It doesn’t get more artisanal than this: In the tiny village of Anversa in the Abruzzo region of Italy, the Marcelli family has made cheese for about 500 years. “Many of the people in the village are our relatives,” said Christina Marcelli, a member of a younger generation who is involved in the family’s import business in New Jersey. The cheeses are mostly intriguing pecorinos and ricottas. High on my list are the herbaceous ricotta passita, the grassy pecorino di Parco, the delicate pecorino scorza nera covered in ash, and especially the lush, satiny pecorino Gregoriano: Marcelli Formaggi, $35.80 to $52.80 a pound at Eataly, 200 Fifth Avenue (West 23rd Street), 212-229-2560 for telephone orders, marcelliformaggi.com.  Eric Ripert has added varieties to his pantry of distinctive spice blends, inspired by his travels and assembled with Lior Lev Sercarz, the owner of La Boîte, a spice shop in Manhattan. Australia suggested the Oz blend, an earthy mix of coffee, pepper and lemon myrtle that makes a terrific rub for venison. Hanguk, great for seafood, even raw clams, offers Korean-style chile heat with notes of seaweed. Sofrico, which blooms when mixed with good olive oil, tastes like Puerto Rico or Spain, with rich hints of tomato, garlic and bell pepper: Oz, $27; Hanguk, $15; Sofrico, $15; sets of three, $55. La Boîte, 724 11th Avenue (West 51st Street), 212-247-4407, laboiteny.com.  Welcome the day in Lisbon style. The chef George Mendes has opened Bica, a takeout window named for a style of Portuguese espresso, at his restaurant Lupulo. Bica serves breakfast sandwiches: linguiça sausage with egg and piri piri sauce; cured ham with cheese; and bacon with fried egg, tomato and avocado. There’s an array of coffees, including the bica, which is less concentrated than Italian ristretto, and pastries like Portuguese tartlets. Lunch items are sold starting at 11:30 a.m.: Bica, open 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., 835 Avenue of the Americas (on West 29th Street), 212-290-7600, lupulonyc.com.  Chris Buckley, who owns the bar Branch Ofc in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, will share his mixology smarts as he deconstructs drinks in cocktail classes. Joined by other mixologists, he will hold workshops on Saturdays and some weekday evenings. There will be drinks to sip and snacks to nibble: Workshops include Toddies, Saturday, 1:30 to 3 p.m., $40; Gin, Oct. 26, 7 to 8 p.m., $35; Garnishes, Nov. 14, 1:30 to 3 p.m., $40; at Branch Ofc, 225 Rogers Avenue (Union Street), Crown Heights, Brooklyn, branchofcbrooklyn.com, branchofcbrooklyn@gmail.com.  Katie Webster, the author of a new book on maple syrup, is a food stylist from Vermont who is well steeped in the syrup’s history. She describes how it’s made, discusses technical advances and explains a new grading system. Recipes, including a maple and Meyer lemon whiskey sour and German potato salad with maple syrup, are worth adding to your repertoire: “Maple: 100 Sweet and Savory Recipes Featuring Pure Maple Syrup,” by Katie Webster (Quirk Books, $22.95), quirkbooks.com.  Jambon de Bayonne, the rosy air-dried French ham with a mild, alluring nuttiness, is available for the first time in this country after Delpeyrat, a major producer, received approval from the Department of Agriculture. Said to have been fancied by that epic gourmand Rabelais, it is made only in the Adour River basin in southwest France, bordered by the Pyrenees and the Atlantic Ocean. Even the salt that’s used in curing must come from the Salies-de-Béarn, saltwater springs from under the mountains. Legend has it that centuries ago, a wild boar, wounded in a hunt, fell into the water and died, and when it was discovered by locals months later, the meat was so delicious that they began curing hams in the salt from the springs: Jambon de Bayonne, $21.99 a pound at Fairway Markets, fairwaymarkets.com.
Plus: Eric Ripert’s new spice blends; Portuguese breakfast sandwiches; cocktail classes; a syrup book; and ham from France.