Italian Hand Stretched Turin Breadsticks | Grissini Stirati Torinesi

Sep 30

11 min read

Grissini Stirati Torinesi (Italian Hand Stretched Turin Breadsticks)

Grissini stirati are the original Turin breadsticks: thin lengths of dough pulled by hand, baked until they snap like glass, and stood in a tumbler on every Piedmontese table before the first plate arrives. Nothing about them is moulded. A strip of rested dough is lifted and stretched, and its length is decided by the baker's arms rather than a ruler.

The result is crisp, nutty and a little irregular, exactly as it should be.

Yield: about 30 breadsticks, 10 servings. Prep: 30 minutes. Rest: 1 hour 45 minutes. Bake: 20 minutes. Difficulty: intermediate. Course: bread and antipasto. Region: Piedmont, Turin.

The Story

Turin has eaten grissini for more than three centuries, and the city tells their story with more confidence than the documents strictly allow. The tale begins in 1679, when the young Duke Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoy was a fragile child who could not digest ordinary bread. His physician, Teobaldo Pecchio, is said to have asked the court baker, Antonio Brunero of Lanzo Torinese, for a bread that was nearly all crust and almost no crumb. Brunero stretched strips of dough by hand and baked them dry, and the duke recovered. The name is usually traced to ghërsa, a Piedmontese word for a small loaf.

What is certain is that by the eighteenth century grissini were a Turin specialty, carried in baskets to the courts and taverns of Piedmont. Napoleon is said to have loved them so much that he arranged a courier service to bring them to Paris, where he called them the little sticks of Turin. Travellers wrote about them, and the city's bakers guarded the trade jealously. Long before factories learned to extrude perfect uniform sticks, the original grissino was stretched, not formed, and that is the version Turin still calls stirato.

The stirato is the older and more rustic of the two great Turin sticks. Its cousin, the rubatà of Chieri, is regular and tidy, a refinement made for the bakery counter. The stirato belongs to the trattoria and the family kitchen, where a glass of irregular sticks stands beside bresaola, robiola and a bottle of Barbera. Piedmontese cooking, shaped by the Savoy court, the hills and the hard winters of the Po valley, has always prized bread that keeps, and a dry baked stick keeps for weeks. Wheat from the plain around Turin, a little olive oil, and in older kitchens lard, are the entire recipe. The rest is time and confident hands. Turin was also a city of bakers who worked at night for the morning trade, and a grissino was the natural product of the last hour of the shift, when the oven had cooled a little and a tray of thin sticks could dry in the remaining heat. Households bought them by weight from the panetteria and kept them in a tin for the week. In the cafés of the city, where the vermouth ritual still structures the early evening, grissini arrive before the glass is finished.

Ingredients

For the dough

Bread flour, 4 cups (500 g), Italian type 0 or a strong unbleached flour
Lukewarm water, 1 cup plus 2 tbsp (270 ml), at about 90°F (32°C)
Extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup (60 ml), mild and fruity
Active dry yeast, 1 tsp (3 g)
Fine sea salt, 2 tsp (12 g)
Barley malt syrup, 1 tsp (7 g), or 1 tsp honey

For shaping and baking

Fine semolina, 1/4 cup (40 g), for dusting
Extra virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp (15 ml), for the bowl and the trays
Coarse sea salt, 1 tsp (4 g), optional, for finishing
Fine cornmeal, 1 tbsp (9 g), optional, for a sandy crust

For the oven

Baking temperature: 425°F (220°C) for the first bake
Drying temperature: 300°F (150°C) for the second stage
Two heavy baking sheets, lined with parchment

For serving

Bresaola, thinly sliced, 4 oz (115 g)
Robiola, fresh, 4 oz (115 g)
Lardo or prosciutto crudo, thinly sliced, 3 oz (85 g)
Green olives, 1/2 cup (75 g)
Dry Barbera or vermouth, for the glass

Preparation

Mix the dough

Stir the yeast and the malt syrup into the lukewarm water and leave them for 5 minutes until faintly foamy. Put the flour and salt in a large bowl, pour in the yeast water and the olive oil, and mix until no dry flour remains. Turn it onto an unfloured counter and knead for 8 to 10 minutes. The dough is meant to be fairly firm, smooth and springy, with a hydration near 54 percent, much stiffer than a ciabatta. If it feels sticky after the first 3 minutes, resist adding flour. Wait, keep kneading, and let the gluten absorb the water. The oil should disappear into the dough, leaving the surface satiny rather than greasy. Cover the ball with a bowl for 10 minutes if you want the dough to relax before the rise.

Let the dough rise

Oil a bowl, add the dough and turn it once so the surface is coated. Cover and leave it at about 75°F (24°C) for 1 hour, until it has grown by about half. It should not double. Overproofed dough is gassy and weak, and it tears when pulled. Press a floured finger in gently: the dent should spring back slowly and only part of the way. A cool kitchen needs another 20 minutes, and a hot one may need 15 minutes less.

Rest the dough in a flat sheet

Press the dough on a semolina dusted counter into a rectangle about 12 by 10 inches (30 by 25 cm) and 1/2 inch (12 mm) thick. Dust the top, cover with a towel and leave it for a further 45 minutes. This rest is what makes the stretching possible, because the gluten relaxes and the sheet turns soft and slack. Use the flat of your hands and work from the centre outward, so the thickness stays even. Thick corners make thick sticks, and a sheet that is too thin dries out at the edges before you have cut it.

Cut the strips

Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and oil two baking sheets lightly. With a bench scraper or a long knife, cut the rectangle across its short side into strips about 1/2 inch (12 mm) wide, working quickly and pressing straight down rather than sawing. You should have about 30 strips. Dust each cut face with a little semolina so neighbours do not glue together. Cut the strips in one continuous run and keep the remaining sheet covered until you reach it.

Stretch each strip

Take a strip by both ends and let it hang for a second. Then draw your hands apart in one smooth movement until it reaches 14 to 16 inches (35 to 40 cm), and lay it straight on the tray. Do not smooth it or adjust it. Space the sticks about 1/2 inch (12 mm) apart, since they hardly spread. If one snaps back, leave it for 5 minutes and try again. Sprinkle a few with coarse salt if you like, or roll the ends lightly in cornmeal for a sandy crust. Fill one tray and put it in the oven while you stretch the second batch, so the whole batch never waits long enough to dry on the counter.

Bake and dry

Bake for 12 minutes, until pale gold and set. Lower the oven to 300°F (150°C), turn the trays and bake for 8 to 10 minutes more, until the sticks are deep golden and dry all the way through. Cool them on a rack. A stick that bends is not finished. When done it breaks with a clean, loud snap. Leave the sticks in the switched off oven with the door ajar for 10 minutes if you want the driest possible result.

Plating

Serve grissini stirati the Turin way, upright in a tall glass or a narrow terracotta jar, so the different lengths show and each stick can be lifted out without touching the others. Place the glass in the centre of the table, at room temperature, never covered, with the tallest sticks at the back.

For an antipasto, set a few sticks beside thin slices of bresaola, a wedge of robiola and some olives. For a more formal plate, wrap a slice of cured ham or lardo around the upper third of a stick and lean it on the plate. Use them as spoons for a warm bagna cauda if you wish. Keep the salted sticks away from the softest cheeses so the salt does not compete.

Professional Technique

Stretching aligns the gluten and gives the surface its smooth finish. When a piece of dough is pulled in one continuous movement, the gluten chains line up along the length of the stick. The baked grissino comes out smooth, regular and almost glassy, and it breaks with a clean, audible snap instead of crumbling.

The pull must be done once. Pulling in several attempts stretches one part, lets it relax and stretches it again, and creates zones that are thinner than the rest. Those thin patches dry first and scorch in the oven while the rest of the stick is still pale.

The dough must have rested long enough to be extensible. Gluten that is still tight acts like an elastic band: it stretches under your hands and then contracts as soon as you let go, giving a short, fat stick. Readiness is easy to judge. Press a floured finger into the sheet. If the dent stays and the surface feels soft and slightly slack, the dough is ready. Lift the corner of one strip and let it hang: it should lengthen under its own weight without snapping back.

This also explains why stretched grissini differ in length while rubatà are regular. A stretched stick ends where the dough's extensibility and the baker's reach happen to end, so each one lands at its own length. That variation is proof of the method, not a defect. An even row of identical sticks tells you the dough was cut and rolled to a template, and a stirato that comes out exactly regular has probably been pulled too little.

Texture and Moisture Control

A grissino is crisp because it has almost no water left. A sheet 1/2 inch (12 mm) thick, stretched to 14 inches, becomes a stick barely 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick, and at that thickness heat reaches the centre quickly. The first bake sets the shape and colours the crust. The second, lower bake drives out the moisture without darkening the surface further.

Olive oil, 1/4 cup (60 ml) across 500 g of flour, coats the gluten strands and makes the crumb short and tender, so the sticks break instead of chewing. The malt syrup helps the surface colour at a moderate temperature, which is why the colour is golden rather than brown. Semolina on the tray is drier than flour and prevents sticking without burning.

Moisture returns quickly after baking, especially in a humid Turin autumn. Cool the sticks fully on a rack, never on a tray, because trapped steam softens the underside within minutes. A soft grissino is a grissino that has taken up water, and the cure is 5 minutes in a 300°F (150°C) oven, followed by a full cooling on the rack before the sticks go into the tin.

Professional Mise en Place

Equipment and tools

Large mixing bowl and a bench scraper
Two heavy baking sheets and parchment
Wire cooling rack and a clean kitchen towel
Oven thermometer, since home ovens often run 25°F (14°C) off
Digital scale, so flour and water are weighed, not measured by cup
Small bowl of water for the fingers, if the dough sticks

Prepared ahead

Dough kneaded and risen up to 3 hours before cutting
Trays oiled and parchment cut to size
Semolina in a small bowl, ready to dust
Coarse salt weighed out for the sticks that will carry it
Cured meats and cheeses wrapped and kept in the refrigerator
Second tray of parchment ready, so the oven never sits empty

Service setup

Sticks baked no more than 6 hours before serving
Tall glass or jar washed and dry
Cured meats and cheeses sliced at the last minute
Wine chilled, sticks served at room temperature
Napkins and small plates for the crumbs, since grissini shed

Chef Tips

Weigh the flour and the water. A difference of a few tablespoons of water changes the dough from stretchy to sticky, and a sticky sheet cannot be pulled cleanly.

Cut all the strips before you start stretching, and keep the uncut part of the sheet covered, so the strips do not dry and crust while you work.

Stretch over the tray, not on the counter. The weight of the dough helps the pull, and you can lower the stick into place without touching it a second time.

If the strips resist, rest them under the towel for 5 minutes. Do not fight the dough, because it always wins. A short rest in a cool place is worth more than any amount of pulling.

Taste one stick from each tray as soon as it has cooled. The first tray tells you whether the salt and the bake are right, and you can adjust the second tray before it goes in.

Common Mistakes

Using a dough that is too wet. Sticky strips cling to your hands, tear and end up thick and uneven. Keep the dough firm and dust with semolina.

Cutting the rest short. Tight gluten shrinks back like an elastic band and you get short, thick sticks. Give the sheet its full 45 minutes.

Pulling in stages. Every pause and re grip creates a thin place that scorches. One movement, then leave it alone.

Skipping the second bake. Sticks that are only golden on the outside stay soft in the middle and turn leathery within hours.

Storing warm sticks. Sealed while still warm, they sweat and soften. Cool them completely first.

Baking at too high a temperature. A very hot oven browns the surface before the centre has dried. The sticks look done, then soften. Keep to the two stage bake and check the colour at each stage.

Making the strips too thick. Anything wider than 3/4 inch (18 mm) will not dry through and will feel doughy in the middle. Cut them narrower, and remember they thin out as they are stretched.

Wine Pairing

Grissini are salty, dry and neutral, so they sit best with dry Piedmontese wines that share their region and clean the palate. These four also suit the bresaola, robiola and lardo that usually stand beside the glass.

Alta Langa DOCG: A metodo classico from Piedmont, with fine bubbles, brisk acidity and a toasty note from lees ageing. The crisp mousse cuts through the olive oil in the crumb, and the toasted character echoes the baked crust. Serve it very cold, in a tall flute, as the aperitif that begins the evening.

Roero Arneis DOCG: A dry white with almond and pear notes and a light saline finish. Its moderate acidity refreshes the palate between sticks, and the almond edge sits naturally next to salted crusts and soft robiola. It is also the gentlest of the four, which suits a plain stick with no topping.

Erbaluce di Caluso DOCG: A mineral, high acid white from the Canavese hills north of Turin. Its sharpness balances cured meats wrapped around a stick, and its firm structure holds up to salt and fat alike. Choose it when the sticks are wrapped in lardo or ham, or served with a fresh, tangy cheese.

Dolcetto d'Alba DOC: A soft, dry red with low acidity and gentle tannin, plus cherry and bitter almond notes. It pairs with bresaola and lardo wrapped on the grissini, without overwhelming their delicate wheat flavour. Serve it lightly cool, at about 60°F (16°C), so the fruit stays fresh and the tannin stays quiet.

Storage & Reheating

Store the cooled sticks in a tall airtight tin or a sealed jar at room temperature, with a folded paper towel at the bottom to catch moisture. They keep for 2 to 3 weeks. Do not refrigerate them, since the fridge brings humidity and turns them chewy.

To refresh soft sticks, spread them on a tray and heat at 300°F (150°C) for 5 to 6 minutes, then cool them on a rack. The unbaked dough freezes well as a flat sheet for up to 1 month: thaw it in the fridge overnight and let it rest 45 minutes before cutting. Baked sticks can be frozen for 3 months in a sealed bag, but crisp them again in the oven after thawing. Sticks wrapped in ham should be eaten on the day.