Oprah discovers Moville's biscottis
By Tim Gallagher Journal staff writer | Posted: Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Peggy Hammer of Peggy's Biscotti in Moville, Iowa, displays a tray of biscotti treats. Hammer's Almond Biscotti will be featured in a spread in "O At Home" magazine. (Photo by Tim Gallagher)
MOVILLE, Iowa -- Peggy Hammer waited after the caller delivered her question on the phone recently.
"I was dumbfounded," said Hammer, owner/operator of Peggy's Biscotti in Moville. "I was still waiting for the punchline."
What Hammer thought was a joke wasn't so. The caller wanted her to pack up and express mail two dozen of her almond biscotti treats to "Oprah At Home," one of Oprah Winfrey's glossy publications.
"They're doing an article on certain cuisines and a chef says our biscotti goes will with what they're doing," said Hammer, who has been making biscotti commercially for 12 years.
The chef, Alice Waters of Chez Panisse of Berkeley, Calif., chose the almond treat as a dessert for a one-pot meal she's serving up for a story to run this winter or spring in "O At Home." The photo shoot took place Thursday in New York.
Hammer said she believes her biscotti got the call thanks to an Italian food festival that featured her homemade dunking treats 18 months ago. That's when she sent 600 pieces to New York City for the event that featured six New York restaurants. Famed chefs Todd English and Mario Batali (of the Food Network) sampled her biscotti at that time and liked the way it was made.
Biscotti is a hard cookie often dunked in coffee, tea, milk or wine. Hammer's business in downtown Moville (it is expanding next door to offer a larger retail area) employs five and has sold biscotti treats worldwide thanks to a sophisticated Internet presence. The company creates biscotti treats in 38 flavors, makes 12 flavors of mini biscotti rolls, 12 flavors of organic biscotti and two flavors of low-carb biscotti.
Hammer's biscotti fascination began years ago after she tried some of the treats at a Sioux City outlet. That particular biscotti failed to win over her taste buds. She sensed she could do something more. A dozen years later she's popping into a national publication while expanding the business on Main Street for the second time. She was also asked last week to send 100 pieces of various biscotti flavors to two Macy's Department Stores in southern California.
"Our retail outlet next door will have homemade bread, pies and soups," she said. "And in here (the original building at 126 Main Street) will be production. We need two more ovens in here to keep up."
Info:
What: Peggy's Biscotti
Where: 126 Main St., Moville, Iowa
What: Biscotti treats, homemade bread, pies, soups
Web: www.peggysbiscotti.com
"I was dumbfounded," said Hammer, owner/operator of Peggy's Biscotti in Moville. "I was still waiting for the punchline."
What Hammer thought was a joke wasn't so. The caller wanted her to pack up and express mail two dozen of her almond biscotti treats to "Oprah At Home," one of Oprah Winfrey's glossy publications.
"They're doing an article on certain cuisines and a chef says our biscotti goes will with what they're doing," said Hammer, who has been making biscotti commercially for 12 years.
The chef, Alice Waters of Chez Panisse of Berkeley, Calif., chose the almond treat as a dessert for a one-pot meal she's serving up for a story to run this winter or spring in "O At Home." The photo shoot took place Thursday in New York.
Hammer said she believes her biscotti got the call thanks to an Italian food festival that featured her homemade dunking treats 18 months ago. That's when she sent 600 pieces to New York City for the event that featured six New York restaurants. Famed chefs Todd English and Mario Batali (of the Food Network) sampled her biscotti at that time and liked the way it was made.
Biscotti is a hard cookie often dunked in coffee, tea, milk or wine. Hammer's business in downtown Moville (it is expanding next door to offer a larger retail area) employs five and has sold biscotti treats worldwide thanks to a sophisticated Internet presence. The company creates biscotti treats in 38 flavors, makes 12 flavors of mini biscotti rolls, 12 flavors of organic biscotti and two flavors of low-carb biscotti.
Hammer's biscotti fascination began years ago after she tried some of the treats at a Sioux City outlet. That particular biscotti failed to win over her taste buds. She sensed she could do something more. A dozen years later she's popping into a national publication while expanding the business on Main Street for the second time. She was also asked last week to send 100 pieces of various biscotti flavors to two Macy's Department Stores in southern California.
"Our retail outlet next door will have homemade bread, pies and soups," she said. "And in here (the original building at 126 Main Street) will be production. We need two more ovens in here to keep up."
Info:
What: Peggy's Biscotti
Where: 126 Main St., Moville, Iowa
What: Biscotti treats, homemade bread, pies, soups
Web: www.peggysbiscotti.com
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 8 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
DH wrote on Oct 9, 2008 1:51 AM:
Angela wrote on Oct 9, 2008 1:39 AM:
Pit Bulls wrote on Oct 8, 2008 8:15 PM:
ms wrote on Oct 8, 2008 5:01 PM:
Diane Owen wrote on Oct 8, 2008 3:30 PM: