Ne we consume on average just over 110 grams a day for a total of 41 kilos per head in a year. With this data we bring up the rear of bread consumers in Europe little compared to the 88 kilos per capita per year of the Romanians, true record holders, the 80 kilos of the Germans, the 57 kilos of the Dutch and the 52 kilos of the Poles. We are even behind Spain (47 kilos) and France (44 kilos).
Less and less bread is consumed in Italy despite the fact that cereals and derivatives have represented a very important source of energy and nutrients in the Mediterranean diet, which drew more than half of the calories needed for its needs from carbohydrates, a trend that started in the 50s, daughter of a civilization of well-being that has criminalized carbohydrates as the main responsible for weight gain, insulin resistance and related pathologies.
Elisabetta Bernardi, biologist, nutritionist, scientific popularizer during a conference held some time ago by Italmopa, the Association of Industrial Millers of Italy highlighted that «every day we are bombarded with information concerning food or diet, but often this news is false or not scientifically based. Bread is often the subject of this fake news, and for us nutritionists, bread is the basis of our diet and of the Mediterranean food model. We must learn to look at the news with a critical sense and always check the sources. White or wholemeal bread is a necessary food in a balanced diet given its high content of complex carbohydrates and the energy they provide which is similar for both types of bread. It is not a particular food that makes you gain or lose weight, but the intake of a diet with a caloric intake higher than individual needs".
Only recently has the consumer taken an interest in bread again, favoring wholemeal flour, durum wheat semolina or multi-cereal flour. In short, yes to bread if it is of quality. And a concrete contribution to guiding the consumer in his choices comes from Guide the Three Loaves of Bread and Bakers of Italy 2024 by Gambero Rosso.
Sixty-one quality bakers mentioned in the Guide. Among the three special mentions Brescia (Lombardy) obtains the special recognition of Bakery of the year with El Forner, Emerging baker is Giulia Busato from Tocio di Noale (Venice), Pane e Territorio goes to the Antica Forneria Molettieri (Naples). With the guidance, the sector trend that emerges - the editors of the publication claim - is related to new entries of extremely talented young people and more often women. A tangible sign- they add by how much the gold of blond wheat is truly an ever more successful choice for the generations of all time and for the new ones”.
Among the new entries, Piedmont improves with two new entries and Abruzzo, Campania, Friuli, Lombardy and Veneto with one.
The Gambero Rosso Guide: "Bread is gold"
The Gambero Rosso Guide recalls that "Bread is gold" and underlines that it is "the true root of human nutrition, a metaphor at the heart of many idioms and famous aphorisms," and underlines that “Bread, together with milk, is one of the most wasted foods in our world despite its majestic multi-millennial history".
"Massimo Bottura - says the director of the guides Laura Mantovano - says it all with the dessert that closes the 2023 tasting menu of his Francescana, which is called Il Pane è oro, an invitation not to waste and to use one's creativity, giving shape to a better future in which ethics and aesthetics are one. Thus placing environmental and economic sustainability and the well-being of those who work with passion, culture and profound respect in this sacred world at the center".
Going into the specifics of the special mentions, Brescia deserves the special recognition of Bakery of the year with the excellent work of Forner with the two brothers Andrea and Paolo Piantoni, which continue, making it contemporary, the story started by dad Davide with a division of tasks that sees the first with a commercial role, and the second in production. Today you are the points of sale of this small empire, with an online shop, born in 1937 in which sourdough is the master, fertilizing quality flours, as in the case of the evolutionary mixture of Solibam soft wheat to transform into infinite proposals, from the vein of durum wheat semolina with cereals and barley malt, from stone-ground Tuttograno to soft with corn germ and sunflower seeds, up to the legendary brindle with rice flour (the symbolic sandwiches of the house, brushed with melted butter) . Not least the focaccias, crackers and bread sticks and the sweet section.
From Lombardy, we arrive in Veneto with the second special recognition: Emerging Panettiere è Giulia Busato di Tocio, who brought a very special new scent of bread to the streets of Noale (Ve). Young and brilliant, with a degree in law and a move to Masterchef in 2019, she finally understood that she was in love with bread, "bread as it once was, but now" she says, with the dream of expanding from today's laboratory to a solid workshop possibly in the beloved Venice. Tocio is a "Micro Wild Bakery" of the PAU network (urban agricultural bakers), with resale points in small shops or clubs between Venice and Treviso, and the rest of the production for catering. Sourdough bread only, with three mother yeasts, and grains from small biodynamic farmers, favoring old varieties: the agricultural loaf (from soft wheat and old varieties with the addition of wholemeal rye, cereals and single spelt), the buckwheat box with oats, Cacao Meravigliao (with cocoa, mixed old varieties of wheat, single-origin chocolate and hazelnuts), Rugbrod (Danish-style rye and seeds), Khorapan (local Khorasan) and much more. Also gluten free.
Campania closes with the new blond wheat shield of the Pane e Territorio dell award'Antica Forneria Molettieri al Vomero: a bakery born in '59 on the slopes of Vomero. At the head of the laboratory is there Rodolfo, incessant experimenter, able to draw on the recipes of Neapolitan history, of which he is a great connoisseur. An example? The nishiki rice-based bread made with sea water, agricultural flours and boiled rice and sold in bamboo boats; the breads made with ancestral yeasts, or obtained by infusion (such as white fir breadsticks) are also surprising. The corn or chickpea and lentil flakes are highly appreciated. No less rich is the dessert front presided over by his sister Barbara, while the gastronomy is entrusted to his brother Marcello, a long-time cook. Excellent leavened products for special occasions.
THE THREE BREADS OF THE RED SHRIMP
VALLE D'AOSTA
LE COIN DU PAIN SAINT CHRISTOPHE [AO]
AGENDA NEWS
FAGNOLA BAKERY SINCE 1923 BRA [CN]
HEART OF CABELLA LIGURE ORGANIC BREAD [AL]
VULAIGA FOBELLO [VC]
MARCARINO RODDINO RODDINO [CN]
WHEAT – BAKERS IN FERMENT SANTENA [TO]
FICINI TURIN
PERINO VESCO TURIN
LUCA SCARCELLA – THE TURIN CORNER OVEN
SPOTO BAKERY WANT TO BREAD TURIN
LOMBARDY
THE BREAD OF MAURIZIO SARIOLI BRESCIA
GRAZIOLI LEGNANO [MI]
RIO BAKERY SINCE 1929 MANTUA
SPLIT MILANO
DAVIDE LONGONI MILAN BREAD
THE POWDER MILAN
MASTER MONZA'S OVEN
TILDE ARTISAN OVEN TREVIGLIO [BG]
CERERE – THE TRIUGGIO BREAD ATELIER [MB]
VENETO
OLIVIERI 1882 ARZIGNANO [VI]
MARINATED CINTO CAOMAGGIORE [VE]
ZOGNO CONSELVE OVEN [PD]
GRIGORIS LABAKERY MESTRE [VE]
PIOVE DI SACCO VENETIAN OVEN [PD]
RENATO BOSCO BAKERY SAN MARTINO GOOD HOTEL [VR]
THE ZENATTI BROTHERS BAKERY SINCE 1979 SOMMACAMPAGNA [VR]
TRENTINO ALTO ADIGE
MODERN BAKERY ISERA [TN]
FRIULI VENEZIA GIULIA
THE PLACE OF FOLLADOR PORDENONE
JERIAN TRIESTE
EMILIA ROMAGNA
BRISA BOLOGNA OVEN
BOLOGNA SHOES
MICRO BAKERY MOLLICA CARPI [MO]
IN THE NAME OF BREAD CAPPELLETTI & BONGIOVANNI DOVADOLA [FC]
O FLOWER MY HUB FAENZA [RA]
THE BUTEGA TO FRANTON GUASTALLA [RE]
TUSCANY
PANK LA BULANGERIA FLORENCE
SLIGHTLY VIAREGGIO [LU]
MARCHE
THE ASSAULT OF THE ASCOLI PICENO OVENS
PANDEFRÀ SENIGALLIA [AN]
LAZIO
PIECE OF BREAD FROSINONE
BONCI BAKERY Roma
FRANCESCO ARNESANO ROME YEAST
ANCIENT ROSCIOLI OVEN ROME
TRITICUM AGRICULTURAL MICROBAKERY ROME
ROME TULIPS
ABRUZZO
FORMA BAKERY THE EAGLE
MONTESILVANO BREAD MARKET [PE]
CAMPANIA
THE FRANCESINA BOULANGERIE HERCULANEUM [NA]
BAD FRONT GRAGNANO [NA]
FOORN MARIGLIANELLA [NA]
LEGRANI NAPLES
PUGLIA
BARI ADRIATIC BAKERY
GRAIN SPEAKER - INDEPENDENT OVEN CONVERSANO [BA]
THE TUSCAN CORATO [BA]
LULA – BREAD AND DESSERTS TRANI [BT]
BASILICATA
BREAD AND PEACE MATERA
SICILY
BIANCUCCIA OVEN CATANIA
FRANCESCO ARENA MESSINA
GUCCIONE BAKERY PALERMO
MARTINEZ TRAPANI
SARDINIA
PBREAD NATURAL BAKERY CAGLIARI
SPECIAL AWARDS
BAKERY OF THE YEAR
LOMBARDY
EL FORNER BRESCIA
EMERGING BAKER
TOCIO DI GIULIA BUSATO NOALE [VE] VENETO
BREAD AND TERRITORY
CAMPANIA
ANCIENT BAKERY MOLETTIERI NAPLES
