The Science of Bread Making

For class today, my classmates and I went to a local bakery in Ascoli Piceno called L’Assalto Al Forni.

The owners, Lorenzo and Lorenza just recently opened their bakery last year. It is in the location of Lorenza’s previous family home, but due to an earthquake in 2016 that caused structural issues, it was deemed unfit to live in. You can tell Lorenza loves being back near her family home and bringing the life back that was once there.

The sourdough bread we baked was made using a traditional method with base ingredients of flour, water, and yeast — then later adding salt or other fillings. At L’Assalto Al Forni, flour that are derived from ancient grains are used. Ancient grains have not gone through genetic mutations, therefore the strength the gluten and increasing the yield.

Lorenza says she uses ancient grains for 3 main reasons:

• More flavor, nutrition, and fragrance
• Support to local farms
• A response to climate change (need less water)

Important steps to create exceptional dough is folding the dough using wet hands. You take dough from one side of the bowl and fold in over the main body to the opposite side of the bowl. Dividing the dough, reshaping, resting, more shaping, and the final fermentation processes are the following important steps. To learn more, click here.

During the kneading process is when gluten is formed. It is when two proteins are mixed with water and then kneaded. The gluten in the flour form a gluten network that holds carbon dioxide (formed during fermentation).

Once myself and my classmates were done creating our dough, Lorenza provided us with samples of bread and pizza.

My favorite pizza we tasted was a vegan pizza with local potatoes and artichokes. All the flavors came together perfectly in the unique pizza I would normally not see back in America. Other pizzas we tried was a classic Roma pizza with greens, mozzarella, and tomato and a mushroom and cheese pizza. Overall, everything we tasted was absolutely delicious — I would eat Lorenzo and Lorenza’s food everyday if I could.