Meet the Maker – Grani, Sicily's Sourdough Bakery

Baker Emanuele Guastella with his wife Oriana – the joint forces behind Grani.

Every loaf that comes out of Grani's ovens in Vittoria, Sicily, begins with the same sourdough starter, one that's been kept alive since the 1960s. It's the kind of continuity that you can't buy, but can only inherit, and it's exactly what drew us to this small family bakery.

A bakery passed down, not just built

Emanuele Guastella grew up around his family's bakery, watching his grandmother knead and measure by eye, guided by experience rather than a recipe. She'd learned her trade as a leavener at the Motta bakery in Milan in the 1960s, before returning to Sicily and creating the sourdough starter that Grani still uses every day. Emanuele took his instinct for the work, and his care with it, from her.

Grain with no shortcuts

Grani bakes with a handful of Sicilian wheat varieties largely forgotten outside the island – Timilìa, Perciasacchi and Russello among them – alongside ancient grains like emmer. Fermentation is long: some loaves prove for twenty-four hours, others for thirty-six. This is the definition of slow-food.

More than bread

Alongside sourdough loaves, Grani makes traditional Sicilian biscuits – including buccellati, the fig-and-almond pastries that are usually a Christmas staple, baked here in miniature form year-round. Panettone, made with the same starter and a long, patient proof, is Emanuele's own favourite thing to bake.

We regularly receive fresh stock of Grani's sourdough bread and biscuits in store – proper, slow-food Sicilian baking, with the kind of story behind it that a label can't quite capture.

Delivery throughout Malta & Gozo.

Shop Grani sourdough & biscuits.