Panissimo February: Ticinese bread / Panissimo Febbraio: Pane alla ticinese

Panissimo’s theme for this month was regional breads. As soon as I read Sandra’s post I knew I would be baking pane alla ticinese, one my favourite breads as a kid. Funnily enough my first article for Azione was about this special kind of bread, a thing which brought back to mind many colourful memories about my childhood and the afternoon snack I used to eat with my friends: bread and chocolate.

Autumn Brioche Flower with Chestnut and Butternut Squash, a winner recipe / Fiore d’autunno alla castagna e zucca butternut, una ricetta vincente

Put together a contest, some seasonal ingredients, my brioche dough and shake until thoroughly mixed. The result? An extremely soft sweet bread and a first prize win. But let’s start from the beginning. Almost two months ago I stumbled into an article in Azione, a weekly newspaper by Migros which is one of Switzerland’s retail chains leader.

October’s Panissimo: Farina bona, potatoes and walnuts yeasted bread rolls / Panissimo di Ottobre: Panini di farina bona, patate e noci

When reading this month’s theme for Panissimo challenge, ancient/special flours, there was no doubt, farina bona would be one of the ingredients I would use. Farina bona is a very special cornflour, finely ground and toasted, with a earthy deep perfume reminiscent of roasted hazelnuts, butterscotch and freshly popped corn. Used for centuries in Val Osernone, in the italian part of Switzerland, this flour went gradually lost until recent times when, probably following the latest trends in reviving regional/traditional ingredients and recipes, it has had a strong comeback on our tables.