Traditional Bread from the Murgia

In the Murgia Area in Puglia, traditional stone ovens are still part of the urban landscape: built in the nineteenth century, they have typical high hoods, paddles with long handles, mouths that can accommodate more than 300 pounds of bread.
The basic ingredient of this bread is the extraordinary durum wheat semolina from the Alta Murgia, mixed with yeast to sourdough, warm water and sea salt. The mixture is left to rise up to 4 hours, covered with a cotton cloth, and is modeled according to the desired weight. Cooking in a wood oven and the temperature of 200-300 ° C, lasts about an hour and a half.
The bread of Altamura, near Bari, is characterized by the typical shape of a wide-brimmed hat and a golden crust, usually weighs around a kilo, but is also available in larger sizes, traditionally preferred by farmers for their long shelf life . To the nose, the bread of Altamura smells more or less toasted, sometimes you get the scent of coffee, is soluble in the mouth, pasty, when fresh, compact but still excellent chewiness even after several days. At the end, very often some tasty vanilla notes are often perceived.