100% Valsusa beer is born and "old-fashioned" breads are being made again

Fri, 04 Jun 2021 10:04:00 GMT

One hundred percent Susa Valley beer is born. The idea is signed by Mulino Valsusa of Bruzolo, Solaramà Brewery of Vaie and Caffè San Domenico of Sant'Antonino di Susa.

"The idea behind it is to grow the area of land cultivated with grains from the valley on our territory," says Massimiliano Spigolon, soul of the Mill, opened a year ago and the only 19th-century mill in the Valley brought back into operation. "If last year, at the start of the project, there were 14 farmers involved, we have now grown to 30. In parallel, we have grown from 12 hectares under cultivation, many with ancient recovered varieties, to 35 hectares."

The name given to the new beer? Gran Dor, with a play on words that recalls both golden wheat and Dora: that's why the label is blue with golden lettering.

The beer, unfiltered and unpasteurized, has a light golden color, moderately cloudy, and white, fine, compact and persistent foam. The aroma? It smells of cereals, with fruity notes, floral hints of iris: it is slightly bitter, full-bodied, fragrant, thirst-quenching, marked cereal aftertaste.

The new "Grand Dor" and the wheat fields in Bruzolo.

The beer is brewed with ancient grains from the valley , an "evolutionary blend" in the field of ancient wheat varieties that were grown in the early 1900s and later abandoned. Basically, 8-9 grains are sown together, directly in the ground. "Rediscovering traditional ancient grains today and growing them in the fields of the Susa Valley certainly has more than one advantage: being able to enjoy superior nutritional properties, reactivate new production chains, and support the local economy," Spigolon explains.

The crush is by Birrificio Solaramà, a Valsusina reality founded in 2004 to produce craft beer: Davide Zingarelli has embraced the project with great enthusiasm. Water, barley malt, 100 percent Valsusino wheat, hops and yeast give rise to a fusion of renowned brewing styles and areas: Belgian blanche and German helles, with an alcohol content of 5 degrees. The added touch? Typically barley-only, a large percentage of unmalted ancient grains, previously roasted, were used for this beer: they give, in addition to the characteristic aroma, a slight haze.

Roberto Messineo and Massimiliano Spigolon grappling with roasting grains.

For this, master Roberto Messineo, whose roasting company in Sant'Antonino di Susa works for international restaurant brands and gastronomic excellences, is involved in the project. Roasting grains also means expressing their essence, their soul, their true nature, bringing out their aromas.

At the same time, with another Valsusian excellence, Master Matteo Marzo's Bakery in Venaus, the ancient breads of the valley that used to be eaten in the mountains have returned to production. They are the "Alpine breads with sourdough." The line includes three types: there is the whole-grain rye one, then there is the bread with flours from Grani Antichi, an evolutionary blend consisting of several wheat varieties, such as Mentana, Apulia, San Pastore, Verna, Gentilrosso, Gamba di ferro, and Terminillo.

Matteo Marzo.

Finally, Barbrial, which had disappeared and comes from an ancient technique involving the autumn sowing of a mixture composed of wheat and rye seeds. The mixture is thus obtained not by mixing flours but directly in the sown field, where the flavors and special characteristics also arise from the natural cross-pollination of the two species.

"These are 100 percent Valsusa breads," concludes Matteo Marzo, who emphasizes how this is how a small dream is realized: to make bread from the past today for the future.

The three mountain breads: Rye, Ancient Grains and Barbarial.

From the history and meeting of two excellent craftsmen comes the "Bread of the Gods"

Sat, 06 Apr 2019 09:06:00 GMT

The Bread of the Gods began as an experiment and was presented last September at Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, but right from the start it has proven to be popular with consumers. So much so that about 40 loaves come out of the Marzo bakery's workshop every Saturday, and they are quickly sold in the two stores in Venaus and Susa and in the two Rivoli stores.

A clear expression of territoriality, the Bread of the Gods, made with rye flour, is the result of the marriage between the experience of baker Matteo Marzo and that of Paolo Listello, producer of Taurini Mead. Two valley realities that have collaborated, giving rise to a product that, weekly, reaches an increasing number of dinner tables. Ready to accompany different types of courses, without ever disfiguring, on the contrary, often enhancing them.

Matteo Marzo and Paolo Listello at the Salone del Gusto

"Mead," explains Matteo Marzo, "is a beverage with a very high nutritional intake, rich in beneficial substances derived from fermentation, which give the product a special imprint. Obviously, mead to be bottled must be "stopped," otherwise it would continue to ferment, bursting the container. I intercepted it at the previous stage, when it was still fermenting, and by mixing it with the other ingredients, I obtained a nutritionally elevated product, not commanded by an alcoholic fermentation but by a bacterial one, similar to that of sourdough, thus with better digestibility. Bread of the Gods is made with local flours, characterized by the low presence of gluten, which gives it another added value."

Bread of the Gods in production at March Bakery

And if March goes into the details of the recipe, Listello, which supplied one of the raw materials, mead, claims paternity of the name given to the product. "Mead comes from the fermentation of a mixture of water and honey," he explains, "which by this process reaches an alcohol content of around 13 degrees. It is the oldest alcoholic beverage produced by man: the Egyptians, Celts, Greeks, Romans and Germans made use of it, and they called it the nectar of the gods: it seemed only right that the bread in which it is featured should recall this ancient name. It was not a big effort, I just suggested the name that we then chose."

Tasting the Bread of the Gods at Salone del Gusto 2018

Just these days Listello is celebrating the coming of age of his business, which he has been engaged in for 18 years in Caselette. "Mead is a niche product," he points out, "and until now it did not have much competition. Let's say that, until now, I have enjoyed a certain solitude: now other realities are appearing on the production scene, but I am still convinced that its use in the bread recipe produced by March has been an excellent investment."

The divine properties of the Bread of the Gods can be felt at the first bite, which is impossible not to follow up with a second, a third and many more. Because the first official taste was in the fall at the Salone del Gusto in Turin, but the taste of goodness continues, over the course of the various seasons, to cross the entire Susa Valley. And, in this case, it does so by expressing itself through double craftsmanship marked by artistry.

Much interest at the Salone del Gusto for this Valsusian product!

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100% Valsusa beer is born and "old-fashioned" breads are being made again

From the history and meeting of two excellent craftsmen comes the "Bread of the Gods"