Breadsticks or grissini - maybe ficelles?

"Bread - the founding food of civilisation ... the two plus two equals five of culinary evolution" Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Not that breadsticks are what we first think of when we think of bread. But then as he goes on to say - bread has many forms:

"Bread is also like humanity itself. We come in many different shapes and sizes colours and guises, yet underneath the skin/crust, we're all made of the same stuff. And the trick of achieving happiness and harmony is surely to celebrate and enjoy both our similarities and our differences with equal vigour." Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

I'm featuring Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall here, because both of those quotes are from the next River Cottage handbook on my shelf - Bread by Daniel Stevens. So this is technically a first recipe, although I have cheated, because the first recipe is for a white loaf, then there is foccacia and ciabatta, all of which I have 'done' before. So I moved on to breadsticks.

The book is written by Daniel Stevens about whom I can find very little other than that he did indeed work at River Cottage for some time, that he is now a baker specialist and a chef, and teaches bread baking.

So just a few words from him in his introduction:

"I know that you are busy, so I have given you roti - a flatbread you can make, from cupboard to table, in less than 5 minutes. But I know that you also have free time, and I hope I can persuade you that free time spent in the kitchen - by yourself, with friends or with children, with music in your ears, wine in your glass, flour in your hair amd magic in your hands - is time that could not be better spent." Daniel Stevens

Which is true and we all should really do it more. I think there are basically two off-putting things about making bread - first the fear that it won't work. And indeed from my own occasional attempts, it doesn't always work. But when it does it's such a triumph. The second is that, yes indeed it doesn't take a lot of active time but it takes planning because you have to set aside time for the dough to rise. If you are making anything other than soda breads or non yeasted flatbreads that is. Alas I'm a bit of a last minute cook. I have never planned enough time to do anything. I also lack patience.

However, I might have a go at breadsticks, because they look like a bit of fun to make. I have had a go at the puff pastry kind - the ones where you cut the puff pastry into strips, give it an egg wash with some kind of flavouring and then twist before baking in the oven. And they are OK - indeed can be quite good, but they are not breadsticks.

The recipe in my book is for breadsticks and it's a slower version of the puff pastry things really. Slow because you are dealing with bread dough here - which you cut into strips, sprinkle with some kind of topping - or not - and bake. They end up looking fashionably rustic and misshaped.

The picture is from the book and shows the steps that Daniel Stevens takes. At the end of the recipe he gives a few suggestions for toppings, ranging from simple flaked sea salt, to finely grated Parmesan, chopped rosemary leaves and smoked paprika. But obviously you could dream up your own.

Having now 'researched' the net for recipes, I see that they also vary immensely in thickness. Jamie Oliver (I think) had some which looked more like small rolls than a breadstick. They were short as well as thick. The book's recipe can be found on two websites - The Ordinary Cook and My Make Do and Mend Year whose author made her's sweet for her children - sprinkling them with sugar and cinnamon so that they could dip them in nutella.

The professionals go for slightly more elaborate options - Dan Lepard, who seems to be the British go-to for bread recipes with his Chorizo breadsticks although the Sally's Baking Addiction lady keeps it pretty simple with her Homemade soft breadsticks - a huge difference in thickness and style here as you can see.

Even thicker though are ficelles - which you can buy in French boulangeries - a very thin baguette is what these usually are, but I did find these Olive and caramelised shallot ficelles - by Lisa Featherby on the Gourmet Traveller website. I would also say of these, that they are rather thicker than the ficelles that you find in France. They are almost baguette size really.

And finally there are grissini which are everywhere and are infinitely more fashionable. Well they are Italian aren't they? First made in the 17th century it seems, in Piedmont near Turin for the Duke of Savoy who had digestive problems as a child.

I think the best recipe I found was from Heidi Swanson's website 101 Cookbooks Grissini (Italian breadsticks) but there is also Dan Lepard with Easy grissini or Yotam Ottolenghi on The Guardian website with his gorgeous looking Caraway, Parmesan and Aleppo chilli grissini. Grissini are made from dough rolled thinner and then rolled by hand into long strips as thin as a pencil before cooking. Ottolenghi appears to have twisted his as well.

Grissini are crunchy, to nibble on with drinks whilst you wait for the main event. Breadsticks too, but they are a bit more substantial, and depending on how thin you make them, less crunchy. Ficelles - are generally just a kind of bread. Well that's what I thought when I had some in France.

There are all manner of breads in the River Cottage book from around the entire world - including, would you believe, Lardy cake - and a website called Feeding my Enthusiasms has his recipe - together with a 'modern' rather less authentic recipe from elsewhere.

And whilst we are on lardy cakes my sister reminded me in her comments on yesterday's post on lardy cakes, that my mother used to make a similar thing with leftover bits of pastry which she rolled and folded with currants and things before baking in the oven. I knew I remembered something similar and that must have been it. Not authentic in that it was pastry not bread, and not made with lard, but the same principle.

Thanks sis.

YEARS GONE BY

June 13th

2025 - Nothing

2024 - Nothing

2023 - Ottolenghi's tomato tarts

2022 - When the background is the foreground

2021 - Missing

2020 - Missing

2019 - Do you really need a slow cooker to cook slow?

2018 - All done for you

2017 - On holiday