Sebastiano Caridi: the secret of great leavened products and the advent of Roma flour

From our Vienna flour for leavened pastries to our newest release, Roma, for laminated doughs; Pastry Chef Sebastiano Caridi shares a vision where precision meets passion.

If pastry is an equation made from sugar, butter, eggs, and flour, it is the latter that ultimately defines the success of the dough. These are the words of Sebastiano Caridi, who, in his laboratories across Faenza, Bologna, and Imola, blends his Calabrian roots with a distinctly modern entrepreneurial mindset. “Flour is like a tattoo on my skin,” Caridi says. An evocative way of explaining how his partnership with Molino Naldoni was born from the need to combine naturalness, consistency, and replicability in production.

Beyond the technical specifications of the five recipes that make up the Pastry Line, now highlighted by newly designed packaging, Caridi chooses Molino Naldoni flours for their purity: free from enzymes and additives, allowing for highly controlled fermentation processes. This technical advantage is matched by the mill’s supply chain ethos and values. Of the 450 tons of wheat milled daily, 80% is Italian, and a quarter of that comes from the Romagna sub-region the mill resides in. It’s a commitment to sustainability, increasingly important value marker of food safety and well-being.

Molino Naldoni’s Pastry Line, with its updated look and formats, draws inspiration from the refined elegance of historic European pastry shops in the Art Nouveau era. But the redesign goes beyond aesthetics. The introduction of a 10 kg format and the debut of Roma flour for laminated doughs reflect the mill’s close attention to the practical and technical needs of professionals.

Vienna flour is at the heart of Caridi’s laboratories, the trusted foundation for large leavened products. “I’m deeply attached to Vienna for its aromatic balance and reliability. As someone obsessed with precision, it gives me total control over fermentation and sourdough. I can rely on extraordinary strength.” Alongside this cornerstone, the chef has enthusiastically embraced Roma, the new flour developed specifically for puff pastry and layered doughs. “Lamination requires control and impermeability. Roma offers a rare balance between strength and sensitivity, enabling clean, defined layers that rise perfectly in the oven. It’s the ideal answer for millefeuille and cannoli.”