Wajos Grissini with Tomato-Basil. Crunchy breadsticks made from wheat flour and olive oil with 3.7 percent basil and tomato – the pastry for antipasti, dips, and the aperitif.
Wajos Grissini with Tomato-Basil are thin, crunchy breadsticks made from wheat flour, olive oil, palm oil, 3.7 percent basil, yeast, and 1.9 percent tomato; 200g from Wajos in Dohr on the Moselle. Not soft bread, not cheese-flavored crackers, and not snack food from a bag, but rather Italian-style long-life pastry – savory, with herbs, for dipping and snacking.
Grissini with Tomato-Basil from Wajos are on our table in a glass whenever guests have already arrived and dinner is still in the oven. A glass of wine, a few olives, a small bowl of aioli – and the grissini, which everyone helps themselves to quite casually. For us, they are the third permanent grissini variety on the shelf, alongside the neutral Mini Grissini and the garlic version. The reason is simple: tomato and basil go with everything else on the table, and the sticks have that perfect snap when you bite into them, just as a grissino should.
Crunchy and savory, with basil in the lead and tomato for color
The sticks are thin and long, with green specks of basil and a slightly reddish tint from the tomato. When bitten into, they break dry and splintery rather than crumbling. The taste starts with bread – wheat, yeast, a hint of malt – then basil, which is clearly detectable at 3.7 percent, followed by the tomato, mild and slightly sweet. Salt is present but restrained, at 2.3 grams per 100 grams. Olive oil provides the tenderness that distinguishes grissini from hard rusk. After the third stick, you notice the herbs are more than just decoration: the basil flavor remains even after the bread is long gone.
To be honest: in addition to olive oil, the dough also contains palm oil; this is stated on the package. The flavor comes from basil and tomato, with no added flavorings. They contain wheat and may contain traces of sesame – they are not suitable for anyone who needs to eat gluten-free.
If you are looking for neutral breadsticks for ham or for children, choose the Mini Grissini – thinner, shorter, herb-free. The tomato-basil version is the one for a table where the pastry itself is meant to be flavorful.
For the aperitif, with antipasti, in a dip, and as a side for soup
The classic choice is the aperitif: a glass of grissini next to olives, cheese, and wine, served with a dip. Aioli, tzatziki, or a mixed bruschetta spread work well, as do cream cheese with herbs or a dollop of pesto. Wrapped with a slice of Parma ham, they make an appetizer that is ready in two minutes and always the first thing to disappear from any buffet.
On an antipasti platter, they lie between olives, grilled peppers, mozzarella, and sun-dried tomatoes – serving as the bread that no one has to cut. For tomato soup or minestrone, they replace the baguette; broken into a salad, they become croutons that stay crunchy. And for a cheese board with mild cheese, the basil and tomato provide the herbaceous note that would otherwise be missing.
At home, they are an evening snack that tastes different from chips: for a movie, with wine, or for children to hold while waiting for dinner. On a picnic, in the car, or in a lunchbox – they hold up better than crackers and crumble less than bread.
They are not suitable for softening in sauces or for baking over – they are long-life pastries that are intended to remain dry. Once opened, close the package tightly, otherwise, they will absorb moisture and lose their crunch.
Our tip: Grissini with Tomato-Basil next to a bowl of Aioli made from the spice mix and a few olives – our aperitif when guests arrive and dinner is still in the oven.
An Italian pastry from the shelves of a factory on the Moselle
The grissini belong to the Italian part of the Wajos range, along with pesto, sugo, and pasta. Wajos is based in Dohr near Cochem on the Moselle, a family business with over 80 employees and around 900 items, most of which are created on-site: cremas, oils, spice mixes, liqueurs. The name comes from Walter Josef Oster, the founder of a winemaking family in Ediger-Eller that has been making wine on the Moselle for 15 generations.
He opened a liqueur factory next to the winery in the 1980s, and his son Peter Oster, together with Ulf Schwichtenberg, turned it into the brand Wajos in the 2000s – the first store opened in Trier in 2008, and today there are shops throughout Germany. The reason why grissini are on the shelf at a company from the Moselle is simple: the oils, cremas, and dips need something to go with them. At Wajos, the pastry is the complement to what goes into the bottles in Dohr – and a family business that wants to "remain deliberately small" also chooses the products it purchases based on whether they fit the rest of the range.
The pastry for guests, for the pantry, and for a gift package with dip
These grissini are the pack for everyone who regularly has guests and wants to avoid baking bread. 200 grams is enough for an evening with six people or two weeks of snacking for two; unopened, they have a long shelf life in the pantry. As a gift, they go perfectly with a tin of dip spice mix or a bottle of oil – a package that someone can open that same evening. If you prefer a bolder taste, try the Grissini with Garlic & Parsley; all snacks and dips can be found on our Wajos page.
They are not suitable for those with a gluten intolerance or for those who expect soft bread for dipping – these are crunchy, and that is how they are meant to be.
Wheat, olive oil, basil, and tomato in a thin stick – the grissini from the Wajos shelf for evenings when guests come over.
