STREET CORN

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. HEAT the grill. Place the corn on the grill, turning every few minutes until steaming, hot and tender, about 12 minutes. Meanwhile…

2. COMBINE all the ingredients except the garnish in a small bowl.

3. TRANSFER the corn to a serving plate. Brush the corn with the pesto mixture. Serve sprinkled with cheese.
 
 
> More About Pesto
 
 
> Homemade Pesto Recipe

[1] Street corn, Italian-style

[2] Keep a jar of pesto on hand. It’s a condiment, garnish and sauce (both photos © DeLallo).

*Elote topping options include butter, cotija cheese, chili powder or Tajin seasoning, lemon or lime juice, mayonnaise, sour cream and salt. You can also add seeds, especially unshelled pumpkin seeds (pepitas).

†When golden balsamic vinegar is required, you could substitute dark balsamic; but it will darken the color of the corn. White balsamic vinegar was created to use on lighter-colored food, but it could alter the appearance of the final dish (here’s more about it). If you don’t want to darken the dish or purchase white balsamic, you can substitute white wine vinegar or rice wine vinegar.

When wine in cans and boxes were first broadly available in the mid-1990s, we tried a couple and turned up our nose. At that time, we were writing about fine wine, and just didn’t find canned wines worth our focus.

But American consumers flocked to canned wines. And, when “better” winemakers realized consumers liked them, they began to can some of their own wines.

The result: Sales of canned wine have been meteoric. In 2016 alone, there was a 125% annual increase in canned wine sales over the previous year.

While the category’s sales of $14.5 million in that period is small compared to total wine sales, it was a seven-fold bump over 2012, when canned wines were less than $2 million in sales.

Two years later, in 2018, canned wine sales had doubled to $28 million. Some winemakers have since found that more than 50% of their sales can be in canned wines.
 
 
HOW MUCH IS IN A CAN?

Depending on producer, canned wine is sold in three sizes:

 
You can find wines in your favorite still wine grape varietals, in sparkling wines, and in wine coolers, depending on producer.
 
 
THE BENEFITS OF WINE IN CANS

First, let’s observe that you can pour the wine from a can into a glass (photo #1). Or you can drink from the can—with or without a straw (photo #2).

1. Non-Breakable: No glass bottle to break if you accidentally whack it (and what a mess to clean up). If you drink from the can, there’s no glass to break or wash.

2. Convenient: Easier and more lightweight to transport, and there’s no corkscrew required. Take cans to the beach, the barbecue, camping or just hanging out outdoors.

3. Portion Control: Limit yourself to one can. There’s no open bottle for refills. In another vein, when we just want a small amount of wine and don’t have an open bottle, we grab a can to drink indoors; or open a can when we need to add a couple of tablespoons to recipes, drinking the rest.

4. Environmentally Friendly: Aluminum is more likely to be recycled than glass. According to the EPA, only 26.4% of glass containers are recycled, whereas 54.9% of beer and soft drink cans get recycled. Aluminum weighs less to transport, which cuts down on carbon emissions and reduces the overall carbon footprint.
 
 
BRANDS OF CANNED WINE

Most of the canned wines are marketed under different names from the winery—or are wines canned by producers who just sell canned wine.

As exists with wine in bottles, the company that cans/bottles and sells the wine, doesn’t make necessarily make it. They may buy ready-made wine from those who do.

There are “straight” names like Brick & Mortar, Bridge Lane, Eufloria, Nomadica, omikai, Una Lou; and cheeky names that bring a smile, like Dear Mom, House Wine, The Infinite Monkey Theorem* and No Fine Print.

The designs are nice, too: from charming to quirky to fun.
 
 
Bonterra Organic Canned Wines

One acclaimed vintner that’s proud to put its name on its canned wines is Bonterra, the number-one organic winery in the U.S.

They grow the grapes, make the wine, bottle it, or alternatively, can it.

The cans are a recent development for this Mendocino County winery, which has been making organic wines for more than 30 years.

Most of the grapes they vinify are estate-grown on the vineyard’s 1,000 acres; the rest are sourced from nearby organic vineyards.

We liked their canned Rosé so much that we gave the pink cans with pretty floral illustrations as Valentine gifts.

In addition to the Rosé are cans of:

 
The 250-milliliter cans are sold in four packs for $17.99, which amounts to $6 per can.

You can easily buy them online.

For those who care about sustainability, Bonterra vineyards have been farmed organically since 1987—long before organic products were widely available in the U.S.

The name means “good earth.” The company is committed to organic farming and regenerative practices that enrich the biodiversity in their vineyards.

Here’s more about Bonterra.

Let’s hear it for canned wines.
 
 
HAVE A CANNED WINE TASTING PARTY

One of the reasons we didn’t list individual brands is that each store will have its own selection of canned wine brands.

For fun, pick up different brands and do a tasting to see which you like best.

Time for a party!

[1] Bonterra organic canned wines are sold in four-packs (photos #1 to #4 © Bonterra).

[2] You can drink canned wine from the can, with a straw, or more elegantly, from a glass.

[3] Bonterra’s trio of organic wines: Rosé, Sauvignon Blanc and Young Red.

[4] You can add fruit and make wine popsicles. How about Rosé with blood orange, or Sauvignon Blanc with grapes?

[5] When you want to monkey around: a can of The Infinite Monkey Theorem* (photo © The Infinite Monkey Theorem).

[6] When you just want the house wine (photo © The Original House Wine).

*The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type any given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare. Here’s more about it.

[1] New Candy Pop Snickers (photos #1, #2 and #3 © Snack Pop).

[2] The original: Cookie Pop with Oreos.

[3] M&M Minis and popcorn.

[4] A combo pack of individual servings, available at Sam’s Club (photo © Sam’s Club).

Friends and family know that we don’t enjoy “newsstand” candy, with three exceptions (Hershey’s Peanut Butter Cups, Twix and York Peppermint Patties).

The rest just have too much sugar and/or mediocre chocolate.

Even M&Ms, the favorite of our youth, is unenjoyable to us. When the first thing you taste is sugar, well: not for us any longer.

With a focus on fine foods, we’ve had the best artisan candy available, from chocolates to marshmallows to toffee.

Now, there’s another exception we love: Candy Pop and Cookie Pop from Snack Pop. They get a round of applause from The Nibble.
 
 
SNACK POP CANDY POP & COOKIE POP

Candy Pop and Cookie Pop coat popcorn with favorite candy flavors.

We often create a “movie mix” with popcorn, peanuts and M&Ms—we have friends who do the same.

So why did it take so long for a blend like Snack Pops? They’ve combined popcorn with with popular candy brands they’ve licensed.

The currently include Butterfinger Candy Pop, Chips Ahoy! Cookie Pop, Oreo Cookie Pop, Candy Pop made with TWIX® candy, Candy Pop made with SNICKERS® candy and Candy Pop made with M&M’S® Minis. 

They’re only 150 calories per serving, low sodium, non-GMO and OU Kosher (Dairy).

The latest is Snickers Candy Pop, now on shelves at Sam’s Club. Premium popcorn is drizzled to perfection with Snickers caramel and nuts. A 20-ounce party size bag is $5.98.

Warning: We can single-handedly make the 5.2-ounce bags disappear in 15 minutes.
 
 
WHERE TO GET SNACK POP

Store Locator

Buy Online From Snack Pop (5.2-ounce bags)

Buy 3-Flavor Variety Box (no Oreo) From Sam’s Club (photo #4)
 
 
THE HISTORY OF SNACK POP

The concept for Cookie Pop came about in 2015, when Snack Pop company founder Frank Florio added Oreos to his popcorn.

One bite told him that the combination of cookies and popcorn was a winner.

It took a year, but Florio and his team were able to develop the first commercialized cookie-covered popcorn. It was introduced at a major food trade show in January 2016. Beyond their wildest expectations, Cookie Pop became an instant hit.

The team then began work on expanding the line, and the delicious outcome is available in stores nationwide, plus online.

Florio went on to co-found SNAX-Sational Brands, which also sells Bow Tie Puffs, Bow Tie Minis, Penne Straws, Pasta Bow Ties and Pasta Chips.

Learn more at SNAXsationalbrands.com.
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF CANDY
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF POPCORN

The creamy filling in burrata cheese is called stracciatella (strah-chee-ah-TELL-ah).

Stracciatella consists of shreds of fresh mozzarella soaked in sweet cream.

Stracciatella is a soft, white, creamy buffalo (or sometimes, cow’s) milk cheese* made with straccia (little shreds) of mozzarella. It may be that most people buy burrata instead of mozzarella for the creamy stracciatella†.

It is now sold separately—just the creamy insides without the mozzarella. It provides new gustatory pleasures, as well illustrate below.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF STRACCIATELLA CHEESE

Stracciatella originated in southern Puglia. It was created around 1900 in the town of Andria by Lorenzo Bianchino, to use up mozzarella leftovers.

As the story goes, after a big snowstorm Bianchino was unable to transport his milk and cream to the village. At the time, butter was wrapped in spun cheese paste to keep it fresher, longer.

Bianchino tried the method with his cream, and decided to include some leftover scraps of cheese into the cream. The result was magic [source].

It was a local product, premium priced, and remained the delight of the townspeople for some thirty years.

In the 1950s, some of the local cheese factories began to produce burrata, and more people discovered its charms.

Only the last 15 years or so, thanks to more economical overnighting of refrigerated products, did we find it in New York City’s finest cheese shops. It was love at first bite.

And it is now made in the U.S., by dairies including BelGoioiso.
 
 
HOW TO SERVE STRACCIATELLA CHEESE

Soft and creamy, this fresh cheese pairs with both savory and sweet ingredients. It is becoming increasingly popular in numerous preparations:

 
In general, serve stracciatella as you would burrata: with a drizzle of olive oil and a bit of cracked pepper. (Mini-Tip: To drizzle olive oil precisely on a smaller surface, we use a medicine dropper.)
 
 
WHERE TO FIND STRACCIATELLA

BelGioioso sells it in 8-ounce and 16-ounce tubs. Here’s a store locator

Online specialists like Murray’s Cheese also carry it.
 
 
RECIPES

Substitute stracciatella for theburrata in these recipes:

 
 
> THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHEESE

> A GUIDE TO CHEESE CONDIMENTS

> HOW TO TASTE CHEESE

> HAVE A CHEESE TASTING PARTY

[1] If you like rich and creamy food, you may want to eat stracciatella from the jar (photo © Murray’s Cheese).

[2] Pappardelle pasta with stracciatella and cherry tomatoes. Here’s the recipe from Stefania’s Kitchenette (photo © Stefania’s Kitchenette).

[3] Savory with EVOO, salt and pepper, or sweet with honey. Kindred Restaurant in Davidson, North Carolina serves it with a variety of salads. Here, it’s garnished with buckwheat honey, pink peppercorns, Tuscan olive oil, viola flower petals and crunchy sea salt (photo © M. Blake Pope | Kindred Restaurant).

[4] How about some stracciatella gelato? Here’s a recipe from Love & Olive Oil. Here’s another recipe for Strawberry Stracciatella Gelato (photo © Love & Olive Oil).

*Stracciatella means “rag”; straccia are little shreds. The name is derived from the Italian word “strattore,” which means to stretch. Mozzarella and stracciatella are both made by stretching the curd. The process is called pasta filata, meaning spun paste (in English it is called stretched curd, pulled curd or plastic curd—the technique is also called plasticizing). The technique consists of kneading the fresh curd in hot water, which gives the cheese its fibrous structure. Pasta filata varieties are made beyond Italy, from the halloumi of Cyprus to the queso oaxaca of Mexico (here are many more examples). Some varieties are aged, such as provolone and scamorza.

†In addition to stracciatella cheese, there are two other “stracciatellas” in Italy. The first is stracciatella soup, an ancient Roman dish broth with a broken egg passed through a fork (shredded). The result looks like Chinese egg drop soup. There is also stracciatella gelato, vanilla gelato with fine chocolate shavings, similar to the chocolate flakes used in some American ice creams.