Glou Glou Grissini by Natasha Pickowicz, pastry chef at Café Altro Paradiso

Words and Illustrations by Natasha Pickowicz, Head Pastry Chef at Café Altro Paradiso and Flora Bar | Photography by Heidi’s Bridge

*I'd like to share my home recipe for grissini, the crisp Italian breadsticks that I love to snack on alongside a bottle of whatever juice I've opened up today.*
I guarantee you that the repetitive task of gently hand-rolling grissini into its signature long, skinny form will feel soothing and meditative, especially if you're unemployed, like me, and would like to escape the anxieties swimming in your head for at least twenty minutes. I live in a small studio apartment without any of my usual professional baking equipment, so these days I really appreciate any recipe that can be made easily by hand, start to finish.

At Altro Paradiso, where I developed this recipe for large events and parties (this dough also makes a pretty tasty pizza, so double up on the batch size if you like), I would shape hundreds of grissini and bundle their spindly, sesame-cloaked forms up in tender curls of prosciutto. At home, I like to play around with ingredients I've unearthed in my pantry — chopped herbs like rosemary, toasty seeds like fennel or caraway or flax, a spoonful of pimenton or tumeric or both, all are delicious supplements here.

Still, my solo apero rituals are just not the same. It does feel bittersweet, to have that glass alone and stare out the window. Hunting for new ways to reach my community during this period has definitely been a struggle, especially because the only reason why I started baking in the first place was because I yearned for deep connection and kinship.

A lot of people have asked me about the fate of this year's bake sale, the annual pastry fundraiser I hold in support of Planned Parenthood. The bake sale was planned for May 17, but obviously that's not happening. I can't really say I know what the future of the bake sale will look like, but I am trying with every inch of my being to accept and embrace this paradigm shift. Reimagining systems that are broken or fail to serve community has always been at the heart of why I continue to bake, and I'll continue to examine this uncertainty until new answers emerge. Until then, crunchy breadsticks and other projects will keep me busy enough.