Primo’s New Mostardas Burst with Flavors of Fall

What is it with October 1? Seemingly overnight, summer flavors fall away and we wake to suddenly crave autumn’s warm spices and—god forbid—pumpkin spice lattes.

One way to satisfy your fall taste buds is Denver-based Primo Specialty Foods’ newly released mostardas. The two Italian-inspired preserves juxtapose sweet with sharp by combining fruit like dried apricots and cherries with chiles, spices, and mustard seeds. In Italy, mostardas (which are often served along meats and charcuterie boards) do not include chiles. But Vic Papazian, Primo’s founder, has staked his claim on working the fruity nuances of chiles into his collection of craft jams. “When I rolled out preserves 12 years ago, it was a novel idea,” he says. “Now everyone has caught up. I needed to grow and I want to extend and enhance the specialty category.”

And so, Papazian set out to develop mostardas. He combined Urfa chile‘s slight smokiness with apricots and garam masala and Aleppo chile‘s fruity essence with tart cherries and ginger. In both varieties, mustard seeds add pungency and texture. “I want to introduce people to other types of pairing,” he says. “These are more tailored to the food enthusiast and connoisseur.” The mostardas, which are available online, add pop to any cheese or charcuterie plate, are right at home in any picnic basket, and even enliven the most ho-hum of turkey sandwiches.

Order Primo’s products online, including its Cherry Aleppo and Apricot Urfa mostardas and lineup of jams in flavors like Blackberry Serrano, Raspberry Habanero, and Blueberry Jalapeño.

Factoid: Aleppo chiles originated in Aleppo, a city in northern Syria. Listen to the Sporkful’s two-part series about Syria’s food culture—and a hunt for the most iconic of sandwiches.