Alma Talks: Bread

The fourth instalment of the Alma Talks series explores bread – a craft at the intersection of agriculture, technology, economics, and everyday life. Bakers, farmers, millers, and gastronomy experts gather for an open debate on what quality in baking means today.

Discussion topics:
- Flour as a choice: local varieties, stone milling, and natural variability versus standardized production – how does flour affect taste, character, and production consistency? Where does terroir end and the need for stability begin?
- Regenerative grain: do bakers and restaurants have real influence on grain cultivation methods? Is regenerative flour a systemic change, or still just a premium segment?
- The bakery as urban infrastructure: what role does a neighbourhood bakery play in the local community, and what does it mean to open and sustain such a bakery long-term?
- Bread and health: demand is growing for higher fibre content and "gut-friendly" products – is this genuinely changing the direction of baking, or just how we talk about it?
- The price of quality: what does good bread really cost today? Is it possible to bake with quality while remaining affordable, and how can artisanal production scale sustainably?
- Technology as co-author: controlled fermentation, climate-controlled boxes, digital monitoring, and new oven types – does technology help preserve quality while growing and facing labour shortages, or does it change the very essence of the craft?

Guests:
- Alejandro Luna – former head pastry chef at Australian Sonoma Baking Co. and consultant with a career in leading kitchens in the USA, Asia, and Australia. He combines classical techniques with a focus on production efficiency; specializes in rye sourdough, panettone, and dough lamination.
- Giovanni Marabese – Italian food anthropologist and founder of Tone Bread Lab (2021), a contemporary bakery using bread as a medium to explore and preserve food cultures. His work bridges food science, ethnobotany, and everyday baking practice.
- Laura Lazzaroni – author and former editor-in-chief specializing in heritage varieties and evolution