I spent the day helping my mom make bread. We make it just as we did when we lived in Calabria; in fact, my mother brought the starter from Calabria in her purse when we moved to California!
In Calabria my mother would make a large amount of bread, as much as 40 pounds, to last for a couple of weeks. Nowadays she kneads only 25 pounds of flour at a time, all still by hand. (That’s one reason why at 75 she still has great arms.) We eat some immediately, and freeze the rest. This lasts for a couple of weeks for both of our families.
We always save a small amount of bread dough from the previous batch in the refrigerator. So the night before we bake, my mom refreshes this “starter” by adding some flour and warm water to it.
The next morning she mixes the now sponge-like starter with the flour and warm salted water. She kneads it for as long as 45 minutes to an hour, using her two fists. She then covers it and lets it rise for a few hours. Here is a picture of the bread dough after the first rise:
The dough is then shaped in either a long loaf (filone), a round (panetta) or a ring (cudduredda).
The bread is then allowed to rise for a second time for a couple of hours under warm blankets.
During the winter months and rainy days we bake the bread in my kitchen oven, but in spring and summer we bake it in my wood-burning oven on my deck. I have a Mugnaini oven imported from Italy and I use it to bake pizza and bread, as well as to roast food.
We use oak wood and cuttings from my grapevines to fire it up. (Check out those arms!)
Once the oven is at the right temperature we shove the loaves inside with a pala, each loaf laid right next to the other.
The loaves bake for about an hour. And here’s the finished product!
Some of the flat, ring-shaped loaves (see those in the front of the picture above) will be horizontally split in two after the first bake, and then are baked again at low temperature until they are fully dried. These are Calabrian rusks, called friselle, and meant for long keeping. Unfortunately they never stay for long in my home as it is my kids’ favorite snack.
They love to eat friselle by just softening them with a little water and topping it with olive oil, oregano and garlic. During the summer I love them topped with chopped fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic and olive oil.
Our Calabrian bread is sturdy, with a tight crumb, and faintly sour from the starter.
The detailed recipe for making our bread will be in my upcoming cookbook, My Calabria, to be published in 2010.
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beautiful post, lovely photos!
Domenica,
I am not allowed to give out the recipe as it is included in my upcoming cookbook. My cookbook “My Calabria” will be out November 1. I am hoping that you will then be able to recreate your nonna’s bread.
Ciao Rosetta, i was looking up Calabrese foods and look what i found. great to here that the book is coming out later this year. i have been having a great time trying to recreate our family recipes with marginal success. bread has been tough. plus some sources for ingredients are impossible up here in Reno. Your mom looks great. lets get together next time you are in Tahoe.
I am full blooded Italian and my family came from Calabria. Can you put me on your blog or how do I do that. I will look for “My Calabria” next visit to the Mall.
Excellent post. I’ve been in Limpidi, a small paese in Catanzaro and that’s the way they used to bake bread in big ovens. Your worked mom’s hands are a charm to see. Grazie!
Hi Rosetta, I came across your blog with the Mugnaini oven. We are thinking of installing one in our backyard and was wondering which contractor (mason) built your nice looking oven. We are located in Napa. Thanks so much. Grace
Grace,
I will send you my contractor’s information at your e-mail address.
This is wondeful! My grandparents came to the US from Italy during the great immigration at the turn of the century (20th). They came through Elis Island. My father’s parents were from Calabria. My mother’s were Tuscano. We used to joke that, had they not come to America, getting married for them would be a sin. (-;)0 My paternal grandparents spoke broken English. My paternal grandfather supported the family of five sons and two daughters by helping other Italian immigrants navigate the waters of the immigration dept., prepare tax returns, and take care of other paralegal matters related to their relocation. He also owned a music shop and ran a bakery out of his home, selling the bread to make money. He had two wonderful ovens in the basement of his row home. Later on, he would bake bread just for the family. Every Friday we would go ad visit him and he would give us a family loaf and two smaller loaved for my brother and me. When he could no longer bake, my paternal grandmother assumed the mantel, then my mother picked it up. Now, I just do it occassionally, so I feel like my kids missed out on all of that. We lost the tradition just as we lost the language. No complaints regarding assimilation. It was our duty as Americans to embrase our new country. But we should have worked harder to ensure that we were not throwing the baby out with the wash water. I do 5lbs of flour and sometimes try to add some whole wheat as a concession to the politics of health. GREAT POST ! THANKS !!! GOD BLESS !!! Gratzia Mille !!!
Thomas,
Thank your for sharing the wonderful memories you have from your grandparents. I am happy to hear that you are still keeping the tradition on making bread at home. I hope that my cookbook is a tool to give you more information about Calabria and some of the cooking traditions of your grandparents. It is never too late to explore their wonderful cooking traditions and to pass them on to your kids.
Rosetta
What a great site! I’m 100% Italian, born and bred in Italy, of Abruzzese mother and Pavese father. In Abruzzo they still make bread this same way, they call is Pane Casereccio (rustic bread) and it’s made with a live, wild yeast called Mother Dough. In English is what they call sourdough.
This is my recipe for this wonderful bread:
http://silviascucina.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/home-made-sourdough/
Making your own wild yeast is relatively simple, but requires constant care and love, but the bread is will give will be worth the effort. I only home-bake bread these days. I love it! I have a light Rye sourdough loaf in the oven as I type.
Happy baking! W l’Italia!
My Mothers family is also from Calabria, it was refreshing to see this posted online. My family were bread makers long ago. Latella is the surname
I have some family still there and some of us here state side still go and visit them. Thank you for posting and sharing. Im off to make a sourdough!
please tell me where I can buy this bread, I use to get it at Kroger, now can’t find it.
Thank you for a wonderful introduction to your family. Tradition should be defended and is done so by keeping it. Bravo!
Can you tell me the approximate temperature of your oven when the loaves are placed inside? I have been baking in an electric oven indoor for 8 years but have now constructed a wood fired oven. I have much to learn. I hope you will help with my question. My loaves do not puff up as they should. The oven temp is around 425 degrees.
Thank you Father Raphael