Fabbri Pasta. Want to learn about another Tuscan excellence? Climb aboard

Pubblicato 23 August 2024

In this virtual journey into the world of Pasta Fabbri, the starting place is Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance, and after taking the Chianti road heading south in just under half an hour you reach your destination.

We have arrived at the pasta factory! Here the history of pasta making becomes tradition. Since 1893, pasta has been made in the same way without change, from father to son in a straight line in Piazza Emilio Landi in Strada In Chianti.

At Pastificio Artigiano Fabbri, for as many as five generations, the old criteria of pasta making are respected at every stage, using the best semolina and semolina from carefully selected grains, ground by trusted mills and in every production process, using “very low” temperatures that never exceed 38 degrees.

At the end of the production cycle, the pasta is put through a slow drying process so as to maintain the organoleptic properties of the product. In this process the use of bronze dies and original machinery from the 1950s becomes essential. The excellence of the raw materials combined with 125 years of experience guarantee Fabbri pasta’s very high quality and unique flavor.

Pastificio Fabbri uses 100% Italian grains selected for their nutritional properties, quantity and quality of gluten content. The grains are milled by absolutely trusted mills. Even today, the “Cantini” continuous press, bought by grandfather Renzo in 1958, remains the heart of production: this machine is capable of performing the three essential operations of the manufacturing process, which are kneading, gramolatura and drawing, and allows the production of all shapes, both for short and long pasta. With bronze wire drawing, a rougher and more porous pasta is obtained that absorbs 30 percent more of the sauces than a smooth pasta.

The Pastificio has hundreds of bronze dies that make it possible to create a large number of shapes depending on the cut chosen and the thickness set on the press. Among these dies, which are still used today to make our pasta, some are true museum pieces such as the 1911 reginelle die or the flying saucer die bought a few months after the Florence UFO sighting of October 27, 1954.

As recommended by scientists in the field, in order not to damage the gluten and avoid altering the nutritional properties of the wheat kernel, low temperatures are always used, which in Pastifico Fabbri never exceed 38°C.

Kneading, the first stage of processing, is done in a tank with semolina and cold water at a temperature kept strictly below 35°C. Then the dough, fresh from the die, is pre-dried at a temperature of about 33-35°C and will be placed in the drying cells.

Taking a small step back let’s tell the story of this unique company in a nutshell.

The history of the company began in 1893 when great-great-grandfather Giovanni Fabbri moved from Cintoia to Strada in Chianti, a few kilometers closer to Florence, bringing with him the ancient knowledge of his parents, farmers, millers and pasta makers. For five generations from father to son, the Fabbri family would pass on their knowledge and production secrets.

Alongside the business of pasta making, each owner has scrupulously preserved the physical heritage handed down from his father to the point of establishing a rich collection of period objects. It was Giovanni Fabbri, a proud representative of the fourth generation, who made the decision to create a museum that today brings together more than 400 objects as well as a wide range of period books and documents.

Giovanni Fabbri moved from Cintoia and acquired a piece of land in Piazza Landi (thanks to his wife’s dowry) where he set up his pasta factory with adjoining mill, bakery, and grocery store. In the early 1900s, the firm was located at numbers 1-2-3-4 in the square. Even today, exactly as in 1893, the pasta factory frames the town square.

The Pastificio changed from the marble wheel with the horse to the electric pasta factory, then called “hygienic processing,” as stated in an invoice from that year that can be found in the Fabbri Museum. When Giovanni died, his son Livio inherited the Pastificio while his other son Lionello recovered the bakery operation and the grocery store. At the end of the war, the bakery, mill and all machinery are undermined, and part of the ceiling collapses: only the walls remain standing. The Blacksmiths repair the war damage and start again, with the usual machinery, at No. 6-7 in the same square.

Renzo, leading the company together with his father Livio, acquired the first “Cantini” press to launch the company’s development. To this day, the improved 1958 model continues to be the heart of our production. The pasta factory moved to its present location at No. 18 Piazza where the stables used to be. Today Giovanni’s children, Lisa and Marco, run the company together with their father, as has been the family tradition for 125 years.

The Raw Materials

A 100% Italian grain, selected for its nutritional qualities and milled by trusted mills Pasta is made by drawing and drying doughs composed of durum wheat flours (soft wheat is reserved for bread and cakes). The company uses 100% Italian grains chosen according to nutritional properties, quantity and especially gluten quality. The wheat is milled and pastified following characteristics of strand era (short) that respect the old processing criteria in every aspectThe mills are chosen according to their processing method: the milling must be gentle without heating the wheat, so as to maintain the organoleptic properties of the product. The semolina obtained will then be pastified and dried at low temperatures, which never exceed 38°C. This is the only way, recognized by scientists, to keep the gluten and starches “alive” in their natural state thus facilitating digestibility.

The last stage in the production cycle, drying represents a very delicate phase in which some of the initial water content is gradually removed. In fact, great care is taken not to dry the outside of the product too quickly, otherwise the water, in order to escape, would risk splitting the dough. The dough is placed in drying cells for a period ranging from 3 to 6 days depending on the different shapes.

Garbuio method: drying as in the early 1900s

In the pasta factory, drying temperatures and times remained as they were in the early twentieth century with the advent of the thermo-mechanical dryer, which reduced drying times to 3-6 days depending on the size. Until then, pasta was still dried in the open air, and average drying times in summer were about 8 days for pasta factories on the Neapolitan coast to more than a month for those in the North. The oldest drying cell in the company, the “Garbuio,” is dated 1956 and was designed following the standards of early thermo-mechanical dryers. Based on the original design, the other 4 drying cells were then built.

The Garbuio Method is based on the action of two fans inside the cell that direct the air flow for about 30 minutes to the right, and then, reverse the flow to the left for another 30 minutes. In this way, water is slowly extracted from the dough at a temperature below 38°C without risking damage to its integrity and organoleptic qualities.

In the aftermath of World War II, average drying times were progressively shortened until today industrial pasta factories can dry pasta in a few hours using temperatures above 100°C. Pastificio Fabbri has always been against the high temperatures used in production processes.

According to Maillard’s reaction, any protein subjected to temperatures above 38°C is transformed and suffers thermal damage. In fact, the result of low- or high-temperature drying is immediately visible from the color: the higher the temperatures, the more the pasta goes from a natural straw yellow, to a burnt yellow and loses its ability to absorb the sauce because the gluten (composed of protein) becomes denatured. The pasta is practically “toasted” and is dehydrated.

In contrast, Fabbri’s drying method, below 38°C, allows the protein structure to remain unaltered. It results in a higher absorption capacity of the pasta, a much higher digestibility and a creamy white color, exactly like that of gluten in its natural state. It is precisely this drying method that gives Fabbri pasta its unique character: “a living pasta that smells of wheat,” Giovanni Fabbri often says.