Country you go bread you find, one could say speaking of Puglia. Yes, because in this land kissed by the sun, there are a hundred different forms of bread. The bread, almost a miniature sun, rising in the heat of the oven takes on many different forms but for all it symbolizes fertility, vital light, perpetuation and the power of life.
The history of bread also tells us of a long class battle, in which the two opposite sides are white wheat bread, intended for the rich and citizens, and dark black bread, very black for the "mouths of fodder", that is the farmers and the proletariat.
Frangòlle, Puccia, Sckanate, Ruana, Trecce ... are just some of the over one hundred types of bread produced in Puglia. Each town has its own particular type and many anniversaries are celebrated by offering the so-called votive loaves to the poor, as on St. Anthony's day.
What are the most unique shapes of bread? Certainly the Frangolle, in the shape of a crown, made in Polignano during the Christmas and Easter periods. Or the Pan-a Presutte, typical of Canosa di Puglia, prepared with two different flours, one common and the other made from gleaned wheat in burnt and home-ground stalks. Its name is due to the color that resembles a ham when it is cut.
Apulian cuisine has made bread one of the staple foods in the preparation of dishes such as caldédde and ndorat-e ffritte bread or baked bread with vegetables, vegetables, wild herbs and the inevitable extra virgin olive oil.
