Baking with Luca

BAKING WITH LUCA 0.0

Would you like to try an easy to be involved in baking, pastry and kneading. From the research of organic and healthy foods, through their quality, till their measurements?

A view on baking through my experience.

Through my personal experience in baking, I developed an idea (philosophy) about the fact that have a good know how in baking could be useful to improve many aspects of the quality of our life.

Well I don't want to assume that my vision is unique and right, but I'm trying to be helpful in the simplest way.

When many years ago I started to make bread and pastry by myself, and after a few courses of baking and pastry baking, I started the research of the right ingredients, I found that this is maybe one of the most important step to achieve, and now I want to teach, to those whom are interested, how do this.

First of all, because selecting ingredients with healthy, environmental and qualitative properties is sometimes underestimated.

The principal criterions I use in the selecting of ingredients, are the following:

• ORGANIC.
• km ZERO (produced not too far from home).
• WITH THE BEST NUTRITIONAL QUALITIES.
• GUARANTEEING THE CORRECT PAYMENT TO THE PRODUCERS.(fair trade)

For every kneading I make, I always try to follow this four criterions, also if sometime it's hard to do. An account of the kind of ingredient you are searching for.

The hardest point to achieve are the second and the fourth!

Could you guess why?

Of course, simply because not all the ingredients can be produced near your home, and also because the most of the times, information about a correct policy of trade between producers (farmers) and who import, distribute and sell, it's impossible to be verified.

My preferred method for guarantee the correct policy in trade consists of buy directly from the producers. In the area where I live it's easy to find everything I need to create my breads, pizza or focaccia and cakes.

Within a radius of 500 km from my town e.g., I can buy the greatest part of the most famous Italian foods: diary products as Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano, provolone, mozzarella, and also proscutto di Parma, flours produced with cereals cultivated and ground not far from my town, many wines (someone famous like Franciacorta's sparkling wine), honey, fruits and vegetables. 

Usually I try, first of all, to buy foods produced in a radius of 50 km from home, directly from farmers or in stores and local markets, but when what needed isn't findable I enlarge my operating radius. But believe me in a radius of 50 km I can find foods of good quality, from pumpkins to caviar.

Another simpler but less effective way to get information is start reading labels of what we are buying. In this way we could have, at least, an idea about the place where the item has been packaged, or where the head office of the owner of the brand is. Later, you can verify the trade policy of the company, with all the information available on the web (e.g.) or some other way that put you in contact with the producer/distributor of the product.

 

  Luca's Brezel

In the photo down here, I show you my version of Brezel (Luca's Brezel). After several modifications to the original recipe(found in a book of German recipes), I have achieved the type of dough I was looking for. Finally after baking, the result was a type of Brezel required by most of the people knowing my baking ability.

  Luca's Healthy Bread

Here under is shown a type of bread I've called Healthy bread for its ingredients.(rye's flour, spelt's flour, wheat's flour, linseed, sunflower's seeds, apple). Also this type of bread receives a good success among my estimators.

I could make many other examples of  what I can do with water, flour, yeast and the whole rest. But I would prefer to be helpful answering to your comments or to your applications, to make more vivacious my blog, directly comparing me with you!