Bagna cauda
A warm dip of garlic, anchovy and olive oil, often enriched with butter, that Piedmont serves over a flame with raw and cooked vegetables and bread.
Modern adaptation
Grissini stirati all’olio
Grissini stirati · Turin breadsticks
A measured Torino baker’s formula for hand-stretched grissini, baked until crisp and dry.
A Torino baker’s formula
Grissini stirati are associated with Torino and several Piedmont areas. The regional product record describes their thin, hand-stretched shape and long bake, which dries them into a crisp breadstick. It also records competing local views about whether traditional dough includes fat.
This measured formula is credited to Andrea Perino of Perino Vesco Fornai in Torino. It uses olive oil. Historical accounts of the grissino's origin conflict, so this recipe is presented as Perino's documented formula rather than as the original or universal Piedmont method.
Sources for this section
Mix, shape and stretch
Measure 500 g flour W 260, 15 g powdered malt, 10 g fresh yeast, 300 g water in two additions, 80 g extra-virgin olive oil and 10 g salt. Keep the first 260 g water at 4°C. Have rice flour ready for dusting. The source gives no piece count.
Mix the flour, malt, yeast, first 260 g water, olive oil and salt on low speed for 5–6 minutes. Increase speed, add the remaining 40 g water and mix about 5 minutes. Cover and rest for 10 minutes. Shape a tight log, brush it with oil, cover it and wait 20 minutes. Flatten the log and let it rise for 2 hours.
Dust the dough generously with rice flour, slice it into strips, coat them and stretch each gently from the center toward the ends. Keep the thickness even; thick spots stay softer. Arrange on parchment while heating the oven to 230°C.
Sources for this section
Bake until crisp
Bake at 230°C until golden. The recipe gives no fixed baking time. For a drier, crisp result, its method leaves the grissini in the switched-off oven to dry; check as they cool and remove once crisp. The regional description supports a prolonged bake to remove moisture, but does not assign a time to this formula.
Flour is raw and may carry harmful bacteria. Do not taste raw dough; bake it fully and wash hands and work surfaces after handling flour.
Sources for this section
History
Grissini are associated with Torino and Piedmont, but their exact origin is contested. The Piedmont regional product record says the grissino appeared by the mid-17th century and notes competing origin accounts. The selected oil-based formula is a modern measured recipe credited to Torino baker Andrea Perino; it is not evidence for a particular 17th-century formula.
Ingredients
Scaling: source batch only
Strong wheat flourThe source specifies flour strength W 260.
500 g
Malt powder
15 g
Fresh baker's yeast
10 g
WaterChilled to 4°C.
260 g
Add a further 40 g later in mixing.WaterAdd during mixing after the dough has started to form.
40 g
The formula uses 300 g water total.Extra-virgin olive oilSome is used to brush the dough log.
80 g
SaltAdd after the other main ingredients begin to combine.
10 g
Rice flourFor dusting the dough and shaped grissini.
As needed.
Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Raw flour in dough
Flour is a raw food that may carry harmful bacteria; the dough must be baked before tasting or eating.
Hazard sourceDo not taste raw flour or dough. Bake the grissini fully and wash hands, utensils and surfaces after handling raw dough.
Control sourceThe recipe gives no fixed bake duration. Bake until the breadsticks are fully dried and crisp; do not rely on colour alone if their centers remain soft.
- Put the flour, malt, fresh yeast, 260 g chilled water, olive oil and salt in a stand mixer. Mix on low speed for 5–6 minutes.
- Increase the speed and add the remaining 40 g water. Mix for about 5 minutes more.
- Turn the dough onto the work surface and cover it. Rest for 10 minutes.
- Shape the dough into a tight log. Brush it with oil and cover so the surface does not dry out. After 20 minutes, flatten the log and let it rise for 2 hours.
- Dust the dough log generously with rice flour. Cut it into strips, coat the strips with rice flour, then gently stretch each from the middle toward the ends. Keep the thickness even so the sticks bake evenly.
- Arrange the grissini on a parchment-lined baking sheet while the oven heats to 230°C.
- Bake until golden. For a drier, crisp result, leave them in the switched-off oven to dry; check them as they cool and remove when crisp.
Conditions
Temperature230°C
Places
Torino
Documented preparation · Locality evidenceThe selected oil-based formula is credited to Andrea Perino of Perino Vesco Fornai in Torino; the regional record lists several Piedmont production areas, so this is a documented preparation association rather than a single-place origin claim.
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Sources
Associazione Italiana Food BloggerRecipe · Geographic context · History
I grissiniThe article credits the oil-based grissini stirati formula to Andrea Perino of Perino Vesco Fornai in Torino and provides its measured ingredients, mixing, resting, stretching and 230°C bake method.
It recounts competing origin stories and says the history and paternity are uncertain.
Cited in: A Torino baker’s formula; Mix, shape and stretch; Bake until crisp
PiemonteIS - Regione PiemonteGeographic context · History · Method
Grissino stiratoThe regional product record associates grissini stirati with Valli di Lanzo, Canavese, Pinerolese and Torino; it describes flour, water, yeast and salt, with regional disagreement about fats.
The method includes shaping, rising, hand stretching to around 1.5 m and baking at 200–250°C for a prolonged time to remove moisture.
It says origin is debated but records the product's appearance in the mid-17th century.
Cited in: A Torino baker’s formula; Bake until crisp
U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationFood safety
Handling Flour Safely: What You Need to KnowFlour may carry harmful bacteria; do not taste raw flour or dough, and clean hands, utensils and work surfaces after handling it.
Cited in: Bake until crisp