Gluten free but delicious

Bread for those who cannot eat bread. Even better: bread of the highest quality, made with mother yeast, but gluten free, thus easier to digest and suitable, in particular, for those suffering from celiac disease who usually have to make do with precarious leavenings, very heavy loaves, sad-looking bread sticks, tasteless and soulless crackers.

The lectureheldby Francesca Morandin– a consultant, food technician and yeast expert - will open the show on the day dedicated to bread and pizza (here’s the complete programme) at Identità Milano, on Monday February 9th in Sala Blu 2 inside the Milano Convention Center in via Gattamelata.

“A gluten free world” is indeed the title of her lecture,held by this specialist called to guarantee that the dough will not saglike an unsuccessful soufflé: a job that could make one think of decades of experience when in fact she has a precocious talent. After all, she was born among yeast. It was 1964 when her dad Rolando and her mum Rosi, originally from Veneto, opened a pastry shop called Morandin in Saint-Vincent, in Valle d’Aosta, which they still run, with the help of their other child, Mauro. Francesca was born 22 years later, in 1986, and the family shop was her personal amusement park: «I used to play with miniature pizzas, cakes...».

Her later studiesseconded her vocation: «My dad strongly insisted that I get a deeper knowledge of the scientific elements behind this profession, since I had already learnt the practical foundations at home. I knew that a particular thing was happening: bent over my books, I understood why». She completed with honours a BAin “Food sciences and technologies for restaurants” fromthe University of Torino; and again with honours a post-graduate course in Milan. Herdissertation, "Production of gluten-free bread with the use of acid dough", resulted in a registered patent: «It was 2011, I wanted to find a way of obtaining mother yeast without gluten, starting from Rolando», which in this case is not her dad, but the name of the wheat yeast her family has been cultivating for many years. She succeeded.

She will speak about this too, in Milan: «Studying gluten free is trendy, on top of being a need and a necessity for many». And as for the “gluten-free trend” one can discuss at length («Let’s say that normally gluten is bad only if you eat it in high quantity, or if the quality is low. Of course gluten free is easier to digest…»), she knows the quality aspect very well: «My goal is to obtain gluten free products that are as natural as possible. Food for celiacs is often full of preservatives and additives, which are used to make the dough stable. I, however, always look for a way to have high quality food». She will explain so on stage, while preparing... a breakfast made of bread, butter and jam. «For the bread, I will use mother yeast, a balanced mix of flour (corn, rice, buckwheat…) and Petraviva’s Bricks (bricks made with cereals, pseudo-cereals and legumes, rich in proteins and minerals): a graft that you can easily prepare at home too, rich in nutrients, and thanks to the Bricks, it is capable of lowering blood sugar too– if used constantly, over time». The dough will rest 6/7 hours before being baked and enjoyed.

Because Francesca Morandin is sure of the results of the tasting too: «Taste perception is strongly based on psychology. On the latest“Notte del ricercatore” [Night of the researcher], organised by the universities in Milan, we had people blind-taste our gluten-free bread and a normal bread: gluten-free bread turned out to be lighter, had a stronger fragrance and was even aromatic, thanks to the presence of buckwheat». Healthy and good, that is to say a “healthy intelligence”, recalling the main theme of the congress.