Forno

Pane del Sud, spelt and ancient red corn bread with seeds, rye whole grain bread, and spelt- emmer-rye whole grain loaf, along with focaccia—these might sound like gourmet delicacies, yet according to organic baker Ivo de Pellegrin, crafting excellent bread is deceptively simple. The essential ingredients? Flour, water, sourdough, salt, and, crucially, time. Ivo personally manages each step, from developing the sourdough starter to mixing, shaping, and finally baking the dough. He utilizes only a few mechanical tools in his process, namely the oven and dough mixer. His formal education at the Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche in Piedmont now complements his role as a Slow Food advisor for the Ur-Paarl initiative within South Tyrol Slow Food. Grains like einkorn, emmer, and red corn are not randomly chosen. Red corn, an ancient grain much like wheat (Triticum), can be processed in similar ways to spelt (Triticum spelta), which is not surprising since it's a primitive form of wheat. Einkorn (Triticum monococcum) and emmer (Triticum dicoccum) are also related to wheat, being sub-species. Operating from a location bridging north and south, Ivo kneads, shapes, and bakes breads that beckon, such as his rye bread—with rye historically grown in the arid, windy Vinschgau valley, a former grain hub in Tyrol up until the early 20th century—alongside Pane del Sud, which combines soft wheat and Timilia, a hard wheat variety grown in Sicily.

Ivo, a career changer who once experimented with wine and beer production, discovered his passion for baking at Merano’s Ottmanngut. He sources buckwheat from local farms and most of his grains from the Meraner Mühle mill in Merano, but his ingredients stretch beyond local borders—like the Timilia also his salt, scooped by hand from the Riserva delle Saline di Trapani, hails from Sicily. Each loaf Ivo bakes has distinctive qualities that have found their culinary soulmates. He personally vouches for the pairing of winter pear butter jam with his whole grain bread as an unmatched delight.