food, coffee and pasta

The word cookie is derived directly from the Latin bis-coctus, that means baked twice and the etymology already reveals its weaknesses. The cooking is in fact only one of the thermic processes to which general foods are subject and biscuits in particular and its goal is to obtain a more digestible and pleasant product but also make it last longer over time.
Cooking is the most critical phase in both domestic and industrial users, which is basic for giving to the biscuits the appearance, taste, fragrance, flavor and shelf life that makes them be so successful. It is impossible to determine and recommend cooking conditions, the only option is to indicate reasonable intervals, which then will be adjusted with a lot of practice and patience.
Italy is considered the home of biscuits: it is told that the first to use special toasted bread were actually Roman soldiers. Ancient chronicles report that, as early as 31 BC, the soldiers were equipped with special provisions similar to “crackers” that still today are given to travelling soldiers
At industrial level the process of preparing and cooking biscuits is long and delicate, and you can see that already from the reception of the main raw materials, white flour, wheat flour, sugar and starch, which happens through a truck. For liquid raw materials (water, oil, fat, chocolate, creams, jams, milk, alcohol, etc.) are used small stainless steel tanks often heated or cooled as appropriate.
When raw materials are received, an accurate inspection is made to check the perfect state of conservation and to take samples; then they are weighed and mixed with the addition of yeast, which helps sugars fermentation; everything is then salted and this helps to give to the cookies “flavor” and intense color of the crust which we are used to.
Once biscuits are inside the oven, heat penetration occurs differently depending on the temperature and quality of dough, because a soft dough requires a higher temperature than a hard one that has a faster drying. When any product is introduced into the oven, its temperature rises due to heat diffusion that happens in different ways in different zones: the part in touch with the cooking surface receives heat by direct contact, while the remaining part receives heat through air and through the upper heating surfaces.
The reactions, which have as a consequence a series of irreversible and structural changes, must be carefully controlled through the heat quantity which is supplied and absorbed , moisture level and permanence time in the oven, to avoid that the quality of this tasty food is compromised.
However it is impossible, theoretically, to determine the “ideal” conditions of cooking, it is only possible to give reasonable intervals, during which adjustments must be operated, that only practice can determine.

La parola biscotto deriva direttamente dal latino bis-coctus, cioè cotto due volte e già nell’etimologia rivela la sua criticità. La cottura infatti è solo uno dei processi termici cui sono sottoposti i cibi in generale e i biscotti in particolare, e ha l’obiettivo sia di ottenere un prodotto più digeribile e gradevole al palato ma anche farli durare di più nel tempo.
Ciò non toglie che questa sia la fase più critica sia a livello casalingo che industriale, fondamentale per dare ai biscotti l’aspetto, il gusto, il profumo, la fragranza e la conservabilità che fa loro avere tanto successo. E’ impossibile determinare e consigliare le condizioni di cottura; l’unica possibilità è indicare degli intervalli ragionevoli, che poi andranno aggiustati con tanta pratica e tanta pazienza.
L’Italia è considerata la patria dei biscotti: si narra infatti che i primi ad usare speciali pani biscottati furono proprio i soldati romani. Le antiche cronache riferiscono che, già nel 31 a.C., i soldati venivano dotati di speciali vettovaglie simili alle “gallette” che ancora oggi vengono date ai militari in viaggio.
A livello industriale il processo di preparazione e cottura dei biscotti è lungo e delicato, e lo dimostra già a partire dalla consegna delle materie prime principali, farina bianca, farina integrale, zucchero ed amido, che avviene attraverso un’ autocisterna. Per le materie prime liquide (acqua, oli, grassi, cioccolato, creme, confetture, latte, alcool, etc) invece, vengono utilizzate piccole cisterne in acciaio inox spesso riscaldate o raffreddate a seconda dei casi.
Una volta ricevute le materie prime viene effettuata un’accurata ispezione per controllarne il perfetto stato di conservazione e per prelevarne dei campioni; vengono poi pesate ed impastate con l’aggiunta di lievito, che favorisce la fermentazione degli zuccheri; il tutto viene poi salato e ciò contribuisce a dare ai biscotti il “sapore” e la colorazione intensa della crosta, cui siamo abituati.
Una volta infornati i biscotti, la penetrazione del calore avviene in maniera differente in funzione delle temperature e della qualità della pasta, infatti un impasto tenero richiede una temperatura più elevata rispetto ad una pasta dura, che ha un’essicazione più rapida. Quando qualsiasi prodotto viene introdotto nel forno, la sua temperatura si alza a causa della diffusione del calore che avviene in modi diversi in zone diverse: la parte a contatto con la superficie di cottura infatti riceve il calore per contatto diretto, mentre la parte rimanente riceve calore attraverso l’aria e attraverso le superfici riscaldanti superiori.
Le diverse reazioni, che hanno come conseguenza una serie di modifiche strutturali irreversibili, devono essere accuratamente controllate attraverso la quantità di calore fornito ed assorbito, il livello di umidità e il tempo di permanenza nel forno, per evitare che venga compromessa la qualità di questo gustoso alimento.
E’, comunque, impossibile determinare teoricamente le condizioni “ideali”di cottura, si possono solo indicare degli intervalli ragionevoli, cui dovranno essere operati degli aggiustamenti, che solo la pratica indicherà.

La palabra bizcocho deriva directamente del latino bis-coctus, o sea cocido dos veces y ya en al etimología manifiesta su criticidad. La cocción en efecto es sólo uno de los procesos térmicos a los cuales están sometidos generalmente los alimentos y los bizcochos en particular, y tiene la finalidad tanto de conseguir un producto más digerible y agradable al palatar como de hacer que dure lo más posible en el tiempo.
Esto no quita que esa sea la etapa más crítica bien a nivel casero o industrial, fundamental para dar a los bizcochos el aspecto, el sabor, el perfume, la fragancia y la capacidad de conservación que les permite conseguir tan buen éxito. Es imposible determinar y aconsejar las condiciones do cocción; la única posibilidad es indicar unas intervenciones razonables, que después tendrán que ser rectificadas con mucha práctica y mucha paciencia.
Se considera a Italia como la patria de los bizcochos: en efecto se cuenta que los primeros que usaron panes de bizcochos especiales fueron los soldados romanos mismos. Las antiguas crónicas refieren que ya en el 31 antes de Cristo los soldados estaban equipados con especiales provisiones parecidas a las “galletas” que aún hoy se les dan a los sodados cuando están de viaje.
A nivel industrial el proceso de praparación y cocción de los bizcochos es largo y delicado y lo demuestra ya a partir de la consigna de las materias primas principales, harina blanca, harina integral, azucar y almidón, que se hace por trámite de un camión cisterna. Para las materias primas liquidas (agua, aceite, grasas, chocolate, cremas, confituras, leche, alcol, etc…) en cambio, se utilizan pequeñas cisternas en acero inoxidable muy a menudo calentadas o enfriadas según los casos.
Después de recibir las materias primas, se hace una inspección muy meticulosa para controlar su perfecto estado de conservación y para tomar unas muestras; luego se pesan y se amasan añadiendo levadura, para favorecer el fermento de los azúcares; luego se le pone sal y eso contribuye a dar a los bizcochos el “sabor” y la coloración intensa de la costra a la cual estamos acostumbrados.
Al poner los bizcochos en el horno, hay una diferente penetración de calor según las temperaturas y la calidad de la masa. En efecto una masa blanda requiere una temperatura más elevada respeto a una masa dura, que se seca más rápidamente. Al introducir cualquier tipo de producto en el horno, su temperatura sube por la difusión del calor que ocurre de maneras diferentes en zonas diferentes; la parte que está en contacto con la superficie de cocción recibe calor por contacto directo, mientras la parte que queda recibe calor a través del aire y a través de la superficies superiores,las que deben calentar. Las diferentes reacciones que tienen como consecuencia una serie de modificaciones estructurales superiores irreversibles, tienen que ser meticulosamente controladas a través de la cantidad de calor abastecida y absorbida, el nivel de humedad y el tiempo de permanencia en el horno, para evitar que se pueda compromitir la calidad de este sabroso alimento.
De cualquier modo es imposible establecer teóricamente las condiciones “ideales” de cocción, se pueden sólo indicar unas intervenciones razonables, a los cuales habrán que efectuar unos arreglos, que sóla la práctica podrá indicar.

Today one of the topics that are closer to our hearts as citizens and inhabitants of planet earth is the one of the environmental responsibility and the need to undertake an economy that revolves around the concept of sustainability.

The ability to combine the environment and production shows an awareness which is now part of our philosophy: the awareness that environmental compliance is one of the key factors for achieving quality production.

Many people wonder whether it is possible to combine profit, environment and energy.
An environmentally sustainable world is possible, but the initiative must begin with the companies, reducing dangerous emissions that are causing the rise of global temperature.
It is sufficient adopting most advanced systems for the abatement of emissions in the atmosphere in order to quantify, control and gradually reduce them.

Many companies live this as a necessity “ex post”, while fundamentally different is the attitude of the Brambati group, which was capable to join the issue before the conception of processes and systems. By establishing these goals in a systematic way, it is possible developing very advanced solutions not only to reduce environmental impact, but also to reduce the energy requirements and eliminate waste of resources.

Furthermore, Brambati is also important for the strong research activities targeted to the optimization of emissions abatement systems in the atmosphere composed by volatile organic compounds and dust arising from the coffee roasting systems.

Energy saving and environment-friendliness make us more proud, as producers and as consumers, as citizens and as men: the quality of life goes on the quality of what we eat, drink and breathe. We must remember this forever.

As we know, aroma and taste determine the goodness of coffee. Very often, the quality of raw material, the origin of green coffee, the calibration and modulation of the mixture, are the elements which the greatest attention lends to. It is certainly a good idea to do it, but we must not forget that is the process that gives more quality. An incorrect process, particularly an incorrect roasting, can damage and even frustrate the quality of excellent products. Similarly, a deeper analysis of the roasting profile can optimize the quality of product not necessarily with top quality.

The phase of roasting, which transforms the green coffee in the finished product, is based essentially on the roasting recipe. The roasting recipe consists of all information and parameters that together define the step of roasting from the loading of green coffee in the roasting drum, until the handling in the silo of the finished product. The roasting recipe, freely programmable by the control panel of the installation, is saved in the database and can be called, supervised and changed at will; once that has been adopted at each stage of processing, is used for the operation of the plant.

In the coffee processing cycle flexibility must be total: the quantity, temperature and time must be managed to 100% with a complete control on roasting profile. This is made possible by the experience of nearly 25 years of Brambati, which has developed a machine-art, using the most advanced technologies currently available on the market, and using an engineering study in continuous development. We are talking about the “BR” model”, the top of the range of Brambati roasters.

The features that make unique the final product, such as the development of the flavoring and color, are produced during the roasting. The care with which this process is completed and the ability to reproduce the same identical conditions for each roasting, ensure the repeatability of the cycle, and therefore the consistent quality over time.
Let’s not renounce to it.

Tea & Coffee World Cup Exhibition this year will be kept in Seville, amazing frame of the usual appointment dedicated to the discovery of products and innovations of the coffee and tea field. Spain represents one of the leading markets, which tea market is quickly expanding, and with tastes very dynamics and used to changes, definitely representatives about trend of the moment.

From June 7 to 9 in Seville more than 300 exhibitors will be present, belonging to all coffee and tea industries scopes, from suppliers of the whole processing equipment to the merchants, from restaurant, hotel and coffee shop chains to the retailers and big stores coming from more than 120 countries. Interesting is that Seville exhibition will exceed, as presences, last nine editions.

Brambati will be present at the boot 420 for the all duration of the event. On Sunday 7 will hold a workshop on coffee roasting.

Soon will be online a summary of the intervention, specially designed for those who could not attend the event and for those who want to know more about this delicate and important process.

Tea & Coffee World Cup is sponsored by Tea & Coffee Asia and by Coffee Trade Journal, two publications that, with their experience, their authority and their only on-target editorial content, will be the mentor during the exhibition.

Brambati will be there. And you?

Since the postwar period, the so-called “Mediterranean diet” has become increasingly a worldwide synonymous of a proper diet, healthy and extremely pleasant. For the record, the inventor of the “Mediterranean diet” is the American nutritionist Ancel Keys, (the famous “K ration” comes from his name). Mr. Keys lived long in Italy studying and demonstrating the virtues of food made of olive oil, vegetables and fruits but especially cereal complexes, key components of pasta and bread. The virtues of these foods are in raw materials and that these virtues to best express itself requires proper and careful management of these raw materials and the several processes that determine the well-known result. The Brambati Group has been capable to recreate the process in the recent plant built in the United States, where high technology is used to make the best quality of such precious. The plant, which develops in a very large surface, consists of 3 operational areas: first, the tower silos, the second area is the production and then there is the area of packaging and grinding. Combining the factory requirements, the technical specifications dictated by the client and the traditional know how, Brambati has developed and supplied a plant with the latest technology in the world with regard to the integration of networks and the simplicity of management. To execute and control all operations of the entire system is very easy; alarm control, flow of production, hardware diagnostic, software maintenance, management of recipes (because every type of pasta requires specific mixtures of flour to enhance the quality), reporting, documentation and production batches, are handy and accessible by the operators. As for reporting, Brambati thought to the traceability of raw materials and the increasing need of all producers.Every step of semolina is recorded on computer hard disk and stored in a database that makes it possible to trace the origin and path of transformation done by the product. The plant handles the entire production process, starting with the unloading from rail cars or as alternative trucks and then loaded in 8 silos (capacity of 110 tons each) through pneumatic conveying suction and compression. Before being stored, the flour undergoes a sort of refining through sieves, filters and metal detector, is then subjected to “check of acceptability” composed by a series of physical-chemical tests performed by the technicians of the laboratories to verify their suitability and quality. In this way met the high standards required by the customer, which are the basis of product quality. Once stored, the quality of flour are thoroughly mixed (on the basis of inputs determined by the recipe) and sent to production. At the base of the silos are the groups of mixing, with distributors and screws that dose semolina and sent pneumatically to 3 production lines with capacities that reach over 5000 kg/h (as been already agreed the extension to the fourth line). Finally there is the recovery of the pasta with the regrinding section. The engineering Brambati solved effectively the considerable complexity of this project, starting from the distance between the loading station wagon from the top of the tower silos and the area of mixing to the production and packaging. System includes also a variety of devices to be monitored, hundreds of motors, over 90 inverters, more than 100 electro valves, many soft starters, load cells, scales, levels, sensors, electrical controller for filter sleeves, fire protection systems and anti explosion, push bottom and other devices. All this takes place, as already mentioned, with a complete centralization of control and diagnostics. There are two locations identical: one in the control room (production area), the second in the tower silos area, through which the operator is able to maneuver and control the entire plant. Furthermore in the most remote areas of the packaging there are local management points to facilitate the maintenance. Included in the scope are two so calls “UFO” or portable consoles to be connected to a set of plug connections located throughout the plant for manual control of local utilities. A remote control of both software and hardware can be done directly from the Brambati office for prompt intervention in case of failure but also for regular operations audit or the help of our technician to the local operators. The teleassistance today is a basic tool on the relationship between supplier and customer, making even more effective and efficient assistance especially during the initial phase of operation. This required an advanced level of technology, networks and distributed architecture. A practical solution to the new industrial needs that require centralized controls for manufacturing synoptical with increasingly complex and articulated. But the most significant is the quality of the final product: a perfect synthesis of advanced systems to the traditional recipes of advanced technologies that meet and enhance the quality of raw materials to assert a leadership symbol of Made in Italy.

In Italy, consumption of coffee is a real rite, for which each claims to have a secret to make the results incomparable; Today the bar is the temple where this ritual is celebrated with greater frequency, there is also a wide supply of equipment to achieve excellent domestic espresso but there is a persistent core of traditionalists who defend the domestic preparation of coffee with the traditional coffee makers.

This practice has now more than ever, students, admirers and careful preparation. The famous “tazzurella ‘e caffe” celebrated by the great Eduardo De Filippo is a monument of national food tradition.

Here you can really write a book on hundreds of measures, the level of compression of the ground water, the amount of heat used. There are also some people still engaged in house even roasting (often with questionable results) and this shows us what can be customized to the preparation of this unique beverage.

Sometimes happen to attend a real contest on who has the correct knowledge to prepare a “perfect” coffee in house. One of the most famous concerns is the controversy between supporters of coffee machine “napoletana”, where the coffee is made by dropping heated water through the filter and supporters of coffee machine “moka”, where the pressure of boiling water raises the water in through the filter.

Far from us to take a position in contention: we respect the sensitivities of consumers. Some coffee like lighter and fragrant, others more intense and full bodied. Both systems can make excellent coffee, respecting these differences in preferences, we stress the fact that the “napoletana” is not so common to find users instead of “moka” also because requires a longer waiting time, which is not necessarily a failure if the time is spent in good company.

Everyone well know how pleasant is the sense of hospitality once entering an environment where coffee has been just prepared.
That charming aroma that is spreading in not only the prelude to the pleasure of tasting the drink, because you are already pleased and delighted only  to smell.
But perhaps there is something more: it seems that the mere scent of coffee is able to play a role on Neuro vegetative system.
Has been demonstrated in an animal study conducted by biologist Japanese Yoshinori Masuo that guinea pig report low brain activity after being kept awake for long time. The record showed some genes were working below their normal regime of operation. Exposed to the aroma of coffee only, and therefore without taking caffeine, the animals have made a rapid recovery in all genes that had “fallen asleep”. The news is documented on Friday of July 11 article of the Italian news paper The Republic.
The prospect may be linked to the growing interest aroused aroma therapy, a discipline that studies and practical use of essential oils of plant origin for the maintenance of health or treatment. Aromatherapy argues that the volatile and fragrance of plants can have effects on human physiology interacting on the physical level, and also mental energy.
Still far from being a real therapy, aromatherapy needs checks and studies before they can be considered a true system of care. It remains however a fact that the sensations produced by natural fragrances and flavorings we have a strong evocative power and imaginative. It is scientifically proven that odors are to awaken in us all reminds further away. And we are almost sure that if there is an aroma that can cause good humor (at least the editors of this blog) is that of coffee.

We have already had occasion to say that the cup of coffee is part of the food traditions of many countries and has experienced tasters everywhere. Many people today seem to know everything about coffee talk of its origins, of different cultivars and their secret fragrances. The subject is certainly interesting and will not take time before to deal with. In this message, we want to make an initial contribution to a fundamental process in determining the organoleptic quality of coffee. Indeed only with the correct roasting, coffee can best develop his talents. The sensitivity and the experience of the master roasters are able to celebrate all those characteristics that would otherwise be dissipated and wasted. In Brambati Group this process has been studied for decades and the company library is full of futuristic studies as well contemporary complete with charts and works testing and implement sophisticated processes. All this experience and this technology at the service of taste have ancient roots in Brambati Group. And looking around the considerable literature that the company has accumulated over decades, you can also find old manuals, that perhaps today may seem a little ‘outdated, but which contain fundamentals and basic knowledge still valid and especially expressed with passion and clarity. To us who are amateurs rather than experts is very much like the “historic” manual Hoepli “Coffee and derivatives” written by Leonida Valerio in 1927. And turning those yellowing pages, which demonstrate how long the group accumulate knowledge, we discover that the roasting and visible phenomena during the heating coffee can be described almost as a literary text: “(…) Below 100 degrees nothing abnormal it makes visible, but at a temperature immediately higher green coffee smelling is very strong and water vapor development does not take time to be clearly visible. The bean begins to yellowing so sensitive and loses its elasticity, which makes a feeble sound under percussion and by crushing under the teeth (hot) it maintains the shape received. After the 140-150 degrees color slowly turns to the hazel, the mass emits a distinctive odor, slightly stinging (…) while the sound becomes more dull. These facts are growing in intensity since to 200 degrees. Then into mass a remarkable lightness begins to appear and with light brown color is observed a white smoke smelling like cocoa (…). Over 200 till about 230 degrees the development of bluish smoke becomes thick and impetuous presenting all the variations of the specific smell of roasted coffee. At the same time you develop a cheerful popping throughout the mass, due to violent rifts within the grains (…) The color of the grains goes meanwhile light brown from brown to dark if does not happen a quickly intervention of cooling. Around 230 degrees, fat substance, broken the cells that held it, invades the mass of grain by transferring itself on the surface, so the brown color, which is at first opaque, turns more or less quickly to brilliant. ” Today this knowledge are behind us and empiric realization, that is charming but little precise, was replaced by infallible process controls. The techniques that exposed to wide margins of error and where even the most accurate operators were unable to get constant quality, have been replaced by modern methods, repeatable with millimetric precision and customized according specific exigencies of each individual roasters (so-called ” roasting profiles”) to obtain a specific quality and a precise and constant feature of the brand.