The super italian dish called Friselle

Guess what, Friselle is unknown to 99% of worlds population because it's non-commercial and the dish is not rocket science. I can bet with you that Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Olivier and many more celebrity chefs never came across this type of dish before. Friselle is a perfect and valid alternative to bread, it can be produced easily. I happen to make some in Singapore few days ago, it works simply because the ingredients are more or less the same. 

It is oven baked , then cut in half horizontally and it's then baked again in the oven. The looks of the frisella is with one smooth and one rough surface. Friselle are a staple food that was produced and acclaimed for its long conservation period and was therefore a valid alternative to bread, especially in those periods when flour was scarce.

The name with which friselle are also know in Apulia is “Pane dei Crociati” (Crusaders' bread) as it was certainly used to equip the Christian expeditions in their long travellings. A tradition for its consumption, from times past, was to dip friselle directly with sea water and with pure fresh tomato, which was squeezed to let the juices out. If you're wondering why the circular shape, it was not for the aesthetics: the hole at their center, allowed the friselle to be practically transported with a cord that was passed through them to form a sort of collier : that way they could either be hung for conservation or for comfortable transportation. Friselle were a typical travel-bread: that's why sea water was often used, or it was used as bottom for the fish soups, which were usually consumed during the days-long fishing expeditions in the open sea.

How they look like

Friselle have a characteristic shape, derived from their production process: they are typically circular and with a hole at their center. Oven baked twice and cut after the first baking, they always come in pairs as they are nothing else that the two halves of the same form. Characteristic is also the surface, rough where it's cut after the first baking, smooth where it's remaining form the original manual shaping of the dough. Sizes are variable: friselle's diameter and their holes' diameter can vary from 5-10 centimeters to 20 or more. 

The color depends on both the baking time and the flour composition (more or less wheat/barley flour): color can then range from light to (very) dark brown. I have checked a number of cookbooks and online sources, and friselle are made from just durum wheat flour, salt, live yeast cake and water. Another recipe that yields more calls for:

1 k (2.2 pounds, or about 8 1/3 cups) flour, ideally durum wheat flour

1 3/4 ounces (50 g) live yeast cake

1 cup of Water

A pinch of salt

In this case, begin by combining the yeast with a 1 2/3 cups (about 200 g) flour, warm water, and a pinch of salt, to make smooth soft starter loaf. Cover it and let it rise in a warm place for a half hour.

After a half hour, make a well of the rest of your flour on your work surface, and work the starter loaf into it, adding enough water to make a dough. Roll the dough into finger-thick 8-inch long (20 cm) snakes, make them into rings and set them to rise on a baking tin. Let them rise for 2 hours, and then bake them in a 400 degree (200C) oven for about a half hour. Remove them from the oven, Split them down the middle to obtain 2 rings from each frisella, and return them to the baking tin cut side up. Bake them for another 20-30 minutes, or until they are quite dry.

Bringing the Country to the City

In the middle of the city a small farm revolutionized the idea of what can be done in an very unlikely place! 63 years old self reliant J. Dervaes started his own farm ten years ago, Jules and his children grow all the food they need in the middle of the city. Their produce is organic and their ducks and chickens lay thousands of eggs a year, on their 4000 sqf backyard they raise 400 varieties of vegetable and fruits.

It all started as an experiment, from 1/10th of an acre, four people manage to get over 90% of their daily food and the family reports earnings of $20,000 per year (AFTER they eat from what is produced). This is done without the use of the expensive & destructive synthetic chemicals associated with industrial mono-cropping, while simultaneously improving the fertility and overall condition of the land being used to grow this food on. Scaled up to an acre, that would equal $200,000 per year! 

One of the main reasons why I would not mind to start growing my own food, perhaps not today but down the road for sure..

1. GET THE NUTRITION YOU NEED & ENJOY TASTIER FOOD!
Many studies have shown that organically grown food has more minerals and nutrients that we need than food grown with synthetic pesticides. There’s a good reason why many chefs use organic foods in their recipes—they taste better. Organic farming starts with the nourishment of the soil, which eventually leads to the nourishment of the plant and, ultimately our bodies.

2. SAVE MONEY
Growing your own food can help cut the cost of the grocery bill. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars and month at the grocery store on foods that don’t really nourish you, spend time in the garden, outside, exercising, learning to grow your own food.

3. PROTECT FUTURE GENERATIONS
The average child receives four times more exposure than an adult to at least eight widely used cancer-causing pesticides in food. Food choices you make now will impact your child’s future health.

I also know that not everyone can become like Mr. Dervaes due to lack of space but at least the video documentary inspires people and opens up horizons to those unfortunate that are left behind by consuming a daily dose of MSG and pesticide.. I can also tell you that I am one of it as well!

So, lets jointly hope for the best and a self sufficient thought is a good start for the day!