The Fresh Loaf

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farina ??

swtgran's picture
swtgran

farina ??

When an Italian recipe calls for farina, to what are they referring?  Is it a wheat flour or semolina? If semolina is it the coarser or actually durum flour? 

I found a grissini recipe on youtube I would like to try, but it is all in Italian.  I think I have everything figured out but the farina.

Thanks for any help.  Terry R

nicodvb's picture
nicodvb

milled very very fine.

gary.turner's picture
gary.turner

Think Cream of Wheat, a fine meal.

cheers,

gary

//edit: I see that farina is indeed flour in Italian. In the US, it is a fine meal, usually from wheat, but can be any grain. The commercial product Cream of Wheat, mentioned above, is an example.  --gt

hukari's picture
hukari

Farina is quite simply normal wheat flour.

foodslut's picture
foodslut

... usually, "farina" is Italian for "flour".  If you post the YouTube link, I can see if they give more detail.

swtgran's picture
swtgran

TheYourTube link is                                               http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dX9_wgALJE&feature=related 

Over the weekend I made some beautiful grissini from another recipe I found on the internet.  I changed it up a little and used part durum flour and all purpose unbleached.  I also added a little barley malt syrup.

I found this youtube version and thought the dough looked very nice to work with.  I just didn't know what kind of flour was used, since I couldn't understand a word he said.  I also think he used barley malt syrup and I will just have to guess at that amount unless someone can translate that for me.   The size of the dough before the 60 minute rest would be nice to know also, but I think I can wing that one if necessary.  Thanks, Terry R

mrfrost's picture
mrfrost

Just trying to honor a request for help. Please don't blame me if the translation is wrong, or the results turn out poorly. Also, please try to double check that it is even the same recipe.

Google translation link: Grissini Torinesa

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=it&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fvivalafocaccia.com%2F2010%2F01%2F11%2Fla-...

dablues's picture
dablues

When I was growing up my mom made farina, and cream of wheat.  We ate that as a hot cereal.  That's the only thing I know about farina.  Farina tasted good as a cereal.  I liked it much better than cream of wheat.

swtgran's picture
swtgran

Mrfrost, thank you very much for the translation link.  I do believe I am going to give this a go.  I think I will use a mixture of durum and unbleached flour.  I will try his technique.  Terry R

rjerden's picture
rjerden

Vittorio Viarengo is my buddy. His site http://www.vivalafoccia.com is being worked on so that the recipes are also in English.

In the meantime, I have translated the recipe, which I use all the time, into English.

 

Grissini Ingredients:

160 g H2O

6 g of salt

40 g of lard (or olive oil)

1/2 tsp of malt syrup (Vittorio uses dark corn syrup as a substitute)

375 g of Italian 00 flour (or regular AP flour)

10 g of cake yeast (or 4g instant or dry yeast)

Corn flour, semolina, or rice flour for dusting

 

Process:

Dissolve the salt in the H2O

Add the lard or olive oil

Add the malt syrup (or corn syrup)

Add 1/2 of the flour

 

Mix until creamy and smooth.

 

Add the yeast

Slowly add the rest of the flour

Mix for 20 minutes until you get a smooth dough without any lumps

Shape the dough into an oval loaf and cover it.

Let it rest for 15-20 minutes

 

In the meantime, cut a sheet of plastic wrap 2 times longer than the loaf

Spray some water on your working surface and lay the plastic wrap on it in order to keep it flat and still.

Brush or spray some oil on the top of the plastic wrap.

 

Flatten the loaf and then fold it in 3 along the long axis of the loaf (see video) in order to strengthen the dough. You want to end up with a rectangle about 8 cm wide. Seal the seams.

 

Center the loaf on the oiled plastic wrap

Brush or spray with olive oil.

Cover the loaf with the plastic wrap so it is air tight.

 

Let it rise for 60-70 minutes or until doubled in size.

 

Put the semolina/corn flour/rice flour in a plate.

 

Remove the plastic wrap from the top of the loaf.

Cut the loaf into pencil-wide slices along its short axis using a dough scraper or wide spackling knife (from the hardware store). Cut quickly in one motion and scrape away from the loaf to get a uniform piece to stretch. (The end pieces will not usually be uniform.)

 

Roll cut piece in the coating flour. (I skip this step per my wife's preference.)

 

Holding the piece on each end with your fingertips, stretch it out to fit your baking screen or pan. (I use pieces of aluminum window screen folded over on the ends.) Place it on the screen, leaving about 2-3 cm between pieces.

Repeat until you have used up all the dough or your screen real estate.

 

Bake in a 400-450 F oven for 10-15 minutes or until a light golden brown.

 

Roy's tips:

 

Some dough relaxer or additional oil helps to make the dough more extensible.

I like to flatten the loaf and use a very wide spackling knife so the grissini don't need as much stretching.

Use convection if you have it. Try to get both sides done at the same time.

The final product should be crisp and crunchy, but not hard to bite. If you find some soft spots, turn off the oven and put the grissini back in with the door cracked for 15-30 minutes.

For additional flavor, I use home-made herb-infused oil (rosemary, garlic, thyme,sage). It is subtle and doesn't overpower the taste of the grissini.

 

swtgran's picture
swtgran

Roy, thank you so much for giving me this translation.  I just came back to this site because I am about to make these this morning. 

I have one question.  I is the semolina flour the coarser or the fine durum flour?

Thanks again.  Terry R