Italian Breads

Some 350 different varieties of bread originate from Italy from crusty loaves to the crispy breadstick.  These are two of the most well known breads of Italy.

Focaccia

This is an ancient Ligurian bread with a mottled appearance and is popular the world over.  Its name comes from the Latin “focus”, meaning hearth as it was cooked in the embers of the hearth in ancient Rome.  It is made using a dough similar to that of pizza with a strong flour, water, olive oil, salt, sugar and yeast.  The baker rolls it out thickly and then dents the surface of the loaf to stop the bread bubbling during cooking.  The focaccia is coated in olive oil, which helps the bread to retain its moisture, before being baked in the oven.  It is a versatile bread and is often topped and enhanced with a variety of different ingredients,  such as herbs and onions.  Today, we had rather delicious focaccio topped with potato and herbs from the local bakery in Bagni di Lucca.

Ciabatta

Another well known bread is Ciabatta which means slipper and this flat white bread with a porous centre is so named because of its slightly slipper-like shape.  Made with wheat flour, yeast and water, it has a crispy crust and although its origins are unclear, one version of its history suggests the bread was developed by an entrepeneur outside Rovigno in the 1980′s.

As well as the bread popular all over Italy,  there are the ones particular to areas.

Buccellato

The traditional lucchese fruit bread is bread made with a few simple ingredients has made it a symbol of good luck.  It  has become very suitable for New Year celebrations.

It contains aniseed, thought to promote fertility in women, and raisins, still seen on the table today at Capodanno (New Year) as a sign of good luck for the coming year.  It is usually made in the shape of a circle or crown, the symbol of honour and glory.

The name comes from the Latin “bucella which means a morsel, or bread for the poor.  Thus it became known as poor man’s food.

Now we can eat buccellato all the year round, and especially when there is any kind of celebration.  It is perfectly good form to dunk it in your wine or vin santo.  You can buy it in any good panificio or alimentari, but the buccellato from Taddeucci in Piazza San Michele in Lucca is very famous.

In fact when we went the other day to buy some, they had already sold out by 10.30 am and we had to come back later when more had been baked.  Make sure if you visit Lucca, or even Bagni di Lucca where you can buy it during the festive season at Bar Italia, to try some.  It is truly delicious.

Tuscan Bread

Salt is generally considered to be one of the four basic ingredients in bread, along with flour, water and yeast.

That said, there is one bread that is typically made without salt – Tuscan bread.  The reason for the saltlessness is unclear, some sources say that centuries ago, the government levied a hefty tax on salt that the Tuscans did not want to pay.  Whatever the reason, the strong flavours of Tuscan cuisine are well-suited to a less strongly flavoured bread.  This type of bread which becomes stale very quickly is traditional for dishes such as panzanella (tomato bread salad) and ribollita (soup meaning re-boiled).