Bread · Italian cuisine
Pane di Altamura
Pane di Altamura PDO – Apulian bread of re-milled durum semolina and sourdough, with a thick crust and a yellow crumb.
At a glance
- Origin
- North-western Murgia (Apulia): Altamura, Gravina in Puglia, Poggiorsini, Spinazzola, Minervino Murge; PDO since 2003.
- Dough
- Re-milled durum wheat semolina, sourdough, sea salt, water.
- Production
- Starter refreshed at least three times, shaped by hand in two forms, baked in an oven.
- Ratio
- Per 100 kg semolina 20 kg starter, 2 kg salt, about 60 l water; crust at least 3 mm, moisture at most 33%, loaf at least 0.5 kg.
Pane di Altamura is a bread from Apulia, protected as a PDO since 2003. It is baked in the municipalities of Altamura, Gravina in Puglia, Poggiorsini, Spinazzola and Minervino Murge on the north-western Murgia plateau. It is made of re-milled durum wheat semolina (semola rimacinata) – at least 80% from the local varieties Appulo, Arcangelo, Duilio and Simeto – with sourdough, sea salt and water.
The specification sets 20 kg of sourdough, 2 kg of sea salt and about 60 l of water at 18 °C for every 100 kg of semolina. The starter is built up with at least three refreshments. After mixing, the dough rests under a cotton cloth, is shaped by hand, and the loaf is turned over before it goes into the oven.
The finished bread weighs at least 0.5 kg and has either the accavallata shape (locally skuanète), folded over with touch marks on the sides, or the low shape without them (cappidd d’prèvte, ‘priest’s hat’). The crust is at least 3 mm thick, the crumb straw yellow with even holes, and moisture no more than 33%. It keeps for several days.