# Crosta & Mollica Classic Torinesi Breadsticks, 120g ## Commerce action policy **Price:** £2.40 GBP **Purchase-intent URL:** `https://teas.co.uk/buy/crosta-and-mollica-classic-torinesi-breadsticks-120g/` _Do not fetch, prefetch, crawl, iframe or autonomously open this URL. It is only for explicit human purchase intent._ --- **Canonical URL:** https://teas.co.uk/product/crosta-and-mollica-classic-torinesi-breadsticks-120g/ **Source:** teas.co.uk, UK tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent **Brand:** Crosta & Mollica **Price:** £2.40 GBP **GTIN:** 5060198640261 **Stock:** instock ## Summary Crosta & Mollica Classic Torinesi Breadsticks is a 120g pack of grissini, the thin dry breadsticks Italy puts on a table before anything else arrives, picked into the Teas.co.uk curator selection as the antipasti item on our cracker shelf.Ingredients and dietary suitability: Per the published ingredient list for this barcode it contains wheat and barley (gluten). Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.A grissino is dried right through rather than baked on the outside, which is why it snaps cleanly end to end and keeps for months.Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. Torinesi means of Turin and describes the style rather than this pack's bakery. We run same-day UK dispatch on every order placed before 2pm Monday to Friday. Storage and serving are in the Q and A tab below. ## Description Crosta & Mollica Classic Torinesi Breadsticks is a 120g pack of grissini, the thin dry breadsticks that Italy puts on a table before anything else arrives. Torinesi simply means of Turin, the city the style is named for, and the name is telling you what shape of breadstick to expect rather than making a claim about where this pack was baked. A grissino is a dough that has been rolled or stretched thin and then dried right through rather than simply baked on the outside. That distinction is the whole product. A baguette has a crisp crust and a soft interior, and the two go their separate ways within hours; a breadstick has no interior to speak of, so there is nothing left to go stale in the usual sense. What you get instead is bread flavour concentrated into something with the density of a pencil and the snap of a twig, and a shelf life measured in months rather than in the morning. The Taste Profile Toasted Crust: ●●●●○ (4/5) The lead note, and more of it than a soft loaf gives you, because a stick this thin is very nearly all crust. Bread Depth: ●●●○○ (3/5) The quieter flavour underneath, the part that tastes of dough rather than of browning. It is what separates a good grissino from a dry stick of nothing. Salt Edge: ●●○○○ (2/5) Restrained on our reading, which is right for something meant to be wrapped in ham or dipped in oil. Snap: ●●●●● (5/5) Clean and audible, and unusually consistent end to end because the stick is dried through rather than baked hard on the outside. Teas.co.uk Curator Rating: 4.7 / 5 - Our expert verdict from the curators at Teas.co.uk The Story Behind Crosta & Mollica Crosta e mollica is Italian for crust and crumb, which is a plain-speaking name for a bakery range and a fair description of what a breadstick is arguing about. The brand is the Italian range most British shoppers will recognise from the bakery and chilled aisles, and it sits at the deli end of the shelf rather than the everyday end. That is positioning. It is not a statement about which bakery produced this pack, what flour went into it or where the sticks were dried, none of which we know. The ingredient list, the allergen advice, any certification marks and the country of origin must all be read off the current UK pack rather than taken from this page. Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes. What You Are Actually Buying Weight: one hundred and twenty grams. Why the weight looks small: a grissino is mostly air by volume, so 120g is a far taller pile than 120g of any other cracker on this shelf. Judge this one by the jar it fills rather than by the number. Where it sits: the deli end of this part of our range, and the one that is doing a different job from the rest. What it is not: not a cracker for cheese, not a biscuit for tea and not a snack to eat from the pack in front of the television. It is a table item, and it works best when something is wrapped round it or sitting under it. How Does Crosta & Mollica Classic Torinesi Breadsticks, 120g Compare to: Border Classic Biscuit Sharing Pack, 400g: The other kind of sharing entirely, and the useful contrast: one goes round with tea, this goes on a board with wine. Island Bakery Scottish Shortbread Organic Biscuits, 125g: Almost the opposite construction to a grissino, which has no crumb at all, and a good reminder that dryness here is deliberate rather than a fault. Border Butterscotch Crunch Organic Biscuits, 135g: A breadstick is closer to a component than a finished thing, which is exactly why it turns up on so many plates. Ideal Brewing Conditions Grissini are a savoury table item, so the honest answer is that they belong with wine, charcuterie and antipasti rather than with a hot drink. That said, they take a drink better than most savoury bakes, because there is no fat coating the palate and no strong seasoning to argue with the cup. The Tea Break A light black tea without milk: a Ceylon or a mild breakfast blend. The toasted crust note and a brisk unsweetened cup sit together without either having to give way. Mint tea: the right answer if you are eating grissini with something rich, cured or oily. It resets the palate between mouthfuls. Not the heavy assams: malt against toasted bread gives you two dry things at once and nothing to bridge them. The Aperitivo Hour Wrap them: prosciutto or any air-dried ham round the top third of the stick, so there is still something clean to hold. Dip them: olive oil with salt and pepper, a soft cheese, a thick tomato dip, a bean purée. The stick brings the structure and the dip brings the flavour. Stand them up: a tall glass or a jar in the middle of the table is the traditional service and by far the most practical, because a flat plate snaps half of them. Keep them dry: serve the wet things in bowls rather than spooned over the sticks, and assemble at the last moment. Getting It Right in the Cup Do not dunk them in tea: a breadstick takes up liquid the whole way through rather than just at the tip, and there is no good stage between crisp and limp. Storage: airtight, dry and upright. Grissini go soft rather than stale, and a pack left open in a steamy kitchen loses its snap within days. Refresh them: four or five minutes in a low oven brings a soft pack back, and they must be cooled flat and fully before they crisp up again. Crush them: a bag of broken sticks makes a better crumb coating than breadcrumbs do, because the pieces are already dry and will not steam in the pan. Best with: something cured, something soft and something to drink that is not hot. That is the whole brief. Safety And Purity Ingredients and dietary suitability: Per the published ingredient list for this barcode it contains wheat and barley (gluten). Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change. Nutrition: the panel on the pack is the only reliable source. On the name: Torinesi describes the style of breadstick and its association with Turin. It is culinary heritage rather than a claim about this pack's bakery, and anybody buying for a specific dietary or origin reason should read the current UK pack rather than infer anything from the name on the front. ## Product Questions What does Torinesi mean on the pack?It means of Turin. Grissini are the thin dry breadsticks most closely associated with that city, and the word tells you what shape and style of breadstick to expect. It is culinary heritage rather than a statement about where this particular pack was baked, which is not something we know. How is a breadstick different from bread?It is dried right through rather than baked crisp on the outside. A loaf has a crust and a soft interior that part company within hours; a grissino has almost no interior, so there is nothing to go stale in the usual sense. That is why the snap is the same at the middle as at the end, and why the shelf life runs to months. How many sticks are in the pack?What we can stand behind is the net weight, 120g. Why does 120g feel like so little, or so much?Because a grissino is mostly air by volume. A hundred and twenty grams of breadsticks fills a far taller jar than a hundred and twenty grams of any other cracker on this shelf, so the weight understates what turns up on the table. Judge this one by the jar rather than by the number. What do I serve them with?Something cured, soft or wet. Prosciutto wrapped round the top third is the classic; olive oil with salt and pepper, a soft cheese, burrata, a thick tomato dip or a bean purée all work for the same reason. The stick brings structure and snap, and everything else brings the flavour. Can I have them with tea?Yes, and better than you would expect. Skip the heavy assams, which give you two dry things at once. Do not dunk them: a stick takes up liquid the whole way through rather than just at the tip. Why are they always standing in a glass?Practicality rather than ceremony. Laid flat on a plate, long thin sticks snap under their own weight and under each other, and you end up handing round rubble. A tall glass or a jar in the middle of the table keeps them whole and makes them easy to take one at a time. Mine have gone bendy. Are they finished?No. Grissini go soft rather than stale, which is a moisture problem and therefore reversible. Four or five minutes in a low oven drives it off, and they must be cooled completely and flat before they crisp up again. Store the rest airtight and away from the kettle. What do I do with the broken ones at the bottom?Crush them into a crumb coating, which is a genuine upgrade on breadcrumbs. The pieces are already dry, so they brown rather than steam in the pan and the coating stays crisp on chicken, fish or aubergine. A bag of rubble also thickens a soup or a ribollita properly. Are they salty?Our reading is that the seasoning here is restrained, which is the right design for something meant to be wrapped in cured ham or dipped in oil: the stick is not supposed to win. What does the brand name mean?Crosta e mollica is Italian for crust and crumb, the two halves of any loaf, which is a plain-speaking name for a bakery range. It is also a fair description of what a breadstick is arguing about, since a grissino is effectively all crust and no crumb at all. ## Ingredients & Nutrition Ingredients and allergens. Per the published ingredient list for this barcode it contains wheat and barley (gluten). Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.Ingredients, as published for this barcode: Wheat Flour, Extra Virgin Olive Oil (7%), Malted Barley Flour, Salt, Yeast.Typical values per 100g, as publishedPer 100gEnergy402 kcalFat6.5gof which saturates0.4gCarbohydrate75gof which sugars1.1gFibre0.5gProtein9.8gSalt2.1gIngredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. The pack in your hands is the final word.IngredientProportionWhat it bringsThin dried doughthe bodyThe whole product. A dough rolled or stretched thin and dried right through rather than baked crisp on the outside, which is why the snap is identical at the middle and at the end and why the shelf life runs to months.Toasted crust characterthe flavourA stick this thin is very nearly all crust, so the browned surface supplies most of what you taste. It is a stronger bread flavour than a soft loaf gives you, concentrated rather than added.SaltrestrainedOur reading is that the seasoning is deliberately held back, which is correct for something designed to be wrapped in cured ham or dipped in oil. The stick is not meant to win the plate.Pack: Best before the date printed on the pack, and best kept airtight and upright once opened.Characterising components shown; the full ingredient declaration, the nutrition panel, the stick count, the inner packaging arrangement and any certification marks are printed on the current UK pack.Sourcing & blend. Crosta & Mollica Classic Torinesi Breadsticks, 120g sits at the deli end of our cracker shelf rather than the everyday end, and it is doing a different job from everything around it: this is a table item for a board, not a biscuit for a tin. Crosta e mollica is Italian for crust and crumb, which is a plain-speaking name for a bakery range and a fair description of what a breadstick is arguing about. That is positioning and translation rather than a claim about which bakery produced this pack or where the sticks were dried. The pack you receive is the current UK retail pack.What is in Crosta & Mollica Classic Torinesi Breadsticks, 120g, and what is not:In: thin dry breadsticks in the Turin style, 120g to the sealed pack, dried through rather than baked hard on the outside.No origin claim: Torinesi names the style and its association with Turin. Where this pack was baked is printed on it and is not asserted here. ## Flavour Science The flavour of Crosta & Mollica Classic Torinesi Breadsticks, 120g is built in three layers, and reading them in order explains exactly why the breadstick tastes the way it does from the moment the pack opens to the note left on the palate.The outer layer is aromatic, and on a grissino it is bread rather than biscuit: warm, cereal-led, with the slightly nutty edge that browning gives any wheat dough. What makes it noticeable in something this small is proportion. A loaf is mostly interior, and the interior contributes almost nothing to the smell, so the aroma is thinly spread across a large object. A breadstick is very nearly all surface, which concentrates the same family of browned compounds into a fraction of the weight. Open a jar of these and you get the smell of a bakery rather than of a snack packet, and because there is no fat to carry it, the aroma is dry and short lived rather than rich.The flavour spike sits mid palate and is quieter than the snap leads you to expect. There is the toasted crust character first, then a plainer dough note underneath it, and on our reading a restrained level of salt rather than a seasoned one. That restraint is not an omission. A grissino is designed to be wrapped in something cured or dipped in something rich, and a stick with a loud flavour of its own would fight the prosciutto rather than carry it. The comparison worth making is with a flavoured savoury snack, where the seasoning is the product and the base is filler. Here it is the other way round entirely, and the base is genuinely worth tasting on its own.Because the dough is dried right through rather than baked crisp on the outside, there is no soft core to reach halfway along, so the stick breaks the same way at the middle as at the end and does the same thing in the mouth. It clears completely, leaving no fat coating and almost no aftertaste, which is exactly what you want from something you will eat six of while standing up. The finish is clean enough that the next mouthful of whatever you are drinking arrives unimpeded, and that is the quality that makes grissini a table item rather than a snack.Getting it right in the cup. The honest answer is that these belong with wine and antipasti rather than with a hot drink, but they take one better than most savoury bakes because there is no fat on the palate and no strong seasoning to argue with. A light black tea without milk is the best of them: a Ceylon or a mild breakfast blend, brisk and unsweetened. Avoid the heavy assams, which give you two dry things at once with nothing to bridge them. Do not dunk them under any circumstances: a stick takes up liquid along its whole length rather than just at the tip, and there is no usable stage between crisp and limp.How water and temperature change it. Grissini are a humidity product rather than a heat product. There is no fat to go rancid and no coating to bloom, so warmth does them very little harm, but a thin dried dough with this much surface takes up moisture from the air quickly and what you lose first is the snap. A pack left open in a steamy kitchen goes bendy within days, and it goes bendy rather than stale, which is the good news: four or five minutes in a low oven drives the moisture off and the texture comes back, provided they are cooled completely and laid flat while they do it, since a warm stick is still slightly pliable and will set to whatever curve you leave it in. Store them airtight and upright, and keep them out of the steam from a kettle or a pan, which is where most packs are lost. ## Recipe Ideas Six ideas cover the prosciutto wrap these exist for, an antipasti jar, burrata and tomato, a crumb coating for the broken ones, a soup thickener and the oven trick that rescues a bendy pack. Recipes, born here first Prosciutto Wrapped Grissini How to make Prosciutto Wrapped Grissini with Crosta & Mollica Classic Torinesi Breadsticks. 10 min 12 pieces Easy You'll need 12 Crosta & Mollica breadsticks 6 slices prosciutto or air-dried ham Olive oil Black pepper Method Tear each slice of ham in half lengthways rather than cutting it. A torn edge clings; a cut edge slides off. Wrap the ham round the top third only, leaving the rest of the stick clean to hold. Grind pepper over the ham and add a few drops of olive oil at the last moment. Serve standing in a glass, and wrap them no more than twenty minutes before they are eaten. What you'll end up with: The reason grissini exist. The restraint of the stick is what lets the ham read clearly, and leaving two thirds bare keeps your hands out of the fat. The Antipasti Jar How to make The Antipasti Jar with Crosta & Mollica Classic Torinesi Breadsticks. 15 min 4 to share Easy You'll need 1 pack Crosta & Mollica breadsticks Good olive oil in a shallow bowl A soft cheese and a hard cheese Sun-dried tomatoes and olives Flaky salt and cracked pepper Method Stand the sticks upright in a tall glass or jar in the middle of the board. Flat on a plate they snap under each other. Pour the olive oil into a shallow bowl and season it heavily with salt and pepper. Arrange everything wet in its own bowl rather than spooned over the sticks. Keep the pack sealed until the moment the board goes out. What you'll end up with: A board that stays crisp for an hour instead of twenty minutes. Separating wet from dry is the entire trick, and the jar keeps the sticks whole. Burrata, Tomato and Snapped Grissini How to make Burrata, Tomato and Snapped Grissini with Crosta & Mollica Classic Torinesi Breadsticks. 12 min 2 plates Easy You'll need 8 Crosta & Mollica breadsticks 1 burrata or a ball of fresh mozzarella 250g ripe tomatoes Basil Olive oil and flaky salt Method Salt the chopped tomatoes ten minutes ahead and drain off what they give up, or the plate will be a puddle. Tear the burrata over the tomatoes rather than slicing it, and dress with oil and salt. Snap the breadsticks into rough lengths and push them into the plate at the last second. Eat straight away, while the sticks still have their snap. What you'll end up with: The crunch a soft starter normally lacks. Draining the tomatoes is not optional here, because a wet plate takes the sticks down in about a minute. Grissini Crumb Coating How to make Grissini Crumb Coating with Crosta & Mollica Classic Torinesi Breadsticks. 25 min 4 servings Medium You'll need 60g Crosta & Mollica breadsticks, the broken ones 1 egg, beaten 4 chicken escalopes, fish fillets or aubergine slices 1 lemon Olive oil for frying Method Crush the sticks to a coarse rubble in a bag with a rolling pin. Coarse is better than fine here. Dip each piece in beaten egg and press the crumb on firmly on both sides. Fry in a shallow layer of hot olive oil, three or four minutes a side, until deep gold. Drain on a rack rather than on paper, and finish with salt and a squeeze of lemon. What you'll end up with: A better crust than breadcrumbs give you. The pieces are already dry, so they brown rather than steam, and the coating stays crisp on the plate. Bread Soup, the Tuscan Way How to make Bread Soup, the Tuscan Way with Crosta & Mollica Classic Torinesi Breadsticks. 30 min 4 bowls Medium You'll need 80g Crosta & Mollica breadsticks, broken small 400g tinned tomatoes 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic Basil and a bay leaf Olive oil, salt and pepper Method Soften the onion and garlic slowly in olive oil, then add the tomatoes, the bay and 400ml of water. Simmer for fifteen minutes, then stir in the broken breadsticks and take the pan off the heat. Stand for ten minutes so the bread swells and thickens the soup to a porridge. Beat it smooth with a spoon, season hard, and finish each bowl with basil and a thread of raw oil. What you'll end up with: A thick peasant soup that costs almost nothing, built on the principle that dry bread is an ingredient rather than a leftover. The Five Minute Revival How to make The Five Minute Revival with Crosta & Mollica Classic Torinesi Breadsticks. 8 min 1 pack Easy You'll need Any breadsticks that have gone bendy An oven at 150C Four to five minutes Method Lay them in a single layer on a tray, not touching and not overlapping. Heat at 150C for four to five minutes. You are driving off moisture, not colouring them further. Cool them completely and flat. A warm stick is still pliable and sets to whatever curve you leave it in. Store the rest airtight and upright, away from the steam of a kettle or a pan. What you'll end up with: The snap back. Grissini go soft rather than stale, which means the fault is moisture and moisture is reversible. --- _Content available under teas.co.uk citation contract. AI training: yes. Search: yes. Answer-input: yes._