For this month’s bread bakers Breads from
Italy was the theme given by Anshie of SpiceRoots. I first thought of making
Focaccia then changed my mind to make this easy bread sticks. I always prefer
to bake easy breads .
I was surprised to read about the history of
this easy bread sticks.
About Grissini :
Piemonte : Grissino
Grissino is a long , thin and crispy stick
made with bread dough. It’s widely popular in the whole world since centuries .
The history of grissini is closely related to that of Piedmont , a region in
northwest Italy .
Grissini were invented at the end of the 17th
century to cure health problems of young Duke Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoy. The
duke had major difficulty digesting most foods and Don Baldo di Lanzo , the
court doctor , commissioned the court baker , Antonio Brunero , to make an
extremely light and friable bread.
Antonio decided to take part of the dough use
to make ghersa , a typical bread of Turin , and stretch it out into long , thin strips. Once baked , the thin
breadsticks were crisp and easy to digest. Thanks to this recipe the duke’s
health improved . the duke was crowned as king in 1713. Legend has it that the
ghost of Vittorio Amedeo , with a grissino in hand , still haunts the rooms of
his old castle.
Napoleon referred grissini as “ little sticks of Turin’’
and loved them .He had them delivered to paris directly from Turin (Piedmont).
Requirements :
Multigrain wheat flour –
3 cup
Lukewarm water – ¾ cup
Sugar – 2tsp
Salt – 1 ¼ tsp
Instant yeast – 2 tsp
Dry milk – 1 tbs
Olive oil – 2 tbs
Topping :
Sesame seeds
Method :
I used
store bought Multigrain wheat flour to make this bread sticks. You can use
wheat flour or pastry flour to make this bread sticks.
In a bowl , add the
flour , dry milk , sugar , salt and yeast , mix together .
Add in the lukewarm
water , olive oil and mix well.
Sini.
Knead for ten minutes or
till the dough becomes soft and supple.
Cover the dough with a
towel and let the dough rest for 2 hour or till it doubles.
Knead the doubled dough
again.
I made plain grissini , Mixed Italian
seasoning grissini and black sesame seed grissini.
Divide the dough into 24
small balls. Take a ball and place it on the kitchen counter , dust a little
flour and roll it into rope with the four fingers of both hand.
Roll till you get the desired length – plain
Grissini.
For herbed grissini ,
roll the plain grissini on the mixed Italian seasoning .
For sesame seed grissini
, I rolled the plain grissini on the black sesame seeds.
Arrange the
prepared grissini on the baking tray ,
brush each grissini with olive oil.
Bake in the preheated
oven @ 180*C for 20 minutes or till the sticks are lightly brown.
Remove from oven and
cool on a rack and store in air tight container. It will be fresh for 3 days.
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