Mulino Marino was established in 1956 when Felice Marino bought the Cossano Belbo mill in the heart of the Langhe in Piedmont, with its three ancient natural-stone millstones. Today, three generations of the Marino family work together in the mill: Felice, who still checks his flours every day despite his ninety-one years of age, his children Ferdinando and Flavio and his grandchildren Fausto, Fulvio and Federico.
Mulino Marino’s organic flours
One of the characteristic features of Mulino Marino comes from the gamble made 20 years ago to focus on the production of natural-stone ground organic flours, and it has proved to be a winning bet indeed. Beginning in the 1960s, increasingly refined flours began to take over the market. Ground with cylinders, incredibly white, high in calories and easy to use, they nevertheless lacked many of the nutrients present in the grain’s outer layers and in the wheat germ. The Marino family has always chosen to move in the opposite direction by focusing on stone-grinding organically grown grains, which are milled as a single variety and not hybridised nor genetically altered. The initial distrust of consumers and suppliers who saw organic as an unnecessary increase in costs was gradually overcome, and since 2007 the mill has produced only certified organic flour.
Natural-stone millstones for artisanal flour
The millstones in Mulino Marino are made with natural stones from French quarries, which date back to the nineteenth century and are renowned for their hardness. Unlike artificial stones, they must be periodically hammered by hand to obtain the correct degree of roughness, following an ancient tradition that Felice has handed down to his children and grandchildren. These stones turn much more slowly than the artificial ones and therefore do not overheat the grains, leaving the flour “live” with the containing fibre, water-soluble vitamins and all the trace elements present in the grain.
Flour from all grains
The mill selects the best varieties of organic products to grind: soft and tender durum wheat, “Otto File” Langa corn, rye, buckwheat, kamut, enkir, rice, barley, chestnuts and chickpeas. All the grains are analysed on a sample basis as soon as they reach the mill in order to verify the absence of pesticides, plant growth regulators and any kind of mould growth. Only single varieties of grain are ground together, meaning each type of grain is kept separate from the others, and preservatives, insecticides, chemical additives, enzymes, polyphosphates or dairy products are never added during processing and storage.
Quality flour for authentic products
After the flour has been milled, it is combined with water and yeast to create authentic artisanal products, hand-made by our bakers and baked in wood ovens. All the processing phases are carried out manually, and that is why every loaf of bread we make has a different shape and colour. These rules apply to all of Eataly’s bread, which is varied and full of surprises. They also apply to pizzas and traditional and stuffed focaccia, as well as sandwiches, offering a wide choice of breads and fillings to suit all tastes and dietary needs.
Eataly has chosen Mulino Marino as a partner for its stores all over the world. Come and try the highest-quality flours and products!