3 Mar 2011
Slow Food came to Angelo and asked him to participate in Terra Madre because they had selected the grain that he produces to be part of the Presidia. At best, it has helped to raise awareness and appreciation for what Angelo and others are doing in this region to preserve a native grain, biodiversity, flavors and tradition. I asked Donatella how much grain/bread they sell, up until then thinking that this had to be their only source of income. She told me that there is a market for more, if they chose to sell more. However, they don’t want to make more money than they need, especially at the expense of the health of the land and their product. Organic production needs good cultivation and good land, and if they try to get anymore off of their land than they are, it may be at the expense of the health of the cycle they are creating.
This grain is like magic dust. Their bread lasts forever!! They bake bread about once a month, and leave it out in the open, unwrapped, uncovered (as I said, it is good, but, hard and grainy, it is as far from French bread as apples are from goat cheese). Donatella says the longer it sits, the better it is because it remains active, so as it sits the flavors are constantly developing. I said, “that’s amazing; it seems that at the grocery store, organic and natural breads last less time than other breads because they lack the preservatives.”
“I don’t believe in organic from the grocery store,” she said.
Wise woman.
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