By Liz Gordon-Hancock
Bluffton Farmers Market is the place to be on Saturday mornings in town. According to the Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce, our town "boasts the best farmers market in northwest Ohio."
In celebration of our small but mighty farmers market, the Icon features a market vendor each week over the course of the summer.
This week's feature vendor is Previte's Italian Home Products and Middle Eastern Delicacies.
Peter Previte is probably one of the most familiar figures at the farmers market. He has been a vendor at Bluffton's farmers market since the market's inception fifteen years ago.
Previte grew up in New Jersey - half an hour from Manhattan (NYC), in an ethinically diverse community, but with a high concentration of Italians. At every festival or event, someone would be grilling Italian sausage, with peppers and onions.
So when Previte was president of the Ada Chamber of Commerce, and the town hosted the first Harvest and Herb festival, Previte grilled and sold Italian sausage sandwiches with peppers and onions; since he was the only food vendor, the venture was a big success, and Previte gained a reputation for Italian sausage sandwiches.
Previte also sold his sausage sandwiches at Bluffton's Blaze of Lights.
Then, his wife Jean started her restaurant, Willow Café, in Bluffton. "The community knew they could get good quality products from us." said Previte.
Previte was asked to help start Bluffton's farmers market, including acting as the first manager of the market. This is partly how Previte's Italian Home products and Middle Eastern Delicacies came about.
The business name explains their focus to offer a plethora of products which celebrates Previte's Italian heritage and his wife, Jean's, Lebanese heritage. All their products are home made, including ethnic foods that are not readily available in this area.
Previte offers homemade Italian sausage, spinach feta cheese sausage, spaghetti sauces, Italian pasta salad, Italian imported olive salad, Lebanese cabalie (parsley salad), homemade humus, baba ganoush (eggplant humus), Lebanese pies, and chickpea salad.
The chicken sausage is mixed with feta cheese and spinach, with a garlic marinade. Previte developed the recipe himself, because many people didn't want to eat too much pork. The chicken sausage currently outsells the pork sausage.
The Lebanese pies sell out every week - he offers spinach pies with feta cheese, meat pies, and cheese pies.
Baba ganoush, which is an eggplant humus, has "roasted eggplant, incorporated into the chickpea base, with a wonderful, charcoal flavor and lemon accent" said Previte.
Previte also offers homemade Italian chilli, which includes his signature Italian sausage.
His most popular items are the Italian sausage, chicken sausage, humus and cabalie.
Previte is considering offering fresh, imported olives in the future.
He hinted that it's getting difficult as he gets older, but he has no plans to retirement yet, saying "I wouldn't know what to do on a Saturday morning!"
Previte will not be selling at the market this weekend because of a family trip, but he hopes to be at market at least once more, before the market closes for the season.
According to Previte, "Bluffton's is the best farmers market in a small community in northwest Ohio. The reason for that is the vendors are a wonderful group of individuals and the community of Bluffton has come out and supported the farmers market." He especially wishes to pass on his appreciation to the community for their continual support of his products.
For special orders, including Previte's holiday variety of sausages, call 567-674-9513.
About the Bluffton Farmer’s Market
This story is part of a summer series on Bluffton Farmers Market vendors. The market is open each Saturday through the end of October (subject to weather) from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Citizens National Bank parking lot, 102 S. Main St. For vendor information, contact Greg Probst, market director, at [email protected].
