Nancy Silverton's rustic bread and breaking my head on ciabatta

A few weeks ago I baked for the first time bread from Nancy Silverton's Breads from the La Brea Bakery. I chose probably the least time consuming and easiest of the lot two start, the rustic bread, her own version of the Italian ciabatta (slipper in Italian, because of its shape). I intended to write about this bread at the time but my blog posting backlog (still growing) delayed at least in part this entry. What played an even further role was trying to understand what a ciabatta is and where it really comes from. The bread I baked, although delicious, had nothing to do with the ciabattas you get in Italy and this is not the first time I notice this. Recipes from other US, UK and German baking books I tried before gave varying results, some to die for other to kill (the book's author) for, but never anything like what I was used to. So why is this bread so popular (there's even a nice German blog called Chili und Ciabatta) if we're actually talking about completely different breads?

My curiosity tickled, I started searching for information on ciabatta. After all sort of contrasting information I stumbled on this page from a very informative baking web site called The Artisan. I also remembered I had bought Slow Food's L'Italia del pane (Italy's bread) which gave some good info too. There's quite a few points that remain unclear but here's what I found out:

-Ciabatta is probably a quite old Northern Italian bread. It might, according to Profumo di Pane by Erika Pignatti, have originated in Trentino. Other sources claim the bread is original of the area around Como (Lombardy). A traditional bread called ciabatta seems to exist in both places making the origin unclear.

-The modern, widespread version of ciabatta, called ciabatta Italiana, was developed only in 1982 when the Mulini Adriesi company registered the farina tipo 1 Italia, a gluten-rich flour, ideal for long rising and proofing and allowing a greater hydration. Not only the flour but also the method for making this bread is trademarked.To help the spreading of this bread and method the company even organises courses bakers can follow to learn the procedure.

-There are a few basic differences between the two breads. Most noticeable of all is the one regarding the crust: the ciabatta from Como has a very crispy crust, absent in the ciabatta Italiana.

-Throughout Italy ciabatta has been adapted to local tastes so even here there is not a "true" ciabatta. I guess the ciabatta I was looking for was only the one I was used to. So I'll stop scratching my head when I see breads that IMO have nothing in common with ciabatta sold under this name.

But now, curiosity (I hope) satiated, let's go back to the bread I baked: I followed the original recipe to the letter without too many problems. Too late did I found out this movie showing Silverton and Julia Child having a go at it. After seeing this I noticed my dough was a bit too wet. I'm seriously starting to believe this depends on the gluten-"poor" European flour, at least the one we amateurs can get our hands on. I used the same proportions the recipe suggested but clearly my flour didn't manage to take up the water as well as it should have. This made the dough more bitchy to work with but didn't really alter the end result.

The bread once cut had a very irregular hole structure, as expected and wished, and it really tasted great. I made two, each weighing a kilo and brought one to some friends, still warm. After an hour only the crumbs were left. Guess the jury liked it ;-). Still I wouldn't call this bread a ciabatta: it tastes much more like the so called pane pizza a somewhat more rustic version of pizza bianca common in southern-central Italy.

Comments

[clotilde]

Beautiful loaf, Alberto, you truly are the Uber-Bread-Baker!

[Alberto]

thanks, clotilde. Now I just need to learn to make some of those fantastic jams you talk about and I'll have a gourmet breakfast :-).

[Chris Potter of the Gagliano's & Fiorenza's from Beaumont, Tex.]

My grandfather emigrated to Galveston with his parents and family of bakers around 1900. My mom learned how to make "Shavata", probably easier for Texans to pronounce, and i've eaten (and made) the anchovie,onion bread basted with olive oil,topped with a sprinke of cheeze, a hint of red sauce and black olives for color ever since,...even when I was in the Gulf of Tonkin '68, though it had become moldy green by the time i got it.. "Always two loaves" Augustine "Doc" Gagliano would say.

[Alberto]

Chris, thanks for sharing this nice story. I alwaqys find it fascinating to hear how culinary traditions vary from palce to place. Just one question, when you talk about anchovy onion bread am I right in thinking these two ingredients are kneaded in the dough?

[deccanheffalump]

Hi Alberto, Whether it turned out to be ciabatta or not it looks very edible.Got to try it as well.
By the way do you know anything about potato yeasts which our bakers still use here? I'd love to know more just for the fun of it.

[Alberto]

I must admit it's the first time I hear about the potato yeast but it sounds intriguing... something new to try out! Do you have any idea where I could find some basic information on that?

[deccanheffalump]

I guess I'm just going to have to pester the bakers because they are so cagey about their recipes!! But as soon as I get some more info I will pass it on.

[Alberto]

Great, I'll be eagarly waiting. Thank you!

[Michelle Seitz]

I live in Northern Michigan. There are VERY few resources or bakers that produce Ciabatta Bread ~ I looked when I was downstate, and I couldn't find it either. So, I have decided that it is time to find a recipe! I am able to digest Ciabatta Bread, and I miss having a piece of toast. Can you help me?
Thank you for your time.
Shelly Seitz
1370 Ellinger Rd
Alanson, MI 49706
866-813-9901

[Alberto]

Michelle,

you can find an interesting recipe here.